Chapter 542: Island of Devil’s Maw (47)

Translator: Lonelytree

“What is going on?” Atobe’s face paled instantly because he suddenly realized his inventory was empty…

“How is that possible…” Atobe quickly opened the game menu to conduct his inspection and he realized with stunned shock that not only his inventory, even his skill tab was empty…

His heart and his pupils shrunk int that moment. He moved his gaze upwards to look at the team tab and what greeted him was the line, ‘No one can save you now.’

Atobe could not believe his eyes, he turned his focus next to the status tab and saw… His Life Points, Stamina Points and Sorcery Points were all empty and his level was showing that he was currently Level 1.

“He he he…” Suddenly a laughter drifted over. Atobe shuddered instantly and stumbled two steps back before he lifted his head to the source of the sound. It was the dangling body who was laughing and he was laughing so joyously…

Several minutes later, the dead body lifted his head to say, “Do not worry, you still have one teammate left…” he paused and said darkly, “And he is now standing behind you.”

Pa—

At almost the same instant the word ‘behind you’ was uttered, a bloody hand gripped Atobe’s shoulder.

“Do not turn around!” Ambitionist’s firm voice advised. “Now listen to me, Atobe, there is no reason to be fearful, these are all part of an illusion.” This did comfort Atobe and help him calm down. He nodded. “Then what should I do now?”

“Do not panic, first take a look at your quest tab.” Ambitionist said, “Just follow what it says, remember, we need to finish the quest.”

…

“Okay.” Atobe forced himself to calm down and answer. At the same time, he opened the game menu again and entered the quest tab. Who knew… inside the window of the quest tab, the background was colored a pale white and in the middle of it was a script written in blood, ‘Come and join us in hell…’

At the same time, ‘Ambitionist’s voice turned into a harrowing wail, “Have you read the quest details… Quick, you have to follow the instruction and do it…”

…

In the darkness, Ambitionist waited anxiously. From his perspective, all three of them Pegasus, Feng Bujue and Atobe had all stood under the hanging body and stay immobile holding the flashlights. Obviously, Feng Bujue’s prediction was correct again. This monster before them indeed had an aoe type of immobilization skill. Thankfully Ambitionist did not follow along behind them or else… there was indeed a possibility for a group wipe.

Time passed minute by minute, second by second and the pressure was mounting on Ambitionist. Suddenly, a system announcement rang beside his ears. “Team member: Atobe-sama is dead.”

Almost at the same time the system announcement came, Atobe that was previously standing before him had morphed into a pool of white light and disappeared…

“Aiz… looks like it is time to see what I can do…” Ambitionist sighed as he raised his flashlight to look around. In this condition where he was helpless and alone, he knew he was in a very vulnerable position because who knew what else was hiding in the surrounding darkness… therefore, he needed to inspect his surrounding before he made his next move.

“Hmm… How about I try attacking it once and see…” After everything was ready, Ambitionist placed his flashlight on the ground, withdrew his weapon, the bow and arrow. After a quick aiming, a light arrow shot out…

Ambitionist’s marksmanship mastery was already level A and he was using a crossbow type weapon (its controllability was much better than guns). Hitting at fixed target at this distance, the chance of him missing was less than zero. One second later, the light arrow arced through the air and shot right at the dead body’s chest. However… this arrow did not make contact with the dead body but directly phased through its body…

“Hmm?” Ambitionist was slightly taken by surprise. His round eyes widened but one moment later, he said darkly to himself, “An illusion?” His analysis was not wrong, this was a simple conclusion that could be reached through the method of illusion… Light arrow was effective against both physical enemy and incorporeal enemy, so the only possibility left was—the hanging body was just an illusion.

“Hmph… so it is this kind of childish trick…” Ambitionist scoffed as he readied his bow and this time took aim at the rope right above the dead body. Pew—another arrow flew out but this time… the light arrow had successfully hit its target. With just a simple brush, the rope snapped from being cut by the arrow. Once the rope broke, the body that hung from the rope also disappeared at the same time. At the same second, Pegasus bounced backwards with his whole body shivering, he was even cursing under his breath. After he landed, he soon moved into a defensive posture and looked around nervously.

“Oh? The spell has been broken?” Feng Bujue though was surprisingly calm. He turned around and saw Pegasus and Ambitionist. Then he glanced at the game menu, “hmm… so Atobe has left us already…”

“Those… those things from before…” Pegasus still had not recovered from the grasp of fear. His face was pale and he looked at Brother Jue rather nervously and asked, “What were those things?”

“Do not panic, those are just mere illusions.” Feng Bujue answered easily. And then he turned around and shouted at Ambitionist who was standing far away. “Ambitionist, thank you, we are fine now.”

