Chapter 11 West of the Crystal Labyrinth, Hope Sea Reef

West of the Crystal Labyrinth lies Hope Sea Reef.

Here, a narrow stretch of beach meets the ocean, dotted with black reefs. The most prominent of these is a five-meter-tall reef shaped like a human skull, its "face" turned towards the sea.

This skull-shaped reef is Hope Sea Reef, giving the area its name.

Outside the Crystal Labyrinth, one can see the "real sky." And so, those at Hope Sea Reef could witness the setting sun's red glow.

Creak, creak…

The sound of metal axles turning echoed again, announcing the approach of a small tricycle.

"Long time no see…" Billy quickly parked the tricycle beside the large reef and spoke.

On Hope Sea Reef, a solitary figure stood alone, admiring the sunset's afterglow.

He didn't turn around, but responded indifferently, "A rare guest indeed… here to rescue your little brother?"

"Already rescued," Billy replied, raising a small arm and pointing back the way he came. "See, he's waiting for me over there."

The man on the reef turned his head and glanced at Bill, a few hundred meters away. Bill, with a @_@ expression, was listlessly looking around…

"Heh… what's that beside him? A zongzi wrapped in Dreadleaf?" the man asked with a chuckle.

"Correct, and the filling is Silkmother meat," Billy replied.

"Whatever…" The man shrugged, responding dismissively, then added, "Let's get to the point of your visit."

"Alas… new clothes are better than old, but old friends are better than new…" Billy said with a sigh. "Just visiting an old acquaintance, must there be another reason? We did study under the same master, after all, making us fellow disciples… Why must you be so…"

"Spare me the theatrics." The Warden interrupted Billy irritably, turning and glaring at him.

"Just looking at you makes me angry…" The Warden said coldly. "I'll never forget what 'that old geezer' said before he kicked me out… 'You're just a sadist, while Billy is an artist. You can only inflict pain, but he can bring salvation'… Hmph… the ultimate insult."

As he spoke, he took a light step forward, jumping off Hope Sea Reef and landing in front of the tricycle.

Up close, the Warden's appearance as a God of the Warden Clan was nearly identical to a human. He was around 1.9 meters tall, of medium build, with pale skin and long gray hair draped over his shoulders. He had a serious face, with a broad forehead, wide face, cold eyes, a bulbous nose, thick lips, and a wide chin… and a very Mexican-style, curled mustache.

"That old geezer could never have imagined…" the Warden continued from before, "That years later, I'd become one of the gods in the multiverse, Time Lord's most capable assistant, the chief designer of Chew Demon Island; and you… just a piece of trash fallen into chaos, a fugitive. Even before you became a fugitive, you were just a juror in the Court of Truth." He sneered, "Hmph… the ultimate irony."

"I… really just came to visit you…" Billy continued. "Why do you have to say all that…"

"Ha!" The Warden interrupted. "Is that so… I never realized we had that kind of relationship, where we could visit each other…" He stroked his mustache, looked down at Billy, and snorted coldly, "Though 'from the same master,' we've never been on the same path, have we? Even your idiot little brother can see that."

"Watch your words." Billy's tone turned cold.

"Ah… sorry." The Warden leaned down, bringing his face close to Billy's. "Your little brother isn't an idiot, he's a big idiot…"

"After more than a century apart, your ability to be obnoxious has grown," Billy said gravely, his eyes flashing strangely, as if he was about to kill.

But… he restrained himself.

"Hmph… never mind." Suddenly, Billy withdrew his murderous intent and said calmly, "Anyway, you don't have much time left…"

"Ha?" The Warden straightened up again, looking suspicious. "What did you say?"

"Hehe…" Billy smiled. "You'll know soon enough…" With that, he turned the tricycle around and pedaled towards Bill.

"What's he up to…" The Warden muttered thoughtfully, then shouted loudly at Billy, "You came here just to say a few words of nonsense? What's the point? What exactly do you mean?"

Billy still didn't answer, he just said without looking back, "Whether you appreciate it or not… out of fellow disciplehood, I'll give you two more pieces of advice… First, don't trust appearances; second, never underestimate that guy who's even better at being obnoxious than you are…"

…

Switching perspectives, let's return to the players.

After leaving the rest stop, Brother Jue and the others walked leisurely for another hour.

During this time, the light on the surrounding crystals dimmed, until… finally, they stopped emitting light altogether. The sky above them, showing the "reflection" of Chew Demon Island, had also turned pitch black.

Of course, that was nothing. In Brother Jue's eyes, who always prepared for the worst, it was all within expectations.

But the problem was… after it "got dark," something even stranger happened…

Without knowing when… an eye appeared in the dark sky.

Yes, one eye, not a pair…

It was a giant white eye, its socket and sclera flickering faintly like burning white flames, and its pupil was an amber vertical line.

All creatures (including players) in the Crystal Labyrinth, no matter where they were or what angle they looked up at the sky, felt as if this eye was staring at them…

When they first discovered it, the four players were on guard for a while, fearing that a ray of some sort would spray down from the sky… but after observing for a few minutes, they realized that the eye wasn't doing anything, perhaps it was just a means for the system to create pressure…

"I say… it's a little too quiet around here…" Little Ma murmured, walking in the middle of the group.

"It was this quiet during the day too," Honghu replied, bringing up the rear. "It's just that when there's plenty of light, people rely more on their sight, so you didn't notice."

"Speaking of sight…" Atobe said from the front, "Do you think… the eye in the sky could be the 'Eye of Gaze'?" (Earlier, Feng Bujue had learned the names of all four guards from Fuling and told his teammates.)

