Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 228 Three Chimneys
Jiang Jin knelt on one knee, supporting Feng Ya's gradually cooling body, his eyes filled with disbelief.

A seasoned and powerful LV4 peak reincarnator was actually killed by a LV3 sorcerer's dying curse!
This ultimate curse of the flying head, costing the caster's soul eternal damnation, was indeed terrifyingly vicious and penetrating, capable of forcibly breaking through the domain's defenses and taking a life. Of course, it was also because Feng Ya had lowered his class to LV3; otherwise, he might not have died.

Just then, black, foul-smelling blood began to gush from Feng Ya's mouth. His life force was rapidly fading, and his eyes began to glaze over.

Jiang Jin gripped the judge's pen tightly, feeling as if it weighed a thousand pounds.

This is not just a powerful tool, but also a weighty entrustment and expectation.

"And..." Feng Ya's breath grew weaker and weaker, and he raised his other hand with difficulty, pointing to the Reincarnator's Watch on his wrist, "The Skull Key after my death... I also... I'm giving it to you... I hope... I hope it can help you... grow into... a truly... powerful hunter..."

His gaze was unfocused, as if he were looking into the distant past. Finally, a last shred of determination gathered, and he gripped Jiang Jin's arm tightly: "Ye Xiu... Commander Ye... saved my life... please... you must... save him... and... kill Li Yuanxiu... that... beast... please..."

"I promise you." Jiang Jin stared into Feng Ya's eyes, which were gradually losing their luster, and solemnly promised, word by word, "I will definitely save Captain Ye Xiu, and I will definitely kill Li Yuanxiu."

Having received such kindness from the other party, he should naturally fulfill Fengya's last wish!

Upon hearing this promise, Feng Ya seemed to show a relieved smile on his face, then his arm fell limply to the side, his head lolled to the side, and he completely lost his life.

Then, the Reincarnator's Watch on his wrist emitted a faint light, its shape rapidly twisting and changing before finally solidifying into a skull key, which clattered to the cold ground.

Jiang Jin silently picked up the skull key that belonged to Feng Ya, then walked to the place where the ancient broken mountain had been completely annihilated and picked up another skull key that was equally eerie but had a completely different style from the sorcerer's skull key.

With the two keys in hand, he glanced at Gao Gongwei beside him, who was still in shock and pale-faced, and said in a deep voice, "Go! Follow the path the white-robed monk pointed out and leave this place!"

Sure enough, as they followed the path pointed out by the white-robed monk, the suffocating and maddening sense of distortion around them gradually weakened, and the SAN value displayed on Jiang Jin's watch began to rise slowly and laboriously... 55%... 58%... Finally, it stabilized at 60%, returning to the mysterious layer!

The next second, they found themselves standing on a familiar corridor of Lanruo Temple, with the cool moonlight shining down and the faint sounds of chanting and wooden fish coming from afar.

They're back!
However, almost the instant he returned to the mysterious layer, Jiang Jin suddenly turned around, his movements as fast as lightning, and the cold muzzle of the Mourning Shotgun in his hand was already accurately pressed against Gao Gongwei's forehead!
Deathstroke also roared at Takamiya Yui, but because her SAN had recovered to 60%, Takamiya Yui, who was not a hunter, naturally couldn't see it.

Gao Gongwei froze instantly, her hands instinctively rising to her feet: "Mr. Jiang! What are you doing?!"

Jiang Jin's eyes were sharp as an eagle's, filled with undisguised vigilance and scrutiny: "Although I believe you to some extent for now, your background is too strange. You are a Japanese reincarnator, and you were with the old core reincarnators before. I'm afraid I can hardly believe you."

Although the reincarnators from China and Japan are currently allies, Jiang Jin had only previously interacted with the reincarnators from Musashi's team, and it was difficult for him to fully trust them.

Gao Gongwei looked at the dangerous gun barrel in front of him and Jiang Jin's sharp eyes, a bitter and helpless expression on his face.

