Chapter 23 Realm Within the Bell, Isle of the Lake's Heart

Looking up, the sky was as black as ink. The island's forest was filled with shadows so thick they felt tangible.

At that moment, a small bell hung from the tip of every tree in the forest. The bells all emitted a faint silver glow, like solitary lamps illuminating the night, creating an eerie scene.

"Heh... a predictable outcome." The Bell Demon grinned as she walked toward Feng Bujue. "Now you should understand why that Taoist priest couldn't defeat me back then, right?"

Feng Bujue clutched at the wound on his waist, kneeling on the ground and breathing heavily. "Haa... cough... you're right... this is indeed... a predictable outcome." As he said this, he actually began to laugh. "I knew from the start that your strength was extraordinary. For an exorcism tool like the Vajra Bell to fall into the hands of a demon like you and be used in reverse, it's clear that... cough..." He coughed up a large mouthful of blood. "You're no ordinary being."

The Bell Demon no longer looked like a little girl. Her body had become like that of an adult, though she was wrapped in black mist. From her figure and voice, one could tell she was female; her voice sounded to be that of a woman around thirty years old. Other characteristics were unknown.

"Hmph... since you knew all along, why did you instruct your companion to split up with you?" the Bell Demon laughed. "'Run separately and delay as much time as possible,' that's what you said, right? You even shouted it in front of me."

"Was there anything wrong with my tactics?" Feng Bujue replied, struggling to stand up.

At this point, Feng Bujue was at his limit. Earlier, he had used Death Poker in conjunction with Spirit Sense Gathering Technique to force the Bell Demon to prioritize dealing with him. He had retreated while fighting, activating and deactivating skills, frequently switching equipment, and making good use of items... In the end, he had forced his way out of the encirclement of the "Myriad Bell Evil Array," even whittling down a good portion of the Bell Demon's health.

But facing a Boss that he clearly couldn't defeat in a one-on-one fight, this series of actions came at a price. At the moment, Feng Bujue had used up all five of his Survival Value Replenishment Serums, and he was out of Death Poker cards. Although he still had a third of his Stamina Value left, his Survival Value was only at 26%, and his status bar showed the [Bleeding] effect.

It could be said that even if the Bell Demon didn't give him the final blow, Feng Bujue wouldn't have lasted more than a few minutes.

Of course, Feng Bujue still had the SCP-500, but he wasn't planning on using it, because he himself felt that he was very likely to die in the current situation, and using it would probably be a waste.

"If you were clear about my strength from the beginning, you should have joined forces with your companion to deal with me. That way, you would have had a chance to win," the Bell Demon replied. "Hmph... but you let her run separately from you, and you wanted to delay time? Heh... did you think that prolonging the battle in my territory would be to your advantage?"

"I can't say it was advantageous," Feng Bujue replied calmly. "I just chose... a way to win against you with one hundred percent certainty."

The Bell Demon's form faltered slightly. "Oh? Let me guess... are you about to say... that you have some kind of incredibly powerful explosive on you, and as soon as you die, it will detonate, blowing me to smithereens?"

"No," Feng Bujue said. "I just want to tell you that you've been poisoned."

"Heh... is this the last joke you're going to tell?" the Bell Demon sneered.

"The effects of this poison are very weak. Judging from your performance, you haven't felt anything obvious, whether at the moment of poisoning or after," Feng Bujue said. "If you were a Traveler from another world like me, you would have noticed it with a glance at the 'status bar.' Unfortunately, you're not."

"You're making it sound convincing, but I'd rather believe you'd self-destruct than believe that," the Bell Demon replied with a laugh. She clearly still didn't believe him.

"Your confidence is based on two things. First, you believe that as a spiritual entity, you should be immune to things like 'poison.' Second, you still haven't figured out how I poisoned you," Feng Bujue directly stated the other party's thoughts, and continued, "Since I'm already sure of victory, I might as well tell you. First of all, I used this to poison you..."

As Feng Bujue spoke, he displayed the Goblin Toxic Gas Mask. "You were already poisoned when I was tied to the stake and talking to you. This is called 'poison attribute attack,' a unique method of us Travelers from another world. You should also know that any weapon we have that isn't purely physical can affect a spiritual entity like you." As he spoke, he changed his facial equipment to hidden. "It's like the submachine gun I used to shoot you earlier. The bullets didn't have much effect on you, but the occasional fire that was triggered could hurt you, right?"

In that instant, the bells on the surrounding trees began to shake, some even falling from the trees. This was the best proof that their master had been shaken.

