bookbashuk Chapter 225 Shadow Tentacles
Chapter 225 Shadow Tentacles
Chapter 225 Shadow Tentacles
Kong Ling felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to his head, and at that moment his heart was gripped tightly by an invisible hand. He screamed in terror and turned around abruptly.
His eyes widened, and he nervously looked around the space behind him.
The basement was empty, except for some old junk and dark corners; there was no trace of the figure from before.
Kong Ling's breathing became rapid and heavy, and tiny beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
He couldn't believe his eyes and slowly turned to look at the old mirror on the wall. This time, there was nothing in the mirror except his pale and frightened face.
Kong Ling took a deep breath, his hands trembling involuntarily. He rubbed his face vigorously, trying to calm himself down.
"...The pressure is too much..."
"...I'm hallucinating..."
He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, raised his hand and touched the faucet, only to find that the water had been turned off.
He sighed heavily and glanced at himself again.
After hesitating for a moment, Kong Ling smashed the mirror in front of him to pieces with a punch.
The dimly lit hall of the card and chess room.
Several dilapidated tables were lined up together. Some of the tabletops were pitted and uneven, and some had a lot of paint peeled off, revealing the rough wood grain.
The wall was piled with miscellaneous items, including old mahjong tiles and some playing cards.
This place used to be very lively. At this time of year, every table was packed with people playing cards, making it as noisy as a morning market.
But now, more than the pleasure at the card table, those people are concerned about their lives, ever since the outbreak of heretical demons in Ice City a few days ago.
The card games here close particularly early.
Tang Zijun casually picked up a mahjong tile, her brows furrowing slightly.
The smells are too mixed.
Even for Jia Gang, figuring out his location based on the surrounding environment was quite a headache.
"Hey~ Are you having trouble?"
Just as Tang Zijun was deep in thought, a clear, ethereal voice rang out from beside her.
Upon hearing this sound, Tang Zijun was taken aback at first, and then helplessly placed the mahjong tiles on the table.
"Please, I'm giving you access to the reverse world, not so you can just run around in the real world."
Tang Zijun slowly turned around, staring at the hyacinths dancing in mid-air, and sighed softly.
"Don't forget your identity. If others find out, it will be very troublesome. Now is a critical time for the Demon Surveillance Bureau and the Flower Fairy to advance their cooperation. Don't cause trouble."
"It's not as serious as you make it out to be. This is the first time I've ever willingly visited the real world." The flower fairy fluttered up and down. "Before, I was just observing them from behind the mirror."
Tang Zijun gave her a wary look. "You're not here for a casual chat, are you? Tell me, is there trouble in the Mirror Dimension again?"
"No, I just saw you were busy, so I came to help you~" Hyacinth smiled broadly.
"you?"
Tang Zijun raised an eyebrow.
"Offering help isn't like you. I bet Ruosi has assigned you work again, and you're just using this as an excuse to sneak over here and slack off, aren't you?"
"Um...hehe...hehehehe..." Hyacinth scratched her head. "I knew I couldn't hide anything from you. You truly are the greatest god..."
"Don't give me that. How old are you? You've lived for over a thousand years, and all you do is think about is being lazy."
"It's not even Her Majesty the Queen who wants me to take over the high priest's position! Do you think I don't know myself? How could I possibly become the high priest?!"
"You're quite self-aware..." Tang Zijun's lips twitched.
"I'm mainly thinking of you. After all, if I become the high priest, who will accompany you to the dream world to spread light and faith?"
Hyacinth smiled sweetly.
"Always making excuses. The food in the dream world has already sprouted; we don't need you for a while." Tang Zijun rolled her eyes, then said seriously, "Alright, alright, since you're here, don't just sit around. Help me see if you can figure out Jia Gang's location."
"I'm not a dog, how would I know?" Hyacinth shrugged, then noticed Tang Zijun's eyes turn dangerous, and quickly said, "But I can find those shadows!"
"Huh?" Tang Zijun was taken aback.
His eyes flashed, and he stared directly at Hyacinth. "What did you say? You can find the whereabouts of the Shadow Clan?"
"The Shadow Clan are those newly emerged corrupted beings, right? When I was playing in the Reverse World before, I secretly peeked through the mirror, and I'm quite sensitive to those energies."
Now it was Tang Zijun's turn to be surprised. He really didn't expect that hyacinths would have such a special skill.
The Shadow Clan is a kind of being similar to the Greedy Ones. They cannot be detected unless they actively reveal themselves, and this ability is quite a headache for magical girls.
But now, Hyacinth claims she can find the whereabouts of the Shadow Clan.
"What's so surprising about that? We Flower Fairy Clan are beings blessed by the Tree of Life, so I can naturally sense the presence of those dark creatures."
"Is this your own ability, or the ability of your Flower Fairy Clan?" Tang Zijun asked quickly.
"Of course it's the power of the Flower Fairy Clan," Hyacinth said matter-of-factly, then looked at Tang Zijun with some uncertainty. "W-what's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"No, there's no problem at all."