“Hold it!” Ambitionist did not believe the man so easily. He planted his feet where he was and replied in the same shout, “How can you be sure of that?” His worry was not unfounded, what if this whole scene was just another part of the illusion?

“Well, how shall I answer that…” Feng Bujue said as he turned around to look at the rope that had been cut off which was still dangling above them. “I really cannot confirm that you are wrong…” Without any warning… Brother Jue kicked underneath him and leaped vertically into the air. In that split moment, he had grabbed hold of the broken rope that was swaying in the wind and he suddenly gathered his core strength and pulled it downwards…

“Ah—” Suddenly a painful wail came from above them. Even though it was just a shout, Pegasus immediately recognized the owner of this voice immediately—it belonged to the hanging man. Compelled by shock, Pegasus raised his flashlight and aimed the ray above him. Earlier when they checked the surrounding, the other end of the rope was tied around a protruding crystal column but now when they shone the flashlight at that same spot, the edge of the crystal column… was occupied by a strange creature and the ‘rope’ was extended out from the mouth of this creature….

“Ah a a a a… Enough! Enough! Stop pulling on it! Let me go!” The creature rambled through several words. This time, his tone was not scary at all, if anything he sounded quite funny.

“You want me to let go? Sure, but on one condition.” Feng Bujue responded, “You have to come down here.”

“No way, you have malicious intention towards me!” The other party replied.

“Come down here.” Brother Jue added, “I promise I will not beat you to death.”

“Do you think I was born yesterday!” The thing on top shouted back. “You claze lan (Because its tongue was being pulled, it had a hard time with its pronunciation)!”

“No, I am not a crazy man…” Feng Bujue used a chilling tone to begin this sentence and then… he suddenly broke into a laugh and started to swing his body back and forth. “I am Tarzan! Ah~ Ah ah~ Ah ah~ Ah ah~ Ah ah~ Ah ah~” Brother mimicked the animated Tarzan’s signature howl and swing happily in the air…

And the strange creature on the top of the crystal responded with howls of pain almost in the same tone… This scene and production confused and flustered Pegasus and Ambitionist… but Ambitionist soon recovered from it and darted over in 2, 3 steps because Brother Jue’s action at the very least proved one thing—the danger had indeed been naturalized. In the end, the thing from the top of the crystal column still scurried now because if it did not, its ‘tongue’ would probably be forcibly yanked out from its throat.

“Let me make some introduction, this here is one of the four guardians at the Island of Devil’s Maw… the Heart of Terror.” After Feng Bujue steadied himself, he pointed at the strange creature on the ground and announced. Turns out… The Heart of Terror was not in the shape of a ‘heart’, but overall, it looked more like a lizard that was 2 metres long and was covered in a black coat.

“So it was him who killed Atobe?” Ambitionist asked with a frown.

“The term ‘kill’ is not that accurate…” Feng Bujue corrected, “Atobe died because his had overshot his threshold of Terror Point so in other words… he was kicked out of the scenario.”

“Oh… so it was this thing that created those illusion…” Pegasus finally caught up to the situation. The Heart of Terror now turned on the ground and glared at Brother Jue, saying, “Now can you let go my longue?”

“Of course.” Feng Bujue instantly let go of the ‘rope’ he was holding and added, “See, I am a man of my words.”

“Is that so? So you are really a living, breathing ‘man’?” After the Heart of Terror rolled its tongue back into its mouth, it continued in a mocking tone, “Then I would have to suggest for you to go and make some appointments with some psychologists…”

“I have already done all that. In fact, I was examined by a symposium of the best psychologists and neurosurgeons in the country.” Feng Bujue replied.

The Heart of Terror lowered his voice. “So… you are still currently in treatment…?”

“No, the treatment has ended a long ago.” Brother Jue again corrected.

“Erm… why would you give up your treatment since your problem has not been solved?” The Heart of Terror asked.

“Because after a period of time, those psychologists and neurosurgeons needed psychological help themselves.” Feng Bujue shrugged and admitted.

“I am sorry for interrupting this godlike conversation…” Ambitionist had enough rubbish for the day already so he cut in and said, “Which of you can help me explain what has happened earlier…”

“Do you still need an explanation?” The Heart of Terror scoffed. “Like usual, I have found a random place, put down my ‘lure’ to set up a trap and you people are the victims that I have run into.”

“Oh… so in other words… you have laid an ambush for us and killed one of our partners…” Ambitionist concluded in a different manner, “and now… you have fallen in our hands.”

“Correct.” The Heart of Terror replied.

“Can I just say how much I admire how open and carefree you are about the destiny that you have found yourself in…” Ambitionist narrowed his eyes and said.