He took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind:

“Mr. Jiang, now that things have come to this, I will no longer hide it from you. I was recently infected with memes in the Edo Special District and only recently became a reincarnator. I am currently just a level 1 samurai page. I was controlled by the Old Core Organization in the [Deserter's House] horror instance, where they are conducting meme contamination experiments…”

"Meme contamination experiment?" Jiang Jin frowned deeply; this word made him extremely uneasy.

“Yes!” Gao Gongwei nodded vigorously, his face filled with anxiety and fear. “They said that this kind of experiment can even affect reality. I’m very worried… extremely worried about the situation in the Edo Special Zone! I suspect that the recent landing of the walking fish was also their doing! Those lunatics in the Old Core, they work closely with the Insect Nest team, and nobody knows what they’re planning! One of the main reasons they are so interested in Lanruo Temple and sent me to investigate is to find out why this place can naturally repel Gu worms! They want to find the source or principle of this power!”

Jiang Jin listened quietly, his eyes shifting uncertainly.

“I will verify your words.” Jiang Jin slowly lowered his hunting rifle, but the vigilance in his eyes did not lessen in the slightest. “But now, you must come with me. First, find Commander Yu, and he will decide whether you stay or leave.”

Gao Gongwei seemed relieved, but when he heard that he was going to see Yu Tianlun, he became a little nervous. In the end, he nodded and said, "I understand... I am willing to accept any scrutiny."

It's a pity that Liu Yan didn't come in with her, otherwise she could have used the Mind-Reading Leech to investigate whether Gao Gongwei was lying.

At the same time, a thought struck him, and he took out the skull key from his pocket, which he had obtained from the ancient Broken Mountain and which exuded a cold and eerie aura. The key was shaped like a small finger bone, with a painfully twisted ghost face carved at the top. It was icy to the touch, as if countless vengeful spirits were wailing inside it.

He focused his mind, pointed the key forward, and summoned the skull treasure chest.

Soon, a box appeared that seemed to be pieced together from ebony and some kind of animal bone.

The box was covered with a layer of dark moss that seemed to writhe slowly, as if alive. A tightly closed, shriveled human eyeball was embedded in the center of the lid, surrounded by dense, dizzying Southeast Asian black magic runes. The entire box emitted a pungent, nauseating stench of corpse oil and herbs.

As expected, the skull treasure chests of reincarnators of different professions all have different designs.

Without hesitation, Jiang Jin inserted the skull key into the keyhole below the eyeball on the box lid.

Twist gently.

"Click."

With a soft click, the lid of the box popped open automatically. The embedded eyeball snapped open, revealing a murky pupil, which rolled eerily before quickly withering and turning to ash.

The box was lined with black velvet, and only three items were placed on it:

A bizarrely shaped little straw figure: the straw figure is tightly wrapped in jet-black hair, with a thin, rusty coffin nail stuck in its heart, and a blurry name written in blood on its back (the handwriting is too illegible to be recognized), exuding a strong aura of resentment and curse.

A dark red earthenware jar about the size of a thumb: the mouth of the jar is tightly sealed, but when you hold it in your hand, you can faintly feel something wriggling slightly inside.

A tattered ancient scroll: made of some kind of animal hide, with dark brown text and patterns written in what appears to be dried blood, recording several extremely insidious and evil black magic spells, including incomplete secrets of the "flying head curse" and various horrifying curses.

Jiang Jin couldn't help but feel regretful; these were all tools used exclusively by sorcerers and reincarnators...

He actually prefers to acquire tools that can control rule pollution and even create rules within the realm of rules.

"What a pity……"

At the same time, outside the gate of Lanruo Temple, inside that hidden tent.

With a pale face, Jin Shumei held her phone and gave a detailed account to Blood Lord of the horrific experience she had just witnessed—when her teammate Alan was swallowed by the laptop screen.

"Captain, that darkness... is alive! It's some kind of being with clear consciousness and malice! It... it can even attack through surveillance footage! The horror of Lanruo Temple... far exceeds our previous estimates!" Her voice was still filled with lingering fear.

As an expert, she knew very well that this kind of spatial curse was no ordinary matter!
This newly appeared horror dungeon is more dangerous than expected!

On the other end of the communicator, Blood Lord listened silently, his expression extremely solemn as he remained in the Nightmare Street instance.

