I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

He felt as if light and heat were coming from in front of him, and when his hand touched Hongye's hand, Lu Ban opened his eyes.

At least, the shrine maiden before them still looked human.

As he lit his candle, he whispered something in Hongye's ear.

"There's a problem with the game; you can get out of trouble by reciting the poem."

Hongye glanced at Lu Ban and nodded silently.

She blew out the candle and quickly left the area illuminated by Lu Ban's candlelight, disappearing into the darkness.

"Yuyou God's behalf..."

The crisp sound of red leaves came from in front of Lu Ban, giving people a unique and elegant feeling.

If one were to wear the shrine maiden Chihaya's robes and stroll through a courtyard where cherry blossoms are gently falling, accompanied by this recitation, it would surely be an absolutely beautiful scene.

Lu Ban took the opportunity to look at the others.

At the far end of the wall to his left was Ginpei, whose body was becoming increasingly festering, and diagonally opposite him was Tachibana Masamune, whose eyes were filled with countless glints.

Both remained silent, staring straight ahead, showing no fear.

Lu Ban turned his gaze forward.

Then he saw a person standing on the other side of the wall, extending forward from his position.

The person was dressed in a white robe and scarlet hakama, a shrine maiden's outfit. Her hair was jet black, her face was pale, and her eyes were a deep, dark red. She stood in the corner, holding a lit candle in her hand. The light shone on her face, creating a bleak scene.

Wait a minute.

Lu Ban thought to himself.

The wall is straight. Logically, Hongye should be walking beside this wall right now, with Hongye standing between herself and that unknown entity on the other side.

However, I can see the person on the other side without any obstruction!

So, has Hongye already entered another dimension?

After she finished reciting the four lines of poetry, she should have been able to leave that alternate dimension, but instead, she was about to reach the location of that monster.

Lu Ban didn't know what would happen if he lit a candle at the monster's place.

"I have never heard of it..."

Hongye's clear voice had now turned into a countdown. Lu Ban wanted to remind Hongye, but found that he couldn't make a sound.

He seemed to see a hazy shadow between himself and the monster dressed as a shrine maiden, and as Momiji recited these words one by one, she would get closer and closer to reality.

"Maple leaves dye the Ryuta River..."

By the third sentence, the figure of the red leaf was already faintly visible, right next to the shrine maiden.

Lu Ban took a deep breath and saw that the witch was motionless, with only her eyes fixed on Hongye, as if she wanted to kill her with her gaze.

"The flowing water is deep..."

After reciting the last sentence, Hongye walked up to the shrine maiden.

Just before she opened her eyes, a voice rang in her ears.

It was a sharp buzzing sound, enough to pierce eardrums and make one dizzy. Moreover, before Hongye could even cover her ears, the sound penetrated her brain, making her disoriented and unable to stand.

Almost simultaneously, Ginpei and Tachibana Masamune also heard the sound, dropped their candles, and covered their ears.

Lu Ban saw that the eerie witch's gaze fell from the red leaves onto him. That gaze, filled with resentment and despair, was like a dagger, piercing into Lu Ban's chest, causing him an unnatural pain and a winter-like chill.

However, the priestess made no further move; only the candle in her hand slowly went out, and she disappeared into the darkness.

"Be careful."

Lu Ban was finally able to speak. He did not immediately remove the verbal bullets from the other three. Instead, he lit the lantern on the table with a candle before helping Hongye, who had fallen to the ground, up.

He glanced at the corner of the wall in front of Hongye. There was no one there, except for a little bit of dirt in the corner, like blood that couldn't be washed off.

"This game looks like it might actually summon something bad."

Lu Ban said, glancing at the other two. Tachibana Masamune and Ginpei were becoming increasingly monstrous; perhaps by tomorrow morning, they would be nothing but a lump of rotten flesh.

With a wink, Lu Ban and Hong Ye bid farewell to the two startled individuals and left the reception room, heading towards their room.

"Can you heal them both and bring them back to normal?"

Under the moonlight shrouded in a thin mist, Lu Ban asked a question.

"We cannot purify the filth from those who have already begun to degenerate."

Hongye seemed to be feeling sentimental and reminiscing, she said.

"That's how the world is. Once it's polluted, eroded, and alienated, it will keep crashing into the abyss and never be able to turn back."

"Ginpei and Tachibana Masamune have only been on this island for half a day, and they've already turned into this. What about the island's residents, and the artists who came before them? Have they already...?"

Lu Ban had a bad feeling.

"Probably……"

Hongye and Lu Ban had the same idea. She bit her lower lip, thought for a long time, and then spoke.

