I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

He looked at the person in front of him; these guys had no intention of moving forward into the light, and remained standing in place.

Do you know the Black Queen Mother?

Lu Ban asked a question.

Upon hearing Lu Ban's words, everyone's eyes twitched and turned to Lu Ban.

"Black, Queen, Mother".

Their voices rose and fell, continuous and unending.

Immediately, the first person showed an expression on their face for the first time.

That was fear.

Lu Ban saw that his facial features were distorted, showing fear, awe, and panic.

"what……"

The man let out a whimper, then retreated as if avoiding a tripping obstacle.

Several people made the same sound, gradually retreating and disappearing into the thick fog.

"The Black Queen Mother?"

Trist didn't seem to have heard of the name.

Do you know about the "Merciful Statue of the Black Queen Mother"?

Lu Ban got back into the car and asked a question.

Trist shook his head.

"This seems to be a religious belief in certain areas of the Night Kingdom, or rather, in the vicinity of Drywater Town. It is an evil religion, and there may be a tradition of human sacrifice."

Lu Ban recounted the information he had obtained from the [Black Queen Mother's Merciful Statue].

"Heh, this kind of enemy is quite common in the Silent Lands... Wait, this is your first time in the Night Kingdom, how do you know these things? Could it be..."

Trist looked Lu Ban up and down.

Have you ever used [The Madman's Knowledge]?

"Well, I used it twice for this mission, so I know some mission-related knowledge."

Lu Ban nodded.

"...Twice, no, this mission?"

Drizzt's eyes looked strange.

"While the 'Madman's Knowledge' can grant access to knowledge from other realms, including mission details and some extraordinary information, it also contains more knowledge that drives people mad. Simply coming into contact with this incomprehensible knowledge is a form of pollution..."

He was a little sad.

"I was ignorant before, and I once used [The Madman's Knowledge], and the result was..."

Drizzt seemed to have vivid memories of that time and was unwilling to talk about it too much.

"You've used [The Madman's Knowledge] twice, so it's likely been corrupted to some extent. Be careful; if your sanity drops to a certain level, you might be eroded and even mutate into a monster..."

"Where do you think the difficulty of these tasks comes from? Mortals come into contact with forbidden knowledge, become corrupted, their reason is eroded, and they are then transformed into monsters..."

"The difficulty of the mission is the limit to which the chosen one might fall into depravity during this mission."

Chapter 065: Trust in Science

Lu Ban thought for a moment.

Hesitant to speak.

If I told Drizzt that I was completely out of my mind and still standing right in front of him, would he suddenly pull out a gun and shoot me?

Although Lu Ban knew he was very ordinary and perfectly normal, not at all like someone without reason, this would trap him in a vicious cycle similar to Tacitus's Trap.

If a mentally ill person claims that they are not sick, then they are definitely sick, because a mentally ill person cannot recognize that they are sick.

If a mentally ill person says they are sick, then they have a very clear understanding of themselves, and they are indeed sick.

"Let's think about how to get out of this fog first; I don't want to miss the wedding."

Seeing that Lu Ban remained silent, Drizzt assumed that he was surprised by the truth of this silent place and was regretting choosing the [Erosion] difficulty, so he tried to lighten the mood.

"If we follow this road, there's a high chance we'll end up back where we started. Those guys said it would lead to Drywater Town, but they're actually trying to trap us. So, we can't go along the road, but there are no signs right now. How do we get out of here..."

Upon hearing Trist's words, Lu Ban thought for a moment.

He stood up, went to the front of the carriage, sat down next to Drizzt, and conjured the [Last Words] in his hand.

In Tristana's view, Lu Ban had not changed at all.

The somewhat strange man simply opened his mouth.

There seemed to be some kind of sound coming from Lu Ban's mouth, but Trist couldn't hear it at all.

However, in Lu Ban's perception, the ultrasonic waves he was repeating were spreading in all directions. These ultrasonic waves reflected back when they came into contact with the buildings, trees, and stones of the abandoned village. Based on the order of these echoes, Lu Ban roughly formed a map of this area.

"Have faith in science."

Lu Ban sighed, then took out a banknote from his bag and drew a simple sketch.

