Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 356 The Ancient Well Leading Directly to the Annihilation Layer

Jiang Jin walked to the edge of the ancient well that had appeared out of nowhere, and Lian Xuan immediately handed him a powerful flashlight. He took it, turned it on, and shone it downwards.

However, the light seemed to be swallowed by a black hole, unable to illuminate even an inch of the scene below the well. There was only a chilling, pure darkness, as if the well connected to the nothingness of the universe.

Jiang Jin then took out the Blood Eater Crow wood carving from the Reincarnator's Watch.

The wood carving came to life, transforming into a blood-eating crow with glossy black feathers.

With a thought, Jiang Jin caused the crow to let out a hoarse cry and fly into the well.

However, the crow had barely flown a meter into the well when it seemed to have hit an invisible wall, or rather, its "activity" was forcibly erased by some rule.

It let out a short, mournful cry, its form instantly disintegrating, transforming back into the dull wooden carving, and returning to Jiang Jin's Reincarnator Watch space.

“Even the blood-eating crows can’t get deep enough…” Jiang Jin’s face was grim.

Lian Xuan, acting as a medium, also walked to the well. He closed his eyes and cautiously probed the well with his spiritual power, which resembled tentacles.

A moment later, he suddenly opened his eyes, his face deathly pale. He staggered back a few steps, his voice filled with barely suppressed fear: "No! We absolutely cannot go in! This well... this well doesn't lead to the underground at all! It... it leads straight to the Annihilation Layer! I can feel that endless silence and chaos, and... 'her' cold will lurking there!"

Straight to the annihilation layer!

This means that Sadako could appear directly in their "home" at any time through this well!

Everyone's expression was extremely grim, and their hearts sank to the bottom.

Yu Tianlun took a deep breath and said, "We absolutely cannot sit idly by and wait to die! Let's try to seal it!"

His advancement even relied on the shards of resentment, but he still failed to take the final step. Of course, this is normal; failure is always the most probable outcome.

However, although Yu Tianlun has not yet become a true LV4, he is already standing at the peak of near LV4. With his profound shamanistic background, rich combat experience and understanding of rule pollution, his actual combat strength is enough to compete with some weaker newly promoted LV4 powerhouses. He can barely be regarded as a LV4 combat power.

He took out various precious talismans and magical artifacts, using his own blood essence as a guide, intending to set up an extremely complex composite sealing array around the well. Jiang Jin also planned to set up a bloodstain trap, waiting to ambush the prey.

Then, runes, as if alive, moved through the air, forming layers of light nets that attempted to sever the connection between the wellhead and the annihilation layer, thus reinforcing the spatial barrier of this place!
The entire process consumed a great deal of Yu Tianlun's mental and physical energy, and his face grew increasingly pale.

However, just as he cast his final incantation, attempting to activate the entire formation—

"Om!!"

An invisible yet chilling and terrifying force of corrupting rules surged out from the bottom of the well!

Immediately afterwards, all the talismans, magical artifacts, and light nets that Yu Tianlun had painstakingly set up were no match for that power. Instantly, their light dimmed, the runes shattered, and they gradually dissipated into the air!
The powerful backlash caused Yu Tianlun to groan, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. He swayed and nearly collapsed.

"Commander!" everyone exclaimed.

Yu Tianlun waved his hand, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with helplessness: "No... This well is a manifestation of the corruption of rules, and its connection with the annihilation layer is already solid. It cannot be sealed by external force. Our power level... is not high enough."

Even Yu Tianlun's near-LV4 techniques were ineffective!
All eyes turned to the strongest member of the group—Li Shang, a Level 4 sorcerer.

Li Shang silently walked to the well. Unlike Yu Tianlun, he did not attempt to seal it. Instead, he formed more complex and bizarre hand seals and chanted incantations. A sinister, dark, and curse-laden power began to condense.

He attempted to use a more direct and dangerous method, employing black magic to curse the being on the other side of the well, or at least to interfere with its arrival.

However, his face suddenly turned extremely pale when he was only halfway through the incantation. He forcibly stopped the spell and his body swayed almost imperceptibly.

"How is it?" Jiang Jin asked anxiously.

Li Shang took a deep breath, calming the surging power within him and his drastically declining SAN value. His voice was low and deep: "Forcing it... isn't entirely impossible. But the price is... my SAN value will plummet instantly, possibly dropping to 30%, trapping me in the gap between the Lost Layer and the Annihilation Layer, and there's even a slight chance I'll be dragged directly into the well... That wouldn't save everyone, but would immediately create an even more terrifying enemy."

He paused, a hint of lingering fear flashing in his eyes: "The last time I felt so threatened, with my SAN value on the verge of collapse, was that [Terror Cruise] instance."

"【Triangle】?" Jiang Jin had seen this very famous American horror movie and knew it was a desperate story of endless loops. The female protagonist enters a terrifying cruise ship, is then hunted by her future self, and is unaware that she is already dead.

Lian De nodded and said, "I've only seen the short video explanations. It seems to be a time-space chaos theme similar to Steins;Gate. But the plot seems quite complicated, so I can't remember the specifics. I only remember..."

"What?" Jiang Jin asked.

"I only remember that the female lead had a lot of breasts."

Jiang Jin: "..."

Lian Xuan sighed and rubbed his forehead: "Ade, if you don't speak, no one will think you're mute!"

Li Shang's voice trembled slightly: "That cruise ship was essentially a moving annihilation layer, far more terrifying than the movies depicted. We saw... countless corpses of 'ourselves,' piled up like mountains. Even more terrifying, those dead 'us' would repeatedly transform into evil spirits, attacking the still-living 'us.' It was practically a denial of our very existence in the material world and an endless relentless pursuit." Hearing this, Jiang Jin felt a chill run down his spine, recalling the basement in the horror instance of [Happy Birthday, Teacher]. In the annihilation layer, the boundaries between life and death were blurred, and the laws of the material world were almost meaningless.

