Chapter 15 West of the Crystal Labyrinth, Hope Sea Reef

West of the Crystal Labyrinth lay Hope Sea Reef.

Here, a narrow beach stretched, and at the junction of the beach and the sea, many black reefs dotted the landscape. The most conspicuous of these was a reef over five meters high, shaped like a human skull, standing with its "face" towards the sea.

This skull-shaped reef was precisely "Hope Sea Reef," and the area was named after it.

Outside the Crystal Labyrinth, one could see the "real sky." So, those by Hope Sea Reef at this moment were able to witness a setting red sun.

Squeak, creak…

The sound of a metal axle turning rang out again, heralding the approach of a small tricycle.

"Long time no see…" Billy quickly parked the vehicle beside the large reef and spoke.

On Hope Sea Reef, a solitary figure stood alone, appreciating the afterglow of the setting sun.

He didn't turn around, but responded faintly, "What a rare guest… Did you come to the island to save your little brother?"

"Already saved him." Billy said, raising his small arm and pointing in the direction he'd come from, "See, he's waiting for me over there."

The man on the reef turned his head and glanced at Bill a few hundred meters away. Bill was currently wearing a @_@ expression, looking around aimlessly…

"Heh… what's that beside him? A zongzi wrapped in Fear-leaf?" the man asked with a chuckle.

"Yes, and the filling is Silkworm Mother's meat." Billy replied.

"Whatever…" the man shrugged, responding in an indifferent tone, then added, "Let's get to the point of your visit."

"Ah… new clothes are better than old, but old friends are better than new…" Billy said with a wistful tone, "Just visiting an old friend after a long separation, do you need another reason?" He paused, then continued, "Xing Shi, we did study under the same teacher, after all, we can be considered fellow disciples… Why must you…"

"Spare me that." Xing Shi interrupted Billy angrily, turning around to glare at him.

"Just seeing you sets me off…" Xing Shi said coldly, "I'll never forget what 'that old geezer' said before he kicked me out… 'You're just a sadist, while Billy is an artist. You can only inflict pain, but he can bring salvation'… Hmph… That's a great insult."

As he spoke, he lightly leaped from Hope Sea Reef and landed in front of the tricycle.

Up close, this Xing Clan deity's appearance was almost identical to that of a human. He was about 1.9 meters tall, of medium build, with fair skin, and long gray hair draped over his shoulders. He had a very serious face, with a broad forehead, wide face, stern brows, cold eyes, a bulbous nose, thick lips, and a wide chin… He also sported a very Mexican-esque handlebar mustache.

"That old geezer never would have thought…" Xing Shi continued from where he left off, "That years later, I would become one of the deities in the multiverse, the Time Lord's most capable assistant, and the chief designer of Devour-Magic Island; while you… are just a piece of trash fallen into chaos, a fugitive. Even before you became a fugitive, you were just a juror on the Court of Truth." He sneered, "Hmph… What a great irony."

"I… really just came to visit you…" Billy continued, "Why do you have to say such things…"

"Ha!" Xing Shi interrupted, "Is that so… I really didn't see that we have the kind of relationship where we can visit each other…" He stroked his mustache, looked down at Billy, and snorted coldly, "Even though we're 'from the same school,' we've never been on the same path, right? Even your idiot little brother could see that."

"Watch your words." Billy's tone suddenly turned cold.

"Ah… sorry." Xing Shi bent down, bringing his face close to Billy's, "Your little brother isn't an idiot, he's a big idiot…"

"After more than a hundred years, your ability to be annoying has grown." Billy said in a deep voice, his eyes flashing with an unusual light, as if he was about to kill.

However… he still held back.

"Hmph… forget it." Suddenly, Billy restrained his killing intent again and said calmly, "Anyway, your time is running out…"

"Ha?" Xing Shi straightened up again, looking suspicious, "What did you say?"