“There is indeed a problem with this road. It looks straight, but it is actually a loop. If you keep following it, you will only reach the starting point. And these stone statues are actually facing the center of the loop.”

As Trist listened to these words, he thought of things like altars and rituals. He looked at Lu Ban's paper.

"...It's so ugly, can't you draw it normally?"

The crooked drawing looked like a child's scribbles, and you couldn't make out any real shape at all.

However, this also made it clear to Drizzt that they had been walking on this circle and that if they wanted to get to Drywater, they had to leave the current path.

Do you know which way to go?

Being in a quiet place, Drizzt knew that the Chosen Ones were more or less capable of being involved in the extraordinary, and he himself was one of them, so he didn't ask Lu Ban what techniques he had just used.

"Roughly from here, two roads branch off, which should be the way out."

Lu Ban circled a dot on the map he had drawn.

"...I can't tell where it is from here."

Tristana was somewhat troubled; it was too abstract.

"I'll give you directions."

Lu Ban was full of confidence.

He continued to open his mouth, as if he were making a sound, but it didn't come out completely.

A moment later, Lu Ban pointed in a direction.

"This way."

At this moment, Drizzt could only rely on Lu Ban. He turned the reins and steered the carriage to one side.

The wheels rolled over the grass, allowing the two to see clearly the dilapidated villages and towns along the roadside.

The buildings were covered in moss, as if they had been hit by a flood, and were empty, having been looted long ago.

On the few rooms where the original structure of the building can still be seen, the mottled marks have long since seeped into the walls and are difficult to erase.

The carriage moved very slowly, and Trist worried that a wall or a cliff might suddenly appear in front of him, but Lu Ban obviously didn't care and guided him forward along a strange route.

As time passed, the cold, damp fog clung to their skin like some kind of creature. They couldn't tell if it was the cold sweat from tension or the water droplets from the sea fog, but their clothes were quickly soaked through.

Finally, Drizzt saw a road sign with the words "Drywater" written on it in crooked characters. The two of them couldn't decipher the characters, but the Silent Land probably helped translate them, and they were able to read them.

When the wheels rolled onto the gravel road again, Drizzt's heart finally sank.

The surrounding fog thinned, and he gradually became able to see grass, trees, and two moons hanging high in the sky.

"If both moons in the Night Kingdom turn red, it will be the most terrifying blood moon. I once heard a fellow traveler who had been on more than a dozen missions say that when the blood moon arrives, the Black Forest will become like a living thing, devouring everything."

Drizzt remarked with a sigh.

Lights could be faintly seen ahead. Although it might not be the town of Kushui, it at least meant that they had left the area covered by the thick fog.

He couldn't help but glance back at the thick fog.

But at that moment, Drizzt was stunned.

Because he saw that the thick fog was like a giant beast, coiled on the ground, and the swirling air currents connected with the clouds, like a storm.

I had just been walking through this storm.

"That was close..."

He couldn't help but feel a little scared.

The carriage moved forward and soon arrived at a populated area. Scattered lanterns illuminated the road, and the houses along the roadside were clearly inhabited, emitting a faint light, but the windows were tightly closed.

Drizzt looked at the houses, and suddenly he noticed a pair of eyes staring at him from behind a window.

He instinctively reached for his gun, gripped the handle, and saw that it was a woman with a blank expression standing behind the window, staring straight at him.

Moreover, Drizzt glanced around and saw that behind every window, there were more or less people watching them.

These people looked no different from ordinary people, except that their skin was darker and their bodies were slightly more lean, like fishermen. Their eyes were full of wariness, suspicion, resistance, and hostility towards the arrival of outsiders.

"This house is the biggest; it might belong to the village chief. Let's ask him."

Lu Ban saw the largest house and immediately jumped off the carriage.

"Hey, wait... never mind."

Trist couldn't stop Lu Ban, so he could only pull on the reins and stop the carriage.

He originally thought he should be cautious and plan carefully before acting, proceeding cautiously on the [Erosion] difficulty level to avoid triggering any additional dangers.

But this Lu Ban seems completely fearless of death, and even enjoys courting death!

He saw Lu Ban knock on the door first.

no respond.

"Is anyone there? I see someone. Don't hide."