Based on current intelligence, time is not linear in the annihilation layer; the past, present, and future may be intertwined.

Humans might even witness their past or future selves, intervening in different timelines. Liu Yan told Jiang Jin that the most terrifying of these is the Oshikiri mansion in Red Rust Town, which leads directly to the world of Junji Ito's manga "Oshikiri Ghost Stories." This is the most terrifying Annihilation Layer dungeon in Junji Ito's manga world, where the protagonist, Oshikiri, will come into contact with countless versions of himself—it's extremely terrifying.

Sadako's current ability to curse across time and space is perhaps only at a mid-to-high level among the evil spirits of the Annihilation Layer. She seems to be able to influence the future but has difficulty altering the past timeline. However, her most terrifying aspect is her ability to freely travel between two-dimensional (television) and three-dimensional (reality) space. This dimensional crossing ability is extremely difficult to deal with.

Time ticked by in a climate of tension and fear. Only half an hour remained until the repair technician's scheduled appointment.

Jiang Jin arrived at the entrance of the villa, took a deep breath, and activated [Space-Time Deep Eyes] in his eyes!
He wanted to glimpse what the door would look like half an hour from now, to see what the repair technician would look like in advance, and to prepare accordingly.

His pupils instantly began to regularize, transforming into a kind of annihilation layer's corrupting power, casting his vision towards fragments of the future.

This is the terrifying power of the Resentment Crystal Shard. If Jiang Jin didn't possess the Resentment Crystal Shard, he wouldn't have been able to have such an incredible skill at LV2. Now that he has advanced to the peak of LV3, he can truly feel the terror of the [Space-Time Deep Eye]. It can observe a stable time branch in the annihilation layer even in the material layer, which is truly remarkable.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Jin "saw" himself half an hour later, walking to the entrance hall, reaching out, and slowly opening the villa's door.

But outside the door... there was no one there!
However, in the observation of the Space-Time Deep Eye, the expression on the face of "Future Jiang Jin" after opening the door was not one of confusion at the sight of an empty room, but rather... obvious vigilance, solemnity, and even a hint of barely perceptible astonishment!

His gaze was fixed on the empty space by the door, as if some "being" stood there!
[Space-Time Deep Vision] can observe the future, but cannot observe the repair technician's true form!

Jiang Jin abruptly withdrew his power, his expression turning extremely grim.

"So? What did you see?" Yu Tianlun asked.

Jiang Jin's voice was hoarse: "I saw myself open the door... there was no one outside... but the expression on 'my' face when I opened the door clearly showed that I saw someone! The Space-Time Deep Eye... could not detect the presence of the repair technician!"

These words plunged everyone into an icy abyss!

Unobservable from the future! What does this mean? It means that this "repair technician" exists outside the linear flow of time!

It exists at every point in the past, present, and future, or perhaps it is not bound by the rules of time at all! What a bizarre and terrifying characteristic this is!
Yu Tianlun, having once reached the peak of LV4 and entered the deepest layer of the Annihilation Layer, instantly concluded: "This is definitely caused by a powerful pollution from the Annihilation Layer... Could this so-called 'repair' be detrimental to our altitude?"

Jiang Jin gritted his teeth, thinking: If all else fails, I'm afraid I'll have to change the rules!

Then, something even more chilling happened.

A very faint but clearly audible "buzzing" sound, similar to the sound of a tape moving when playing on an old-fashioned video recorder, began to emanate from many people's bodies!

Yu Tianlun, Lian Xuan, Gao Gongwei and the others all changed their expressions drastically. This voice was actually seeping out directly from under their skin and into their bones!
It was as if they were no longer human, but rather human-shaped, cursed videotapes being played!

There were only three exceptions: Jiang Jin, Lian De, and Asakawa Reiko.

Jiang Jin and Lian De both copied the videotapes themselves, while Lingzi had only watched them for less than 24 hours. It seems that the act of copying temporarily exempted them from this terrible phenomenon of "assimilation."

Lingzi's face was pale. As if to verify something, she dialed the repair number again using the living room phone.

This time, what came through the receiver was clear—"The number you dialed is not in service..."

The number is invalid! With a relatively clear understanding (Reiko's SAN value is currently above 80%), that number simply does not exist!
Li Shang and Yu Tianlun decided to stay in the cold, dark basement to keep a close watch on the eerie ancient well, in case Sadako suddenly crawled out from the annihilation layer.

They knew they had to hold onto the last line of defense for SAN value perception.

However, the reality was devastatingly harsh. After a series of shocks, battles, the deaths of comrades, and the continued erosion of the rules, the SAN values ​​of most team members had plummeted to rock bottom.

Li Shang and Yu Tianlun barely maintained their SAN values ​​at around 33% and 32% thanks to their high levels, while Lian Xuan's SAN value had already locked at the critical point of 30%, his eyes sometimes clear and sometimes unfocused, almost stepping into madness. Gao Gongwei's SAN value was also precarious, at 30.52%, teetering on the edge of collapse.

The entire villa was filled with an eerie atmosphere brought about by an invisible fear.

Everyone feels as if their body no longer completely belongs to them, as if it could be "covered" or "washed away" by some force at any moment.

In this suffocating wait, when the clock finally struck the time the repair technician was scheduled to arrive—

"Boom...boom...boom..."

A clear and rhythmic knocking sound came steadily from outside the villa's entrance door.

The sound wasn't loud, but it struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

The repair technician... is here!
(End of this chapter)