Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 348 The fragrance disappears and the jade dies
The fishing boat struggled through the raging storm and towering waves, its target the distant, barely visible, death ferry.

However, no matter how the old fisherman adjusted the direction or turned the engine to its maximum, in Gao Gongwei's eyes, the rusty giant ship remained as unattainable as a mirage.

It stands quietly at the end of the wind and rain, as if it exists in another parallel space, visible but unattainable.

"As expected, we can't get close to it at all!" Takamiya Yui cried out in despair, her voice weak in the wind and rain, "It...it's not even on our 'level'!"

Neither Jiang Jin nor Yu Tianlun were surprised; the Death Ferry's true form was likely located in the Interdimensional Layer.

Realizing that forcibly approaching would be futile and might even trigger unforeseen dangers, Yu Tianlun decisively ordered: "Return! Go back to Izu Oshima first!"

However, when they turned their boat around in an attempt to find their way home, something even more terrible happened.

The compass spun wildly, losing its direction.

Looking around, all that could be seen was an endless, raging ocean and torrential rain.

The outline of Izu Oshima, along with any land landmarks that could serve as reference points, completely disappeared into the rain and the horizon!

They seemed to have stumbled into an absolute body of water forgotten by the world!
“We…we’re lost!” Lian De’s voice trembled as he glanced at his Reincarnator watch. “We’ve entered the Lost Layer!”

Yu Tianlun quickly took out his Yin-Yang compass, but the compass needle was trembling erratically and could not point to any definite direction. The sky was also completely covered by thick dark clouds, making it impossible to determine direction by the stars or the sun.

They were trapped in the Lost Layer above the sea!

In this chaotic and spatially disorienting sea, they may never find their way back, and will either end up as fish food or be trapped and starved to death in this sea of ​​despair.

"let me."

Just as everyone was filled with despair, Yang Jian stepped forward. His expression remained indifferent, but his five scarlet ghost eyes opened at the same time!

A strange and powerful crimson light suddenly spread out from him!
The fifth level of the Ghost Realm, open!

In an instant, the sea around the fishing boat was enveloped by a layer of intense, crimson light!

This light forcibly distorted the surrounding rules, forcefully covering the chaotic space.

In the perception of the Ghost Realm, the coordinates of the Materialist Layer appeared like a lighthouse in the darkness.

Yang Jian controlled the Ghost Domain, and the scarlet light cleaved through the illusion like a sharp sword, forcibly creating a short path to the materialistic Izu Island in the chaotic Lost Layer!

"Follow the direction indicated by the red light and proceed at full speed!" Jiang Jin immediately ordered the fisherman who had been cursed.

Like arrows released from a bow, the fishing boats strode forward across the sea along the relatively stable "channel" carved out by that crimson ghost realm!

After an unknown amount of time, when the blurry outline of Izu Oshima finally appeared in front of them, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if they had survived a disaster.

……

Exhausted and soaked to the bone by rain and seawater, the group returned to the guesthouse where they had previously stayed.

Outside the window, the typhoon had officially made landfall. The wind howled, the rain poured down, and the sky seemed to be completely shattered. The boundless darkness seemed to be swallowing the entire island, casting a heavy shadow over the hearts of everyone in the Nirvana team.

Back in the relatively safe indoor environment, everyone felt completely exhausted.

Taking a hot shower in turn to dispel the biting chill became the most urgent need at that moment.

“The Death Ferry has appeared so clearly,” a shadow fell over Yu Tianlun’s heart. “I hope it won’t turn out like the [Night Parade of One Hundred Demons] from back then…”

Following the principle of ladies first, Xu Yinqiu was the first to enter the bathroom.

She turned on the showerhead, adjusted the water temperature, and the warm water flow washed over her cold, stiff skin, slightly relieving her mental and physical exhaustion.

She closed her eyes, letting the water slide down her cheeks, trying to wash away the fear and helplessness she had felt in the Lost Layer ocean.

To be honest, she feels very heavy-hearted right now.

Will I be able to successfully escape the [Midnight Ring] horror instance this time?

As she washed, she sensed something was wrong.

What you're stepping on is no longer smooth tiles, but something... slippery and rough.

She looked down in confusion...

Near the shower drain, a large amount of long, black, wet hair had somehow accumulated!
The hair, like living seaweed, was tangled together, almost clogging the drain, and was still gushing out of the sewer at a visible speed!
A chilling coldness instantly shot from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, and Xu Yinqiu's blood almost froze!

She doesn't have severe hair loss, so this definitely can't be her own hair!

Sadako Yamamura!

The terrifying name flashed through her mind instantly! Terrified, Xu Yinqiu immediately turned off the tap, ignoring the water droplets and soap still clinging to her clothes. She grabbed a nearby towel, wrapped it haphazardly, and rushed towards the bathroom door. She had to get out of this dangerous place immediately!
However, when she rushed to the frosted glass door and reached for the handle, her movements suddenly froze.