"Hehe…" Billy smiled, "You'll know soon enough…" As he spoke, he had already turned the tricycle around and was pedaling toward Bill.

"What's that supposed to mean…" Xing Shi muttered thoughtfully, then shouted loudly at Billy, "You came here just to say these few useless words to me? What is this? What exactly do you mean?"

Billy still didn't answer the other party's question, he just continued without turning his head, "Whether you appreciate it or not… out of fellow disciple friendship, let me give you two more pieces of advice… First, don't easily believe superficial appearances; second, never underestimate that guy who's even better at being annoying than you…"

…………

Now, let's turn our attention back to the players.

After leaving the rest stop, Brother Jue and the others continued their journey unhurriedly for another hour.

During this time, the light on the surrounding crystals did indeed grow dimmer and dimmer, and finally… it turned into a completely non-luminous state. And the sky above them, which showed the "reflection" of Devour-Magic Island, also turned pitch black.

Of course, it wasn't a big deal. In Brother Jue's opinion, who always prepared for the worst, it was all within expectations.

But the problem was… after it "darkened," an even stranger situation occurred…

At some point… in that pitch-black sky, an eye appeared.

Yes, one eye, not a pair…

It was a giant white eye, its eye socket and eyeball faintly fluctuating like burning white flames, while its pupil was an amber-colored vertical line.

All creatures (including players) in the Crystal Labyrinth, no matter where they were or at what angle they looked up at the sky, would feel that this eye was staring at them…

When they first discovered this thing, the four players were on guard for a while, fearing that rays or something would spray down from the sky… But after observing for a few minutes, they realized that this eye didn't have any unusual movements, perhaps it was just a means used by the system to create pressure…

"I say… it's a little too quiet around here…" Little Ma murmured as he walked in the middle of the group.

"It was actually this quiet during the day too." Honghu, who was bringing up the rear, replied, "It's just that when there's plenty of light, people tend to rely more on their sense of sight, so you didn't notice."

"Speaking of sight…" Atobe, who was in front, continued, "Do you think… that eye in the sky might be the 'Gazing Eye'?" (Previously, Feng Bujue had inquired about the names of all four guards from Fuling, and had already told his teammates.)

"Not necessarily." Brother Jue, who was at the front, turned his head and said jokingly, "Maybe it's Sauron (a fictional character in Tolkien's novels; here, Brother Jue is naturally referring to the spirit Sauron in the Third Age, who often appeared in the form of an eye) with cataracts, or… just a set piece shaped like an eyeball."

"What… You've used up almost all the Journey to the West references, are you planning to use the Lord of the Rings references now?" Atobe replied with squinted eyes, "Countless bromance-based criticisms of Frodo and Sam are already on the verge of erupting from your mouth, aren't they!"

"I'm just using jokes to ease the atmosphere." Feng Bujue said, "We've been aimlessly searching for an hour, and there's still no progress; coupled with this oppressive atmosphere, it's easy to lose focus."

"It's your rambling that's causing us to lose focus…" Atobe replied.

"Heh…" Feng Bujue sneered, turned his head and glanced at his teammates, "Weren't you rambling before I opened my mouth?" He paused, seemingly wanting to give them time to think, "Perhaps you haven't realized it yet… the environment has already begun to affect you. Since the surroundings completely darkened, the longest period of silence between you has only lasted three minutes. Think back carefully… Every three minutes or less, you can't help but say a few useless words to ease the tension. This is because… if you remain silent, the darkness and stillness will begin to disrupt your thoughts, gradually increasing your sense of fear."

"Listening to you… do you not feel anything about darkness and silence?" Atobe retorted.

"Well… hehehe…" Feng Bujue used the hehehe technique, dodging the question in a cheeky manner.

"Alright, I understand what you mean." Honghu interjected, "In short… being silent makes you overthink, talking too much distracts you. And appropriate conversation… can maintain a good mental state."