After a long silence, he replied in a deep voice, "I understand. If the situation becomes critical and out of control, I authorize you to use the team's return-to-base item and lead the team back immediately. Safety first. Notify Zhou Chen and Qin Mei to be extremely careful."

"Yes, Commander!" Jin Shumei breathed a slight sigh of relief. Now that the commander had agreed to use the return-to-town item, she finally felt a little safer.

After ending the communication, Blood Lord slowly raised his left arm.

On his strong forearm, there were three deep, black scratches that revealed the bone!

The muscles around the scratches showed an unnatural state of atrophy and necrosis, and there were even tiny, twisted black granulation tissues trying to wriggle and grow.

A chilling, corrupting force was stubbornly eroding his body, and even with his peak LV4 strength, he couldn't expel it in a short time. "Hmph... Freddy..." Blood Lord snorted coldly, but his tone carried a hint of barely perceptible apprehension, "As expected of a Ghost King who is already in the 'Annihilation Layer,' in this Western-style horror dungeon, his troublesome and terrifying nature is probably close to that legendary existence—Alessa of Silent Hill."

He knew all too well that Alessa was a demon representing extreme resentment and a distortion of rules, a being that even LV5 reincarnators would find troublesome and terrifying. Freddy, though slightly inferior, was definitely one of the most dangerous enemies he had ever encountered.

Of course, different classes will generally encounter Freddy in different layers of contamination, and only he can enter and encounter the Nightmare King in the Annihilation layer. The dungeon that Old Chen entered back then was not nearly as dangerous.

"Captain, it's time for treatment." A clear and melodious voice rang out. A beautiful and sweet-looking young woman walked over. Her name was Georgia, a typical Western name, but she was a genuine Chinese woman, one of the Bloodstained Team's medics, a Reincarnator specializing in corrupting the rules of the game.

"Hmm." Blood Lord stretched out his injured arm.

Georgia's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly when she saw the horrific wound. She muttered incantations, and a soft, milky-white light gathered at her fingertips, mixing with a special ointment, which she gently applied to the wound. The writhing black granulation tissue, upon encountering the white light, immediately emitted a faint hissing sound and gradually withered.

Just as Georgia was focused on treatment, Blood Owl's sharp gaze swept towards the doorway, and he raised his voice: "Aurora!"

Another female team member guarding the door pushed it open and entered. She was wearing close-fitting leather armor, had a cold demeanor, and had many strangely shaped dolls and wooden carvings engraved with cursed runes hanging from her waist.

She is Aurora, a sorcerer skilled in various curses, black magic, and anti-curse techniques. Like Georgia, she is a Chinese reincarnator with a Western name.

"What's the situation outside?" Blood Lord asked.

"Things are relatively calm for now, Captain," Aurora replied. "The frequency of nightmares seems to have decreased somewhat."

"That's good……"

Blood Lord breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the wound on his forearm gradually fade.

“Rules of pollution… I originally thought that by enduring more rules of pollution, I could experience the essence of pollution and finally… break through to LV5 in one fell swoop.”

Then, he looked in a certain direction outside the window.

"But it's no use..."

“Captain, don’t worry,” Georgia said, holding Blood Lord’s hand. “As long as you persevere in your cultivation, you will eventually begin to get closer to those three chimneys.”

Three chimneys...

For all those who have reincarnated in the Muxu Market, this is the gold standard for determining whether they are capable of advancing to LV5.

What kind of reincarnator can be called a near-LV5? It's someone who can truly... get close to those legendary three chimneys!

"This road is too difficult to travel."

Blood Lord sighed.

He knew this was the price he paid for using forbidden techniques and forcing growth back then. He was still far from reaching LV5; he hadn't even scratched the surface!

LV4 peak, near LV5, and true LV5 are three realms with differences as vast as heaven and earth!

Back then, although Lady Pustules was always unwilling to let him serve as the vice-captain, she still recognized his talent as a Soul Stealer and was willing to provide him with resources.

However, Lady Baiye's daughter, Bai Miya, is also a Soul Master, but she's a complete idiot!

