Chapter 20 Finally Breathing

"Phew… finally I can breathe normally." These were Xiao Tan’s first words after removing his breathing mask.

At this moment, Brother Jue and his party had reached the end of the river. Here, there were no more black roses and poisonous pollen, only a waterfall flowing upwards against the current.

"Another one of these waterfalls…" Looking at the water flowing in reverse, Feng Bujue immediately thought of his experience at the Reasoning Club, "Are we going to have another one of those weird brain-crossing settings…"

Although he had reservations, he had no choice. After all, the river had no forks, and there was no way to turn back.

"Everyone, let's just ride the current up." When he reached the edge of the waterfall, Feng Bujue slowed down, put away his pipe, and turned to his teammates.

"I don't mind, it's just a change in weight anyway…" Buu replied.

"Ah… I don't care either, I've already been in the water," Xiao Tan added.

"I don't mind," Oub also agreed.

However… the two ladies who hadn't fallen into the water yet seemed unwilling to jump in.

"Bujue, do you mind if I stand on your shoulder for a while?" Ruoyu asked.

"Huh?" Feng Bujue was taken aback. "I don't mind… but… is it really necessary?"

"Of course it is!" Before Ruoyu could answer, Xiao Ling interjected, "Being in the water won't cost you any stats, but having wet clothes sticking to your body after you get out is super annoying." She paused. "Besides, we haven't gotten wet all the way here. Jumping into the river now feels like a wasted effort."

"Alright…" Feng Bujue replied, "Then… Siyu can stand on my shoulder, and as for Bei Ling… Xiao Tan, you can carry her."

"Uh… how do I carry her…" Xiao Tan said. "I can swim, but I can't guarantee I won't wobble with someone standing on my shoulder."

Feng Bujue smiled. "Hehe… it's simple, just let her ride on your neck…"

…

Thirty seconds later, the players entered the waterfall's current. The direction of gravity here was different from the previous area, so they didn't have to worry about falling "down" after leaving the water. For them, the "down" was now "behind." And what was previously "front" was now "down."

"Hmm… I really won't fall…" Brother Jue squatted on the water surface, stretching his arms out to the sides and tensing his muscles, muttering with a constipated expression, "Even though I'm carrying the weight of three people, I'm still not falling…"

At this moment, Xiao Tan, Buu, and Oub were all floating on the water, drifting along. Only Feng Bujue… was squatting on the water like a circus performer, with one person standing on each shoulder…

"We're girls, so we should count as 1.5 people," Xiao Ling, standing on Brother Jue's left shoulder, replied.

"That depends on the situation…" Feng Bujue replied. "If 'person' refers to Buu, then your combined weight might only count as 0.8 people."

"Teacher Jue, I can become very light," Buu, who happened to be drifting past Brother Jue, timely added (stabbed).

"Sigh…" Feng Bujue sighed and improvised, "Don't lament the bitterness of Huanglian, even laughter breeds sorrow."

"Uh… what does that mean?" Oub, treading water not far away, turned and asked.

"The core idea is…" Ruoyu, standing on Jue's right shoulder, answered, "He deeply realizes… that his current predicament is entirely caused by his smart mouth."

Upon hearing this, Buu even showed an admiring look: "Hmm… as expected of Teacher Jue, even his poems have such depth…"

Oub also said, "As expected of Teacher Jue… even when reflecting, he's a little more artistic than the average person…"

"Aren't these two guys just here to fill word count? How many times are they going to use the same sentence structure before they're satisfied…" Feng Bujue couldn't say it out loud, but he was already complaining in his heart.

…

The group traveled quickly with the current. Before long, the golden river "behind" them disappeared from their sight, along with the light source.

There were no gold or silver treasures at the bottom of this "waterfall," nor was there any light shining up from the riverbed. The players had to take out their lighting equipment again to illuminate the path ahead.

In just a few minutes, the players seemed to have "drifted" from dusk into night, and the kind of night where you couldn't see your own fingers without a light.

Of course, if you thought about it carefully… weren't they heading towards that "darkness" above their heads from earlier…

Belatedly, a thick, almost tangible shadow surrounded them. Even the searchlight in Brother Jue's hand could only illuminate a range of less than five meters.

The rushing water continued to push them forward, the unknown darkness approaching them like a beast.

In this situation, the players' fear levels naturally soared…

Xiao Tan, Buu, and Oub all swam closer to Brother Jue and grabbed each other. In their hearts, a strange thought faintly arose—once they were swept away into the darkness, they would never find their teammates again…

"Uh… has anyone noticed… it feels like it's getting colder around here," Xiao Tan suddenly said after a few minutes.

"Is it because we've been soaking in cold water for a long time, so our body temperatures have dropped?" Buu replied.

"No, it's definitely getting colder." Ruoyu replied with a firm tone, "The temperature has dropped from twenty degrees Celsius to about five degrees."

As someone who hadn't been in the water, her words were very persuasive.

"And… the stone walls on both sides have disappeared…" Xiao Ling added. As she spoke, she swept the flashlight in her hand from side to side.