"That's right." Feng Bujue nodded, "So we'd better every two minutes…"

Suddenly, his words stopped abruptly, and his steps also came to a halt.

"Hey." Brother Jue's tone suddenly changed, he had undoubtedly seen something, "There… seems to be something ahead…"

Hearing this, the teammates stepped forward a few steps.

Following the light of the [Composite Anti-Gravity Catapult], everyone looked forward and saw… a black shadow swaying in the wind.

The shadow was floating in the air, with a rope around its neck. Because it was far away, the players could only see a humanoid silhouette, but they didn't know what it would look like up close. However… they also knew that according to the consistent nature of this game, getting closer would definitely trigger a frightening event…

"This shouldn't be a suicide by hanging, right…" Little Ma lowered his voice and murmured softly.

"How do you know?" Atobe also asked quietly.

"There's no stool next to his feet." Little Ma replied.

"It's normal for there to be no stool." Feng Bujue touched his chin and pondered, "His feet are a full two meters off the ground, is he hanging himself from a lifeguard's chair? Also… look at the rope around his neck, the other end of the rope is directly tied to that crystal high up, instead of looping around that crystal and then being knotted… So, according to my speculation, there are two possibilities. The first is suicide, the process is… he first climbed up the crystal pillar, put one end of the rope around his neck, tied the other end to the crystal pillar, and then jumped down from there. The second is murder… then there are many ways to do it…"

"You guys give me a break!" Honghu lowered his voice and sternly interrupted their nonsense, "Is now the time to play detective? What suicide or murder? The method and form don't matter at all! This is obviously some kind of triggerable event! Get serious!"

"Hmm, makes sense." Feng Bujue's expression straightened, and he nodded, "How about this… I'll go sweep for mines and feel out the situation first, you guys wait for me here."

"Oh… I didn't expect that facing such a creepy scene… you would volunteer?" Atobe asked.

"Ha, what's there to it?" Feng Bujue smiled easily, "It's just a hanging corpse, how scary can it be?"

"Okay, you've got guts!" Tianma Xingkong turned his thick-browed, big-eyed face and patted Brother Jue on the shoulder.

"Oh? You said 'guts'~ is that so?" Feng Bujue turned around and looked at Little Ma with a malicious look.

"Yeah, just pretend I didn't say anything…" Tianma Xingkong instinctively smelled a conspiracy.

But how could Brother Jue let him go…

Feng Bujue turned around and pressed his hand on Tianma Xingkong's shoulder, pushing him forward a few steps, "Good! As a hero with even more guts than me, you must be itching to go! Why don't you just grab a weapon and rush up there to slash randomly, we'll cover you from behind."

"Your line sounds familiar… Wait, why am I going first… Ah…" Little Ma was pushed out before he could finish speaking.

He didn't know why, but after a few seamless lines of dialogue, he became the pathfinder…

Whoosh… whoosh…

The dead corpse hanging in the air was still swaying, making some noise. It sounded like the sound of the wind blowing through clothes, or it could be the sound of the taut rope…

The closer he got to the corpse, the more obvious the sound became.

After walking about twenty steps, Tianma Xingkong could no longer hear the breathing and whispers of his teammates. He could only hear the strange noises coming from the corpse, and his own breathing…

"Huff… it's okay, it's just a dead person." Tianma Xingkong's steps slowed down, and he muttered to himself, "I've seen no less than eighty or a hundred dead people in Thriller Paradise, and I've seen hanging corpses in movies no less than eighty or a hundred times… What's there to be afraid of…" His words were becoming more and more like self-consolation, "As a hero, how can I retreat here…"

After walking another twenty steps or so, Little Ma had arrived less than five meters away from his target.

Although the corpse's face was always covered by hair and unclear, Tianma Xingkong had been holding up the flashlight high during the approach, letting the light shine on the corpse's head. Because Little Ma had a strange premonition, as if… as long as he moved the light away, the corpse would sneak a peek at him.