Resources are limited. If we want to enable her daughter to advance to LV3 or even LV4 Soul Stealer, we must make Blood Lord, who is also a Soul Stealer like her daughter, disappear! Only then will the resources originally allocated to him, those resentment crystal fragments, be given to Bai Miya!

Without resources, he had no choice but to resort to forbidden techniques and even kill other reincarnators.

The path to advancement for reincarnators is a matter of progress or regression! Resources don't fall from the sky!
Especially for myself, who bears such a filthy stigma!

Women never need any evidence to falsely accuse men, after all... "What woman would use her own innocence to falsely accuse someone else?" Moreover, Madam Baiye could add, "What mother would use her own and her daughter's innocence to falsely accuse someone else?"

Even today, many people secretly ridicule Blood Lord, spreading rumors that he is heartless and insane, pursuing Bai Mia while also molesting Lady Bai Ye! Many people regard him as a perverted lecher, a scumbag among men.

Over time, he realized that no matter how he clarified things, no one believed him.

He once believed in monogamy, but he completely let himself go and treated women as mere playthings, never showing any genuine affection, not even for Bernadette, who was always sincere to him.

Thinking of this, Blood Lord suddenly pulled Georgia and Aurora in front of him and hugged them onto his lap.

"Commander, Commander..." The two women were startled and hurriedly said, "This, this place is not appropriate, is it?"

"We won't actually fight, so what are you worried about?" Blood Lord said coldly. "I've planted soul imprints on you all, so I'm free to do whatever I want."

"Yes Yes……"

At that moment, Blood Lord's expression suddenly changed!
In the corners of the room, in the cracks of the floor, in the vents… without anyone noticing, a vast number of densely packed, brightly colored, and grotesque Gu worms had silently crawled out! Some resembled centipedes but had human faces, some looked like spiders but had swollen abdomens oozing pus, and some resembled fleas but shimmered with a metallic sheen…

At that moment, it surged towards the three people in the room like a tidal wave!
"This Gu worm?!" Blood Lord's eyes flashed with cold light. "It's Li Yuanxiu!"

Although Li Yuanxiu is only a LV3 sorcerer, his sorcery allows him to fight across levels, and his actual combat strength is comparable to that of a LV4 reincarnator!
"He didn't go to the Lanruo Temple instance after all!" Blood Lord immediately assessed the situation and shouted, "Aurora! Prepare your Curse skill! Georgia, assist with Purification! Hold this place!"

"Yes!" the two women answered in unison.

Aurora immediately removed the cursed doll and wooden carving from her waist and began chanting obscure incantations. An invisible, malevolent aura spread out from her, and the Gu worms at the forefront seemed to crash into an invisible wall, their bodies stiffening, exploding, or killing each other.

Georgia also formed hand seals, and a soft, white light of incantation enveloped the Blood Lord and herself, forming a purifying barrier to resist the poison and curse brought by the Gu worms.

Of course, the most terrifying thing about Gu worms is their ominous and corrupting ability, not to mention that this is the genius Li Yuanxiu!
Despite the excruciating pain from his arm injury and the interference of the corrupted rules, Blood Lord coldly stared at the surging tide of Gu worms before him.

Several hundred meters away from the house, several Gu worms crawled into a car through the window, bringing with them Blood Lord's cell phone.

The person sitting in the driver's seat was none other than Li Yuanxiu!

He sent a message to Jin Shumei via his mobile phone: All members of the Bloody Team must find out the secret of the Gu worms in Lanruo Temple before they can leave, and the use of any return-to-city items is prohibited!
Then, he looked at the room where Blood Lord was and said coldly, "Blood Lord, you inhuman demon deserve to die long ago. Today, I will punish you for the sake of all men! Soon, your subordinates in the Lanruo Temple instance will also join you!"

Meanwhile, inside Lanruo Temple, Jiang Jin, accompanied by Gao Gongwei, cautiously made their way through the night-shrouded corridors towards Yu Tianlun's residence.

"It seems that the white-robed monk will be of help to us..."

However, Jiang Jin still had some concerns.

My ability to tamper with the rules is now in its cooldown phase.

Hopefully, nothing serious will happen in the next 12 hours...

(End of this chapter)