“Alright then! Since you have admitted to the sin, then it is time to make things even!” After these past few minutes, Pegasus had basically shaken off the shadow of terror and returned to normal. Therefore, he darted 2 steps forward and waved his arm at the lizard on the ground, shouting, “You have scared me for so long! Thankfully I was courageous enough to not fall for your trick and die, now it is my turn! Time for you to feel the fury of a hero…”

“Don’t act too rashly.” Feng Bujue raised his hand to stop Pegasus. “it is meaningless even if you kill it… It will not bring Atobe back.” He paused. “Furthermore… actually, ‘it’ was not the one who was scaring you, you were the one who was scaring yourself.”

“Hah?” Pegasus was stumped. “What do you mean by that?”

“Let me explain it to you people.” The Heart of Terror appeared to be in the mood to share. “First, when you walked towards me, I activated my skill on you—’the origin of horror’. Then what you see, hear and touch and so on after that… basically are dependent on the power of your own imagination…” It wiggled about and paced back and forth on the ground. “Take for example… when you got close to the ‘lure’ that I placed, you were very cautious about his face, therefore, you would start to imagine… the possibilities that happen next, the images that might appear to scare you… Of course, these were just the beginning, the seed of terror needed to evoke the real terror so to speak… the real horror are the things that will never expect… and these things only exist in your subconscious and those the images that the Origin of Horror will eventually evoke.”

At this point, The Heart of Terror lifted its flat head to look at Pegasus and said, “You were very lucky because the memory of horror your subconscious contains is very limited and that limited the extend of your imagination and that was the reason you did not die. He he… but the other fella is quite a different story…”

“In other words… the horror flicks and horror novels that Atobe has perused were far more numerous than you have experienced so his imagination would be able to come up with more varied and horrifying images and scenes.” Feng Bujue was afraid that Pegasus still did not understand the explanation given by the Heart of Terror so he kindly added these few sentences.

“But how does that change anything? No matter the theory behind it, it was you who casted the spell on us!” Pegasus growled angrily at The Heart of Terror.

“Qie… I did not force you people to walk into my trap, you could have easily walk around it or return from where you came from.” The Heart of Terror huffed with dissatisfaction and impunity. “Why am I to blame for your own fault for walking willingly into my trap?”

“Hey! So based on what you said… we asked for this ourselves? This is all our own fault?” Pegasus pressed.

“Haven’t I told you to calm down already…” Feng Bujue said soothingly. “Actually… he is not wrong, we need to take some responsibility.” His tone was calming and kind, thus more willing for other people to listen to him. “At this place, it is very easy for us to get into a team wipe (the conversation that the players had regarding the system of the game would not be heard by an NPC at the Heart of Terror’s level, it would be automatically silenced by the system), so… the system has already given us the hint in the earlier plot.” Brother Jue paused for two seconds before he recited the last advice given to them by the Spirit of Mimicry. “‘If you run into The Heart of Terror, better run as fast as you can, you humans are unable to fight it.’” He shrugged and then continued, “At first, I was confused, if the Heart of Terror really used his ‘power’ and aimed at us, will we really be able to run? If we have the choice of running away from these fights, then doesn’t that mean we should be able to escape from the Sealing Hand’s ‘rock scissor paper zone’ as well? Hah… but now I finally understand the meaning behind his advice, what he meant was not for us to voluntarily walk into the Heart of Terror’s trap.”

“So we are going to let it go just like that?” Pegasus asked, he sounded like this was not the ending that he wanted.

“Aiz~ As a hero, you will have to learn how to show mercy to others.” Feng Bujue started his lecture like a teacher talking to a class of primary school students. “I would suggest you to go and rent the Wang Fei Hong series by Guan Xingde. There is a unifying lesson that is called mercy, as long as the enemy shows the compunction and regret towards his actions, and said, ‘Master Huang, I know my mistake now’, he would let his enemy go…”

“But I have not done anything wrong, I refuse to admit any mistake.” Before Brother Jue could finish, the Heart of Terror cut in and said, “Even if I have killed all of you, that was within my power and responsibility.”

And silence… fell over them…

Pegasus and Ambitionist suddenly took on a pitiable gaze and stared silently at the Heart of Terror.

“What… what did I say?” Suddenly a chilling presence rose behind our lizard friend.

“Ha ha…” At that moment, Feng Bujue curled up the corner of his lips and turned around with a wicked smile. He used an endlessly chilling gaze to stare at the Heart of Terror…

…

15 minutes later.

“Aiz~ What they say is true, a fool’s mouth is his destruction.” Pegasus said with his mouth chewing the ‘lizard’ meat that had a unique texture to it.

