When evil gods hold a meeting in my head

Upon seeing the hammer, the herbalist clapped his hands excitedly: "This is it! Quickly, hit me with it, and... make sure to use the same force as last time!"

He even moved closer to me.

His chest was puffed out high, and his face was full of eager anticipation...

Richard twisted his shoulders, raised the hammer, and slammed it down... the hammerhead landing hard on the herbalist's shoulder.

Bang!

With a muffled thud, the herbalist groaned contentedly, his body going limp: "Ah...that's the feeling! A few more times, please!"

"..."

Richard was speechless, but he had no choice but to take the hammer and start pounding the herbalist's back and shoulders.

The sound of the giant hammer falling was dull and rhythmic... The herbalist closed his eyes, a satisfied smile curving his lips.

He muttered, "A little to the left... a little to the right... a little more... feels good! So good!"

Edmund had never seen such a bizarre scene before... He stood to the side, his face displaying a complex array of expressions.

He then realized that herbalists actually enjoyed getting beaten up...

"Things in the abyss are definitely not normal."

Richard punched her about a dozen times, his arms starting to ache, and finally couldn't hold back any longer: "It's time to answer our questions!"

The herbalist opened his eyes, still wanting more, and smacked his lips: "Not enough, not enough, a few more times."

"Don't push your luck!" Richard put away the hammer.

Seeing this, the herbalist quickly said, "Alright... that lady with glasses was here yesterday!"

"Where did she go?" Edmund asked immediately.

"She asked me for directions to the records room, saying she was looking for Luke's memories," the herbalist recalled. "I told her to go to the right, through the gallery of portraits, and then around three corners. But..."

"But what?" Richard pressed.

The herbalist scratched his head: "But after she left, the creatures in the palace became very agitated, as if they were enraged by something. I just heard fighting coming from over there; I wonder if she's alright..."

Richard and Edmund exchanged a glance, both seeing seriousness in each other's eyes.

Nolan is actually going to the Records Room, which is inhabited by memory monsters and is already very dangerous. Now, with the creatures in the palace becoming increasingly agitated, her situation is probably not optimistic.

"Is that the portrait gallery on the right?" Edmund asked, confirming.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

The herbalist nodded vigorously, then looked expectantly at the hammer in Richard's hand: "Now... can you hit it a few more times? Just a few more times!"

Richard ignored his request, put away the ring, and the giant hammer vanished into purple mist.

"Let's go," he said to Edmund, turning and walking toward the door of the herb room.

Neither of them turned around at the herbalist's call; they simply quickened their pace.

The magical fluctuations within the palace grew increasingly violent, the walls writhed more intensely, and the stench of blood and the roars in the air became clearer; an unknown danger awaited ahead…

Richard and Edmund jogged in the direction the herbalist had indicated. The temperature around them gradually dropped, and Richard silently lit the flame on the brim of his top hat.

They encountered no abyssal creatures along the way, only an increasingly strong smell of blood... After walking in silence for more than ten minutes, the two finally came to a long corridor filled with all kinds of paintings.

"These are all works by Naan Sanho."

Edmund said:

"During the initial setup of the gallery, Luke also managed to sneak in. He suddenly went into a frenzy, and the backlash from the potion within him caused spatial fluctuations... which is how we discovered his 'Abyss Entrance'... Fortunately, there were only about a dozen staff members present that day, and we managed to get rid of them in time, preventing large-scale chaos. Often, the suction force when an Abyss Entrance opens is enormous, making it difficult to find a safe entrance!"

At that moment, Richard thought of Naansanho… He couldn’t help but ask, “Why didn’t Naansanho come in with us? With her here, our chances of finding Nolan would be much better…”

Edmund paused. "She can't come. She's in bad shape, and her presence would only complicate things."

Ok……

Richard stopped asking questions and continued walking forward with Edmund.

As Richard walked to the end of the portrait gallery, he suddenly heard a strange whimpering sound. It sounded like an animal whimpering, or like someone suppressing laughter!

Edmund stopped abruptly, his right hand gripping the dagger at his waist.

He scanned the area ahead warily: "Something's not right, there's something there."

Richard followed his gaze and discovered... a group of strangely shaped dogs standing in the open space at the end of the corridor!

Their fur is dark gray, clinging tightly to their thin, bony bodies, and their limbs are as long and thin as bamboo poles.

The most bizarre thing is their faces... They don't have eyes or noses, only a smiling face carved with blood!

His mouth stretched to his ears, revealing sharp teeth, looking both comical and terrifying.

"What is this thing!" Richard instinctively raised his shotgun, his finger on the trigger.

Before Edmund could respond, the smiling dogs suddenly let out a sharp howl in unison, their voices filled with an eerie pleasure.

Richard felt as if his brain had been hit by a heavy hammer, and an uncontrollable smile suddenly welled up in his heart.

He could no longer control himself and burst into wild laughter: "Haha...hahaha!"

He laughed so hard he trembled, tears streaming down his face, and the hunting rifle almost slipped from his hand.

Edmund, standing nearby, was not spared either...

The knight, who had been keeping a cold face, actually bent down and chuckled softly.

Richard and Edmund tried to stop laughing... but no matter how hard they tried, their faces wouldn't stop shaking, and their stomachs ached from laughing so hard...

Richard watched helplessly as the smiling dogs approached step by step, while he didn't even have the strength to raise his hand. He could only roll on the ground, laughing so hard he almost passed out.

If this continues, we're really doomed... Richard thought to himself.

With his remaining sanity, he snapped his fingers, and purple mist immediately billowed from the ring: "I... am not a person who likes to laugh... I have an extremely high threshold for laughter... nothing can make me laugh!"

He hypnotized himself intermittently, and incidentally cast the same illusion on Edmund, who was less than half a meter away from him!

The purple mist enveloped the two of them.

Richard immediately felt his urge to laugh wildly gradually diminishing, and his previously uncontrollable body slowly regained some strength...

saved……

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the remaining laughter, wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and struggled to get up from the ground.

Edmund, who was standing next to him, gradually stopped laughing, but his face was still pale and his breathing was rapid.

"What...what is this thing..." Edmund gasped, his eyes filled with apprehension.

"Perhaps, it's a kind of smiling dog that can make people laugh hysterically?" Richard looked at the smiling dogs that were wandering around nearby.

Their smiling faces seemed to have become distorted as the curse was broken, and their howls were filled with anger.