Nightmare Despair

Chapter 57 Taking
"Speaking of the secret medicine, many people who come specifically for it end up with nothing."

"But you're different. With my and Uncle Wu's special permission, you can obtain the secret medicine before you formally become an apprentice..."

"The dosage is two doses per week."

As he spoke, Chen Ping took out a simple white porcelain bottle with a narrow neck from his pocket.

He pulled out the cork and poured the contents into his palm.

Zhou Kai's breathing tightened unconsciously.

The whole process was full of ritual, giving him the illusion that he was in some kind of martial arts world.

It evokes a sense of déjà vu, like someone in The Matrix handing out red and blue pills.

But when he saw the true nature of the secret medicine in Chen Ping's hand, his expression involuntarily stiffened.

"Thanks, Senior Brother Chen."

Zhou Kai thanked him and took the two pills.

The touch was icy cold, and an ominous premonition quickly spread through his heart.

This thing... the more I look at it, the more it looks like some kind of insect egg?

The pill was completely black, only the size of a little fingertip, and a smooth oval shape.

This inevitably reminded him of the black hard sphere he had dug out of the head of the Diablo parasite after killing it.

Just in case, he threw everything he had seized into the nursery and purified it with Moonshine Orchid.

Therefore, Zhou Kai had a very deep impression of the shape of that thing.

Chen Ping looked at Zhou Kai with anticipation in his eyes and said, "Try it and see how well it suits you."

"Generally speaking, after taking one pill of the secret medicine, you should wait at least four days before taking it again. However, there are two exceptions."

"The first type is the genius who is naturally resistant to drugs."

"The second one is temporarily none of your business..."

Chen Ping's eager gaze made Zhou Kai's lips twitch subtly a few times.

This medicine doesn't look right at all.

The benefits I've been waiting for...

How could it be this appearance?

Moreover, Chen Ping's eager look of wanting him to swallow it quickly made Zhou Kai feel uneasy.

I hope I'm just overthinking it.

Zhou Kai picked up a pill and applied slight force. The black sugar shell on the outside of the pill shattered, revealing a sticky liquid inside.

A complex herbal aroma, mixed with a hint of fishiness, suddenly entered my nostrils.

Zhou Kai secretly breathed a sigh of relief...

It smells fairly normal.

I guess I was just overthinking it.

The contents of this pill at least conform to his basic understanding of medicine.

Without further hesitation, he tossed the crushed pill directly into his mouth.

"I suggest you wait until you get back, then you can practice your Falcon Strike Technique for a while... The principles are very complex, but it works when the drug takes effect,"

"All martial arts techniques related to the Broken Wing Style can receive a significant boost."

"The secret medicine is the key to advancing martial arts to the second realm, or even higher realms."

Chen Ping stared at Zhou Kai's face, and seeing that his expression didn't change, he added, "Remember, the more intense the body's reaction, the longer the effects of the medicine will last. This means you are more compatible with the secret medicine..."

"This process won't be short; you'll have to manage it yourself."

Zhou Kai had to use almost all his self-control to barely maintain the calm on his face.

He could imagine how terrible his face would look if he didn't control himself.

"Okay, I understand, Senior Brother Chen."

Zhou Kai's eyes held a deep, turbulent undercurrent, as if he had sensed something fundamental. He deliberately avoided Chen Ping's gaze and said, "Senior brother, I should go back... My phone is broken, and I haven't been able to let my family know I'm safe."

"If I don't go back soon, my family will start to worry."

Chen Ping waved his hand, seemingly in a good mood: "Go ahead, and don't forget to test your reaction to the medication."

"remember."

Zhou Kai forced a stiff smile.

He will definitely examine this matter "well".

……

Back at Lu Yan's house.

The takeout that Sister Yanzi ordered was still on the table; it must have been microwaved not long ago, as it was still warm.

She had probably been waiting for too long and had fallen asleep on the table, her breathing even.

"Sister, I'm back." Zhou Kai woke Lu Yan up, had some late-night snack with her, and vaguely covered up what had happened that night in a few words.

Lu Yan felt something was wrong, but she was so sleepy that her eyelids were practically glued together.

Since Zhou Kai was unwilling to say more, she didn't bother to ask further.

As long as people are fine, that's fine.

"Well... I'm going back to sleep now."

"Good night, sister."

Watching Lu Yan stagger back to the bedroom, Zhou Kai's long-maintained calm mask finally crumbled.

"What the hell is this?!"

Zhou Kai held the remaining pill in his pocket between his fingers, his eyes filled with a mixture of fear, panic, and incomprehensible horror.

The impact of this tiny pill on him was no less than when he obtained the engraving or even activated the panel for the first time.

Zhou Kai suppressed the overwhelming nausea and stared intently at the lines of text that had just been refreshed at the bottom of the panel.

[You have taken a strange pill. General experience points +5]

Please note that, for unknown reasons, the erosion you are experiencing has intensified.

A single secret medicine can provide five general experience points.

According to Chen Ping, he receives two coins per week.

That means a stable income of ten universal experience points per week, an income comparable to fighting a nightmare monster with strength equivalent to the limits of a normal human.

But Zhou Kai couldn't be happy no matter what.

"Erosion? Why? How could it be... erosion!"

Poisoning, allergies, or any negative condition would be fine, but why this word that he fears most?

Zhou Kai stared at the panel, his pupils contracting.

The progress bar on the panel, representing the degree of erosion [4/9], was flashing an ominous red light, clearly indicating that it was being advanced.

A possibility he had never imagined suddenly exploded in his mind like a bolt of lightning.

A series of questions he had never seriously considered now surfaced one after another, and were corroborated by irrefutable evidence.

Zhou Kai's breathing became heavy and labored.

In the quiet of the night, he looked at the mysterious pill in his hand, which might have been consumed by Red Star warriors for hundreds, or even thousands of years.

He secretly marveled, "Red Star Martial Arts, could it be... deeply bound to the Nightmare World?"

An indescribable sense of oppression and horror overwhelmed him like icy seawater.

He really, completely, hadn't anticipated this situation.

"this world……"

Zhou Kai recalled the Flash Diram, or rather, Zyr Diram, and the secrets about the Twilight Church that had been told to him.

When the long daylight ends, all living beings will be greeted by an endless, despairing night.

The Limpini Church, dedicated to saving the world, has long since perished, and the entire world... has long been plunged into darkness.

When did the Limpenean Church perish?

How did these so-called Four Realms Ancient Martial Arts come about?

Complex, chaotic...

"However, there's no need to be so pessimistic. Perhaps things aren't as terrible as I think."

Zhou Kai raised his hand and slapped his forehead hard, hoping that the clarity of his mind would pull his out-of-control rationality back.

"Now that the road has been paved, let's keep going."

Even if the end is hell, we'll try to fight our way through.

You need to continue taking your medicine and continuing to practice traditional martial arts.

After accepting this reality, Zhou Kai felt much more at ease.

Because he realized that compared to the vast majority of martial artists who took medicine to practice martial arts and suffered from erosion... he was definitely the luckiest person.

fireplace.

The firelight of the fireplace can slowly dispel decay, although the severe decay brought about by death makes the firelight increasingly ineffective.

But this pill is different; such a slight erosion is nothing to the fireplace.

"This means..."

"If other people can only take two or three secret pills a week at most, then they will reach their limit."

"And I can eat at least five."

Five pills a day!

(End of this chapter)