"You've been chasing me for too long. Even if exercise doesn't exacerbate the effects of the poison in your body, I think that after this one hour and seven minutes (Feng Bujue was still calculating the time during his escape)... even if it only consumes 1% of your health per minute, you'll only have 33% left, plus my attacks along the way..." Feng Bujue took a deep breath. "In short, even if I die, you won't have time to kill my teammates. That's why I said this is one hundred percent..."

"Enough," the Bell Demon interrupted him. "Those so-called 'statuses,' 'health,' 'attributes,' and so on have nothing to do with me." She said in a deep voice, "You're just trying to tell me that I'm about to be killed by you, right?"

"Correct," Feng Bujue said.

Suddenly, all the bells in the forest returned to silence, and the surroundings returned to a deathly stillness.

The black mist dissipated, and the Bell Demon revealed her true form. She was half a head taller than Feng Bujue, with the face of a European woman. Her facial features were distinct, and she was beautiful and alluring. Her skin was light purple, and she had no hair, but curved goat horns grew on both sides of her forehead. She had no clothes on her body, and from her chest to her abdomen, she had a mane similar to clothing, covering some sensitive areas that were inappropriate to show in the game. Her lower body consisted of two smooth, slender legs, connected to huge, hairy hooves below the knees.

Feng Bujue shook his head and said meaningfully, "Too vulgar, really too outrageous. What is this? A fur bra? Why not just cover yourself in fur, or just not have any at all?" He complained about the system using a scantily clad demon beauty to openly sell sex appeal, while shamelessly staring at her towering breasts, his eyes fixed on the two semi-circular orbs not covered by the mane for a long time without blinking.

"Hmph... your companion was right, you really are an extremely narcissistic person." The Bell Demon had clearly been monitoring the two players for a long time and knew their conversations.

As she spoke, she came in front of Feng Bujue and looked down at him with a condescending gaze. "Did you have to tell me all your plans before I die? If you had said something else to delay me, I might have died without realizing it, and you would have saved your life." She suddenly reached out a hand and grabbed Feng Bujue's neck, easily lifting him up. "And now that I know I'm going to die soon... why not take one more person with me to the grave?"

"Damn it..." Blood seeped from the corner of Feng Bujue's mouth, and his face turned purple, but he still forced his eyes wide open, his gaze continuing to stare at the Bell Demon's chest at a forty-five-degree angle. Before his last bit of Survival Value and moral integrity were completely gone, he squeezed out a sentence through his teeth, "It's really... covered... tightly..."

In that instant, a cold light flashed, and blood splattered. The hand that was grabbing Feng Bujue's neck suddenly lost its strength.

Feng Bujue only felt his throat loosen, and then he fell to the ground, his Survival Value stopping at 3%. The Bell Demon in front of him had lost her head.

The head of the goat-horned woman flew into the sky, drawing a parabola, and landed eight meters away. The countless bells in the forest suddenly disappeared a few seconds later.

The surrounding shadows began to dissipate at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the sky gradually brightened. The golden sunlight of dusk pierced through the darkness like sharp blades, illuminating the island.

Before Feng Bujue could react to this series of changes, the Bell Demon's headless corpse swayed twice and fell toward Jue-Ge, who was lying on the ground.

For a player with only 3% Survival Value, being hit by an object weighing at least fifty kilograms had a very high probability of turning into white light and game over. Feng Bujue had survived a great disaster, so how could he fall in a ditch? He immediately rolled to the side, avoiding the falling corpse. At the moment his Survival Value dropped below 2%, he stuffed an SCP-500 into his mouth, healing the [Bleeding] status.

"Whoa... that was close..." Feng Bujue sat up, relieved.

The next second, his eyes met Si Yu's gaze of contempt.

"Damn it, it's really covered tightly." Si Yu repeated Feng Bujue's "last words" in her unique cold tone.

"Hey, didn't I tell you to split up with me?" Feng Bujue asked. "If you follow me so closely... what if the Boss kills me when she still has 30% health left, and then quickly finds your location? Wouldn't we both have a chance of getting wiped out?"

Si Yu seemed not to have heard him and continued to mutter, "She's nearly 1.9 meters tall, and half-human, half-goat..."

Feng Bujue replied unhappily, "Are you complaining that I have bad taste, or are you just jealous?"

"I'm just amazed at how crazy someone has to be to react the way you did when they're about to die," Si Yu said with a slight smile.

"It's just a game, it's not like I'm really going to be strangled to death," Feng Bujue said, spreading his hands and speaking in a relaxed tone.

Si Yu stared at his face for a few seconds, hesitating to speak. In the end, she didn't say anything, only saying, "Maybe."

With that, she walked slowly to his side, sat down with her knees bent, and silently handed him two Survival Value Replenishment Serums.