"Not necessarily," Brother Jue, who was at the very front, said with a half-joking tone, turning his head. "Maybe it's Sauron (a fictional character in Tolkien's novels; here, Brother Jue is naturally referring to the spirit Sauron in the Third Age, who often appeared in the form of an eye) with cataracts, or… just a set piece that looks like an eyeball."

"What… you've used up all the Journey to the West references, now you're going to do Lord of the Rings?" Atobe replied, squinting his eyes. "Countless criticisms about Frodo and Sam's BL relationship are already bubbling at your lips, aren't they!"

"I'm just using jokes to lighten the mood," Feng Bujue said. "We've been wandering aimlessly for an hour, still making no progress; coupled with this oppressive atmosphere, it's easy to lose focus."

"Your rambling is what's causing us to lose focus…" Atobe retorted.

"Heh…" Feng Bujue sneered, turning back to glance at his teammates. "Were you not rambling before I spoke?" He paused, as if giving them time to think. "Perhaps you haven't realized it yet… the environment has already begun to affect you. From the moment the surroundings completely darkened, the longest period of silence between you lasted only three minutes. Think back carefully… every three minutes, you can't help but say a few words of useless nonsense to ease your tension. That's because… if you remain silent, the darkness and quiet will start to disturb your thoughts, gradually increasing your sense of fear."

"Listening to you… do you feel nothing in the dark and silence?" Atobe replied.

"Well… hehehe…" Feng Bujue used the hehehe technique, evasively dodging the question with a sly smile.

"Alright, I understand your meaning," Honghu interjected. "In short… being silent makes you overthink, talking too much distracts you. And appropriate conversation… can maintain a good mental state."

"That's right," Feng Bujue nodded. "So we should talk every two minutes or so…"

Suddenly, he stopped talking and stopped walking.

"Hey." Brother Jue's tone suddenly changed, he had undoubtedly seen something. "Ahead… there seems to be something…"

Hearing this, the teammates stepped forward.

Following the light of the Composite Anti-Gravity Catapult, they all looked ahead and saw… a swaying black shadow.

The shadow floated in the air, with a rope around its neck. Because it was far away, the players could only see a human-shaped outline, but they didn't know what it would look like up close. However… they all knew that, according to the game's usual tendencies, getting closer would definitely trigger a jump scare…

"This shouldn't be a suicide by hanging, right…" Little Ma lowered his voice and muttered softly.

"How do you know?" Atobe also asked quietly.

"There's no stool beside him," Little Ma replied.

"It's normal not to have a stool," Feng Bujue said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "His feet are a good two meters off the ground, is he hanging himself on a lifeguard's lookout chair? Also… look at the rope around his neck, the other end of the rope is tied directly to the crystal high up, instead of looping around the crystal and then being knotted… so, according to my deduction, there are two possibilities. One is suicide, the process being… he first climbed up the crystal pillar, put one end of the rope around his neck, tied the other end to the crystal pillar, and then jumped off from there. The second is murder… then there are many ways to do it…"

"Can you two stop it already!" Honghu lowered his voice and sternly interrupted their nonsense. "Is this the time to play detective? What suicide or murder? The method and form are irrelevant! This is obviously some kind of triggerable event! Be serious!"

"Well, that makes sense." Feng Bujue's expression turned serious, and he nodded. "Alright… I'll go scout ahead and feel things out, you guys wait here for me."

"Oh… I didn't expect you to volunteer in the face of such a creepy scene…" Atobe asked.

"Ha, what's there to be afraid of?" Feng Bujue smiled easily. "It's just a hanging corpse, how scary can it be?"

"Alright, you've got guts!" Pegasus Across the Sky turned his thick-browed, big-eyed face and patted Brother Jue on the shoulder.

"Oh? You said 'guts'~ is that so?" Feng Bujue turned around and looked at Little Ma with a malicious glint in his eyes.

"Yeah, just pretend I didn't say anything…" Pegasus Across the Sky instinctively sensed the smell of conspiracy.

But how could Brother Jue let him go…

Feng Bujue turned around and put his hand on Pegasus Across the Sky's shoulder, pushing him forward a few steps. "Good! As a hero who has even more guts than me, you must be eager to go! Just… grab whatever you have and charge up there, we'll cover you from behind."

"That line sounds familiar… wait, why is it me first… ah…" Little Ma was pushed out before he could finish speaking.

He didn't know why, after a few completely natural conversations, he had become the pathfinder…

Whirr… whirr…

The corpse hanging in the air was still swaying, making some sounds. It sounded like the wind rustling through clothes, or perhaps the taut rope…

The closer he got to the corpse, the more obvious the sound became.

After walking about twenty steps, Pegasus Across the Sky could no longer hear his teammates' breathing or whispers. He could only hear the strange sounds coming from the corpse, and his own breathing…

"Hoo… it's okay, it's just a dead person." Pegasus Across the Sky's pace slowed, and he muttered to himself. "I've seen at least eighty to a hundred dead people in Thriller Paradise, I've seen hanging corpses in movies at least eighty to a hundred times… what's there to be afraid of…" His words sounded more and more like self-consolation. "As a hero, how can I retreat here…"

After walking another twenty steps, Little Ma had reached within five meters of his target.

Although the corpse's face was always obscured by hair and couldn't be seen clearly, Pegasus Across the Sky kept his flashlight raised high, shining the light on the corpse's head as he approached. Because Little Ma had a strange intuition, as if… as soon as he moved the light away, the corpse would sneak a glance at him.