“Even the island shrine, which is the most resistant to pollution, has fallen. No mortal can survive on this island. I will find an opportunity to inform the island god tomorrow. Please, please, God, send down the purifying fire.”

"Does that mean the entire island is going to be burned down?"

Lu Ban recalled the flames that had burned for so long on the seabed.

What's the difference between this approach and choosing to bomb an entire town to destroy it because the spread of an infectious disease cannot be controlled?

Of course, in a sense, if the shrine maiden of the island shrine were to completely destroy this place, then Rikuban's mission could be successfully completed.

Unexpectedly, the joke made before the mission began turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, and Lu Ban didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

just.

Lu Ban remembered what Du Danping had once told Trist.

If one cannot maintain humanity in a place of silence, then one will surely lose one's life here.

"If, and I mean if, I could find a way to locate the remaining uncontaminated people who are still salvageable, do you have a way to restore them?"

Lu Ban asked.

Hongye was taken aback. The black-haired shrine maiden looked at Lu Ban, the hazy moonlight shining on his face, reminding one of the poem he had recited earlier.

"Perhaps, it's possible."

She agreed with a somewhat complicated expression.

Chapter 108 The Essence of Madness

No sleep for one night.

In the early morning, slightly weary, Hongye opened the window and saw Lu Ban in the courtyard. Several birds were chirping beside him. If it were accompanied by the gradually falling cherry blossoms, it would definitely be a beautiful picture created by a master.

—If we ignore the fact that those birds have already become alienated.

Chirp chirp chirp—

The worm-like mass mimicked birds, making low chirping sounds. They stood somewhat fearfully beside Lu Ban, chirping, creating a rather bizarre scene.

Beside Lu Ban, some kind of ethereal entity was wary of the birds. Hongye couldn't tell whether it was a person or a monster. As a kind of ghost story, the shrine maidens knew very little about air friends, because most of the hosts were already dead when they were discovered.

"Aren't you... afraid of these things?"

Hongye straightened her clothes, put on her boots, and walked out of the room.

"In their minds, they are still just ordinary birds, doing the same things as ordinary birds. Why should I be afraid of them? Are they going to swallow me whole?"

Lu Ban didn't take it seriously.

He had a backpack next to him and a crowbar beside him, clearly indicating that he was in a state of combat readiness.

"But no matter how you disguise yourself, or what you think of yourself, a monster is a monster."

Hongye sighed softly.

"Actually, I think it doesn't matter whether they are monsters or not. If these creatures are just ugly but harmless to people, then we don't need to be afraid of them. On the contrary, those that are beautiful but may harm others deserve more attention."

As he spoke, Lu Ban withdrew his hand from teasing the "birds." His fingers now bore marks resembling those burned by flames. He looked at them, then used a knife to cut his skin. As the dark yellow blood gushed out, more vegetation spread from his skin, entwining his fingers and healing the wound.

Under the sunlight, the grass and trees are lush and green, but when they grow on Lu Ban's body, it looks a bit creepy.

"But these birds themselves carry pollution, and through their flight, this pollution may spread to other islands, so unfortunately, they cannot continue to live either."

Hearing Lu Ban's words, Hongye felt somewhat relieved for some reason.

Although this person seems to have many secrets, and his physique and personality are different from ordinary people, he seems to have a clear understanding only in matters of the unusual.

"By the way, we can do a final investigation into the missing artist today."

Lu Ban then turned and said.

Why should we still pay attention to him?

The red leaves were puzzled.

The pollution on this island should be much more serious; if not handled properly, it could burn the entire island down. What problems might the missing artist be facing?

"Think about it, this island has become like this. Almost all the people on the island have been mutated and turned into monsters. Logically speaking, this should be a complete mess, right?"

Lu Ban plucked the grass from his hands one by one, revealing the fresh and intact skin underneath.

"Then why is the island so orderly, with only the disappearance of the artist Wan Ye causing a ripple?"

Hearing Lu Ban's question, Hongye's mind suddenly cleared up.

According to what Lu Ban just said, the bird still thinks it is a bird, so it continues to act in the manner of a bird.

The mutated humans on the island still believe they are normal humans and will continue to live their normal lives as before.

However, the person who can see the truth will discover that the island is full of monsters. He can see through everything, but in the eyes of ordinary "people", this person who discovers the truth is the madman.

"...So he disappeared not because he was mutated, but because he wasn't mutated and noticed the changes on the island?"

Hongye finally understood everything.

"Yes, on this island, the people who seem the craziest are often the most rational."