“Based on its name, you would think it would be some kind of cunning and scary character, but who would thought it would be so naïve and honest.” Ambitionist lamented as he also feasted on the barbequed meat. “This is such a poor end for a good soul.”

“Are you not ashamed saying something like that while the meat juices of the thing you just praised dripping down your chin?” While Feng Bujue chided the man, he too shoved another piece of juicy meat into his mouth. By then, the three had already started a bonfire. They sat at the spot that was safe now and started a barbeque using the body of the Heart of Terror…

It had indeed been about 2 hours since the last they ate anything. Feng Bujue believed that it was very important to eat something every 150 minutes, as long as this rhythm was not interrupted, the exhaustion of their Stamina Points could be maintained like how it would be as if they were inside a normal scenario.

There was something else noteworthy… Before Brother Jue made his move on the Heart of Terror, he pretended like he also did not want to harm the poor innocent lamb and tried to negotiate with it. To put it simply… Feng Bujue used ‘you have killed one of our teammates’ as bargaining chip to use in the negotiation with the Heart of Terror and successfully got the information on how to reach the ‘cage of despair’ from the guardian. After his goal had been reached, Feng Bujue made his move… Then it was killing, cutting, roasting the whole service. Not to mention the blood sucking but the details of that could be spared….

In conclusion, after paying the sacrifice of a death of a teammate, they finally had some clues with regards to their main quest. The remaining three rested for a while, drank enough blood, had enough meat, and then prepared to resume their journey. This time, they did not rest for that long. There were two reasons behind this, one the day was still dark and two, they did not use too much Stamina Points to deal with the Terror of Terror.

Feng Bujue’s analysis back in the Shrine of Faith was very correct, among the four guardians on this island, the strongest was undeniably the Spirit of Mimicry, the others were not even worth mentioning. Even though each of the guardians were given an overpowered unique power (the zone of rock paper scissors for the Sealing Hand, the transformation ability of the Spirit of Mimicry, and the Origin of Horror for The heart of Terror) but that aside, the Spirit of Mimicry’s race provided him with natural advantages that placed him above the rest of the guardians.

“Ah!” After the three had regained their journey, after a few minutes, Pegasus suddenly yelped from shock and then he turned around to look at Brother Jue. “I almost forgot to ask… How did you manage to survive the ordeal of ‘the Origin of Horror’?”

“Qie… Stop shouting for no reason… I thought you have something important to ask, but it is just something unimportant like that…” Feng Bujue added weakly.

“Actually I am quite curious as well.” Ambitionist added. “If we are comparing imagination and the imagery storage of various horror elements… you are at a master level. And before your power of imagination, even I have to admit defeat…” He paused as his expression changed, “Technically speaking, you are the person who should have the least possible chance of surviving the Origin of Horror.”

“Oh? Is that what you believe?” Feng Bujue asked casually like this was a normal conversation they were having.

Ambitionist continued, “Yes… and why would the Heart of Terror say that you are a crazy man? From the conversation that you two had, it sounded like you two have had quite a bit of conversation while you were inside its realm of illusion.”

“Hah… Actually it is nothing that exciting.” Feng Bujue used a meaningless word to help him buy 2 seconds. In these 2 seconds, he had come up with an explanation, the content was a mixture of falsehood and truth so it should be good enough to cover up the real event that transpired between him and the Heart of Terror, and more importantly the fact that he would not be affected by fear. “Because when I first saw the strange events, my first reaction was not to panic or be afraid but to consider the reason behind it.”

He said as he raised his right hand and used his index finger to point at his temple. “This habit of mine is heavily embedded, even if the enemy kept evoking the things that I fear, as long as I can maintain my rationality and calmness, I will be able to resist it in the realm of illusion.” He paused of a moment. “How about I give you a simple example… One day, you wake up and go to the bathroom to brush your teeth, you switch on the tap and realize it is shit that flows out….”

“Can you please use another example?” Pegasus quickly interrupted.

“Fine, blood has flowed out.” Feng Bujue corrected, “In that case, what would you do?”

“I will rationally analyse the situation and then tell myself… I am dreaming and try to wake myself up.” Ambitionist thought as he walked. “Hmm… Assuming if I really cannot wake up, then I will use the blood to continue brushing my teeth, convincing myself that it is just normal water, and everything is just an illusion.”

Feng Bujue nodded with a smile on his face but his lips said the following, “Wrong.”

“Ha?” Ambitionist was confused.

“You are overthinking things.” Feng Bujue answered. “If I ran into that situation, my brain will compel me to do this instinctual reaction.”

“What is it?”

“reach out to switch off the tap.”

“Hmmm…” Both Ambitionist and Pegasus both sunk into a contemplative silence.

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