Through the blurry glass door, she could clearly see a distorted, blurry figure standing quietly and silently in the dim light outside, blocking the only exit!
The figure's long hair fell down, and its silhouette slowly overlapped with the image in the videotape and the legendary terrifying being...

Despair, like the cold downpour outside the window, instantly overwhelmed her.

Xu Yinqiu immediately took out the talisman from her watch, but the next moment, the talisman fell to the ground and rolled away.

She turned her head to look, only to find that a large amount of hair covered the rune stone, and then... the rune stone completely disappeared without a trace!

"Commander! Jiang Jin! Li Shang!"

She screamed at the top of her lungs, but her phone was no longer with her.

There was no reaction from outside.

She glanced at her watch; the SAN value had dropped to 38%.

She knew she couldn't escape.

In the final moments of her life, past memories flashed uncontrollably through her mind like a revolving lantern…

She was reminded of her childhood.

My mother died early, and my father later married my stepmother Li Qin, who soon gave birth to my younger sister Yin Dong.

Li Qin always treated her stepdaughter with indifference, maintaining a distance between them. Later, her father also passed away due to illness, and her relationship with her stepmother reached a freezing point. Fortunately, she still had her younger sister, Yin Dong.

In this not-so-warm family, the two sisters, Yinqiu and Yindong, are each other's only support and comfort.

Yinqiu studied hard and was admitted to medical school, hoping to be able to take better care of her younger sister in the future.

She recalled the turning point that changed her life.

Because of an unintentional and extremely accidental violation of the monthly rules, she was sent to Blue Rainbow Academy by the cleaner, and then entered a low-difficulty Korean horror dungeon called [Zheng Ling].

Thanks to her medical knowledge and calm mind, she survived and became a professional incantation healer.

In the early stages of struggling to survive in various terrifying dungeons, she met Dr. Lin Yelin.

Dr. Lin is quite famous in real life. As a psychiatric authority, he conducted a mental evaluation for Chen Zhiming, the infamous "Rainy Night Butcher" who committed indiscriminate killings. Ultimately, he was found to have serious mental problems and was exempted from criminal punishment.

This decision sparked enormous social controversy and outrage from the victims' families. Later, Zhang Yongnian, a relative of one of the victims who also suffered from schizophrenia, broke into the Lin family home and brutally murdered Lin Ye's wife and children. Devastated by the loss of his family, the forestry doctor suffered a mental breakdown, drifting aimlessly into self-imposed exile and becoming a reincarnation.

Xu Yinqiu had helped Dr. Lin several times out of sympathy for him. Dr. Lin, in turn, was a member of the "Dawn Team" formed by Yu Tianlun. It was through Lin Ye's recommendation that Xu Yinqiu, with her medical background and expertise in traditional Chinese medicine, was able to join Dawn Team as their team doctor.

She followed Yu Tianlun and the Chenxi team, facing life and death together, traversing bizarre and perilous dungeons. Time and again they fought side by side, escaping death time and time again. She witnessed firsthand Yu Tianlun's responsibility, wisdom, and strength as the team leader, and that admiration gradually transformed into a deep dependence and worship, ultimately turning into an unspeakable, deeply buried love.

She recalled that when the [Night Parade of One Hundred Demons] meme incident broke out, most Japanese horror dungeons experienced a chain reaction of collapses. That was the most devastating loss the Dawn team had ever suffered. A "death ferry" even appeared within the dungeon, with countless powerful monsters and evil spirits going berserk.

Team members fell one by one, and she herself was on the verge of death several times. It was Yu Tianlun who turned the tide and prevented the containment of the memes from failing. After that nightmare, very few of the original members from the early days remained. And not long ago, Dr. Lin also died in a completely rule-based instance.

When Su Yuan disregarded past feelings and expelled Yu Tianlun from the team, she stepped forward without hesitation and left with him.

The past events are still vivid in my mind, as if they happened yesterday.

The fact that she has been able to stay by Yu Tianlun's side and fight alongside him until now is perhaps the greatest blessing of fate.

As she watched the increasingly clear and closer distorted white figure outside the frosted glass door, feeling the sudden drop in temperature and the suffocating resentment around her, Xu Yinqiu's face revealed a sorrowful yet relieved smile.

She summoned the last of her strength, and the gentle healing aura of her profession of incantation medicine shone on her as she made a final struggle to escape to the safe material world.

However, when that halo came into contact with the deeper, colder darkness seeping in from outside the door, it flickered and dimmed like a candle in the wind, and finally went out completely.

The difference in rank and the overwhelming power of the rules were fully demonstrated at this moment.

A pale hand pushed open the frosted glass door...

The cold, the bone-chilling cold, instantly froze her thoughts, her soul.

The light in Xu Yinqiu's eyes quickly dimmed, and her body slumped softly onto the cold, damp bathroom floor, mingling with her tangled long black hair.

The bathroom lights went out with a snap.

Only the roar of the storm outside the window continued unabated.

The team doctor for the Dawn team, Zhu Youxu, tragically passed away during this match...

(End of this chapter)