44 Where is She? Boom! (2/2)
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In the smoke, the youth dropped to the floor and covered his mouth with his bloody jacket, taking careful breaths. He took a wine bottle from someone else and poured the remaining alcohol on his jacket. But then, he heard a sharp sound from within the steel cage.
He froze, and looked behind him. This time, he might have failed.
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The cage was also shrouded in opium smoke. The formless ghosts were excitedly feasting on blood and meat, but were bathing in the smoke too. As if they had been dropped into lava, these sensitive monsters screamed immediately. Their screams were so sharp, almost piercing one’s eardrums.
The uproar only ignited them. They crashed wildly against the steel cage. Above them, the runes controlling them flashed continuously, but the color dimmed.
Finally, the empty eyes of a formless ghost went from black to bloody red. Then his body expanded until the cage could no longer control him. And it burst.
An invisible lock seemed to explode under the weight of the heavy smoke. And then a second, and a third until all the formless ghosts had atomized under the high of the hallucinogen!
The steel cage protested, wailing, before it shattered.
Amid the shattering noise, a tidal wave of smoke was swept by the wind, filling the tight space in an instant. It spread in all directions through the sewage system, going off into the darkness.
Ye Qingxuan’s pupils dilated. He had not forgotten what was scariest about the formless ghosts. It was not their power to rip their prey to shreds, nor their need to drink blood.
It was the sound of fear after their atomization!
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In an instant, hundreds of murmurs and whispers sounded from within the smoke. These murmurs seemed to be right next to one’s ear. Like a hand caressing one’s brain, they searched for the nerve of fear, pulling him into the abyss.
Ye Qingxuan’s vision blackened, but the murmurs found a better prey and cast him aside. Only a cold, sticky feeling engulfed him, as if the monster had found something new while still feasting.
On the ground, those hallucinating finally started waking up from their fantasies only to enter a nightmare.
Screams and roars traveled continuously from the smoke. Some tried to escape, but still trapped by their hallucinations, they could not push themselves up. Some tried crawling, but they followed the broken cage and fell into the bubbling well. After struggling, they drowned.
On the ground, Cuozi was still in a beautiful fantasy, flying in the sky.
But then everything changed. Darkness fell from the sky as hundreds of ghosts and demons crawled over. They were indescribably ugly with saliva dripping down, corroding the ground.
”My god…” Cuozi froze. In the blink of an eye, they were onto him, devouring his blood and body. He struggled wildly, screaming, ”Don’t touch me! Help! Help!”
His features twisted, each part squirming on their own, transforming into the face of pure terror. The slightest agitation brought on extreme fear; the slightest touch brought on endless pain.
Ye Qingxuan gazed down on him and sighed softly.
A malevolent shadow lurked in the smoke. His body emanated a bloody aura—his eyes were blood-red and he had two goat-like horns, but his body was rotten, with poisonous snakes and scorpions leeching on it. The shadow seized one neck after another, bellowing something.
It rained blood. As the droplets splattered onto Cuozi, he screamed out, shaking.
Annoyed, the monster swooped in and pinned him to the wall. The wall writhed like bloody meat. Countless poisonous snakes slithered about, wrapping onto Cuozi’s waist, pushing him to his limit.
”Look at my eyes!” the evil spirit roared. Cuozi reflexively stared at his red eyes. The red eyes were like flowing lava, causing palpitations.
”Where’s the girl?!” the evil spirit asked. His voice was raspy, but it echoed like rolling thunder.
”What girl? I don’t know,” Cuozi sniveled. ”Gods, please save me. I repent…”
”This isn’t heaven. There’s no time for repenting!” The evil spirit continued interrogating, ”Where’s the white-haired girl? The girl that Cuozi and Hariti brought back. Where is she?”
”Upstairs! The bedroom on the second floor!” Cuozi screamed. ”Emma said she’ll personally look over her. I swear, this is all I know. Let me go, please let me go, oh God...”
The evil spirit loosened his grip, throwing him onto the ground, watching as countless monsters devoured him.
Bang!
Ye Qingxuan hit the back of Cuozi’s head with the steel hook. He blacked out instantly, but his body still writhed, stuck in an endless nightmare. Perhaps those fantasies would forever remain within his nerves.
If he did not die from visceral spasms, he would probably have to spend the rest of his happy life in the Arkham Asylum.
At least Ye Qingxuan would not go insane and commit suicide. At least he was still alive. He could only comfort himself like that.