Indeed, the two stone walls that were previously three meters apart were now gone… replaced by nothing but thick, velvety darkness.

"I… I noticed all of this." The only person who could calmly respond to these questions was Feng Bujue. "I noticed it a long time ago."

"Then why didn't you say so earlier?" Ruoyu asked.

"I thought you all knew…" Feng Bujue replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "The darkness is getting thicker, the distance between the stone walls is widening, the air is getting colder—these are all things you can tell with your eyes and senses. We haven't encountered any monsters or anything special along the way, you should have realized these things, right…"

"Well… it seems we realized it a little too late…" Xiao Tan replied.

"It's all the same…" Feng Bujue said lazily, "Even if I had noticed those changes right away, it wouldn't have changed anything, would it? At most, I'd be a little calmer than you guys mentally, and wouldn't have that sense of belated panic."

"Given that you don't panic in any situation," Ruoyu replied, "Next time you notice something… you should tell us as soon as possible."

Feng Bujue replied weakly, "Okay… next time I…"

[Finding, finding, finding a friend~ Finding a good friend~] Suddenly, an eerie child's voice rang out, interrupting Brother Jue's words.

[Bowing and shaking hands…] The voice suddenly stopped there…

"Ah!" Just then, Oub cried out and sank into the water.

"What's going on? Wasn't he holding onto you guys?" Feng Bujue immediately turned to Buu and Xiao Tan and asked.

"I… I don't know…" Buu was completely frightened. He looked at Brother Jue blankly and stammered, "When… when the song started… he seemed to… let go on his own…"

At this moment, the child's voice giggled eerily and continued, [Hehe… found a good friend…]

"Find your [bleep]…" Feng Bujue cursed directly, "Don't pull that on me, hand him over!"

Brother Jue knew very well that in a normal difficulty script, there was no way such a sudden instant-kill scenario would occur. And he had immediately opened the game menu to confirm… in the team bar, Oub's status was still "alive." Therefore… what was happening in front of him was likely just a scare tactic. From the previous atmosphere to the lyrics… it was all part of a psychological war.

In this situation, he had to overwhelm the opponent with his momentum, disrupt the terrifying atmosphere they had created, and then… the enemy would reveal their flaws.

[Finding, finding, finding a friend~] After a few seconds, the child's voice sang again, apparently wanting to ignore Brother Jue and repeat what had just happened.

But… how could Feng Bujue let him have his way…

"Sing your [bleep]!" Brother Jue immediately roared into the darkness ahead, twice as loud as the other voice, "I'm talking to you!"

This time… the voice couldn't continue singing smoothly. It had to pause for a few seconds before continuing: [Finding a good fri…]

"Are you a deaf alien or something!" Feng Bujue shouted, "Dare to sing another sentence, and see what happens!"

After a brief silence… [Bowing…]

"Shaolin Kung Fu is awake~ Ho ho yeah~ Shaolin Kung Fu is strong~ Is very strong! I am Iron Head Gong~ Invincible Iron Head Gong! You are Diamond Leg… Diamond Leg!" Feng Bujue used a song like this to choke off "its" next line.

Finally, when Brother Jue sang the line "Shaolin Kung Fu is ho yeah," "it" couldn't bear it any longer…

"Stop!" The child's voice roared, "That's awful!"

This roar signaled that… "it" had been dragged into Brother Jue's吐槽 pace. In a sense… the victory had been decided.

"Hehe… so you can hear me?" Feng Bujue stopped his unscrupulous singing and smiled, "That's easy to say, if you want to negotiate with me… return my companion first."

"What if I don't?" it asked.

"I am Diamond Leg! Diamond Leg! Woo hoo~ Woo hoo—" A strained, high-pitched vocalization answered its question.

"Okay… you win…" Its tone, shocked yet helpless, made it easy to understand that it was feeling a pain in the ass.

Splash splash splash—

The next second, Oub's figure suddenly emerged from the water near the players.

"Haa… haa…" He gasped for breath as soon as he popped his head out of the water, "Haa… just… what happened?"

"It's nothing much… I think… you should be glad you weren't here just now." When Ruoyu said this to Oub, her gaze was on Brother Jue, and her eyes were full of contempt.

"Crazy Bujue… I thought… some of the rumors about you were exaggerated…" After a moment, it spoke again, "Now it seems… seeing is believing…"

"We haven't officially 'met' yet, have we?" Feng Bujue said, "At least… I haven't seen your true form, have I?" He probed without revealing any intention, "Don't tell me your body is just a sparrow…"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhuan Jiezun's voice rang in his mind: "Crazy Bujue, don't do anything stupid… if you confront 'it' head-on, you're bound to die, even I can't help you…" Brother Zun said very seriously, "Right now, 'it' has merged with the 'me' in the script, you just need to find that little boy's cor…"

"Shut up! Zhuan Jiezun!"

In that instant, something unbelievable happened… "It" shouted loudly, interrupting the voice in Brother Jue's mind.