Tang Zijun chuckled softly, suddenly feeling that the little guy in front of her had also become quite handsome.
"Great, fantastic! I didn't expect such an unexpected bonus. Quick, Hyacinth, take me to find those Shadow Clan guys!"
"oh."
Without much thought, the hyacinth flapped its wings and darted into the reflection in the glass beside it, and Tang Zijun immediately followed.
Walking through the inverted world, passing through shattered mirrors, Tang Zijun turned to look at Hyacinth. "I've been wanting to ask this before. You refer to heretics and those driven by greed as 'corrupted beings,' which means you've had contact with these creatures before?"
"The Fallen Ones appeared in mythology, but they were too weak back then, belonging to the lowest level of existence. Even a demigod like Perseus could easily kick them around like a ball."
Hyacinth exclaimed excitedly.
"Those guys... how should I put it, they were probably the precursors of heretics and gluttons. Zeus once locked them in a box, and then somehow they were released."
"Then how are you able to detect those guys in the shadow world?" Tang Zijun asked.
"The flower fairy clan's talent is to cherish life, and we can naturally sense beings that threaten and oppose life," Hyacinth replied.
Tang Zijun was somewhat surprised. "Does that mean you can also sense the presence of those who are greedy?"
"It's possible, but it's a bit troublesome. Those who are greedy are skilled at playing illusions, and even if they can sense it, they won't know if it's a trap."
Upon hearing this, Hyacinth seemed to recall something and angrily waved her little fists at the air.
"Chang Lei is a big bad guy! He's awful, awful, awful!!"
Tang Zijun's lips curled up. This was because Hyacinth had sent Chang Lei to the dream world as revenge. She had heard that Chang Lei had fooled her for quite a while.
As they walked and talked, Tang Zijun and Fengxinzi soon arrived in front of a mirror. On the other side of the mirror, a man with his back to them was kneeling on the ground.
Judging from the surrounding environment, this should be a warehouse.
"This is...the dock?"
Tang Zijun's ears twitched; he could hear the waves crashing in the distance.
"Should we make a move? He looks quite scary." Hyacinth turned her head timidly to look at Tang Zijun.
Tang Zijun ignored her and stepped out through the mirror passage.
Tang Zijun deliberately made some noise as her feet touched the ground, but for some reason, the man opposite her didn't react at all.
They seemed to ignore the sound.
Tang Zijun frowned slightly, instinctively sensing that something was amiss.
The man was motionless, as if he were dead, but Tang Zijun could hear that he still had a heartbeat and was still breathing.
Suppressing her doubts, Tang Zijun pretended to be a nearby staff member and shouted loudly.
"Hey, who are you, and what are you doing here?"
This time, the man finally reacted; his head shook slightly, and his body trembled gently.
Tang Zijun was about to approach the other party when, just as he lifted his foot, a muffled thud was heard, and the man's head slammed heavily onto the ground.
The dull thud startled Hyacinth, who huddled behind Tang Zijun's neck and cautiously peeked out.
"Hehehehehe..."
The man, who had been prostrate on the ground, resumed his movement and stood up in an extremely bizarre posture.
No, that's not right.
He wasn't standing upright; rather, he was like a marionette, with something controlling his body joints.
Just as Tang Zijun was hesitating about whether to take action, the man, who had his back to the two of them, did not move, but his head suddenly turned around.
The terrifying scene instantly made Hyacinth cover her eyes, and Tang Zijun's heart also tightened, followed by speechlessness at her own reaction.
Blood was flowing from the man's eyes, mouth, and nose. There was a wound on his forehead, and a blood blister quickly swelled up, but he seemed to feel no pain at all, and even had a smile on his lips.
The word "bizarre" is not enough to describe it. The man's neck was snapped, but he did not die. In fact, his heartbeat was unusually strong.
After carefully examining the man, Tang Zijun realized that the person in front of her was none other than Jia Gang, another missing person from the file that Cui Yiyi had sent her earlier.
Click click click...
A sound of bones grinding together rang out.
Jia Gang slowly turned around, his eyes vacant, and he staggered toward Tang Zijun.
Even though his feet weren't touching the ground, his legs were moving mechanically, and he was moving forward slowly and laboriously as if he were being controlled.
Although she didn't know what the other party wanted, Tang Zijun wasn't prepared to let them get close to her so easily.
Without hesitation, Tang Zijun's fingertips immediately shimmered with a golden light.
"Pulao..."
The golden magic had just gathered when the surrounding environment suddenly darkened in the blink of an eye.
Tang Zijun frowned, and with the help of the dim, shifting light, he finally saw Jia Gang's shadow reflected on the wall.
Jia Gang's shadow was bound by countless black threads, which seemed to be the truth behind the so-called "puppet on a string".
At the same time, ferocious tentacles rapidly spread out, a dark shadow shattered the light bulb, and the entire warehouse was plunged into darkness instantly.