readytorunbook Chapter 226 Priest & Nun
Chapter 226 Priest & Nun
The wall behind him seemed to follow him.
Yan Xun thought.
Every few steps he took forward, the wall behind him seemed to follow him, as if deliberately guiding him to a certain place.
Yan Xun looked at the road ahead. Although the surrounding environment was similar, and only a small area was illuminated, Yan Xun still sensed something—
He is going down.
The road was flat, and everything around him blurred his senses, making him mistakenly believe that he was simply moving forward.
But the subtle changes still let Yan Xun know that he was moving downwards... downwards from the ice cap.
What's below?
Suddenly, this thought popped into Yan Xun's head.
He recalled the beginnings of many movies. According to typical movies, if he continued down this path, he would most likely encounter the ruins of a prehistoric civilization or clues left by an alien civilization.
He went deeper and deeper and saw stairs, a straight path leading down.
Finally, after walking for an unknown amount of time, he reached the end of the stairs. Before him stood a building that looked like something out of a science fiction movie, a building from an alien civilization.
This is an underground bunker that has hollowed out the entire mountain. There are huge stone pillars, each of which requires about ten people to encircle. Yan Xun looked up at the top of the stone pillars, but it was pitch black. He raised his flashlight and could only see some egg-shaped creatures placed on top of the stone pillars.
It's hard to imagine that there would be such an illogical structure beneath the ice wall.
I don't understand who could have placed this thing in such a special place.
The entire underground palace seemed to have been built for giants. Yan Xun held up a flashlight and walked around it. "This place doesn't look like it has any blue gold."
"No way." The system suddenly spoke up, "Everyone in this dungeon says the blue gold should be in the cracks of the ice wall."
"It should be here."
"So what do you think Blue Gold should be like?" Yan Xun asked.
[Blue gold?] The system guessed. [Perhaps it looks like ore.]
It then began to contradict itself, saying, "No, didn't that old man say that Blue Gold was the blood flowing from that thing inside the ice wall?"
That might be circulating blue metal.
Yan Xun nodded, "Then let's look for the blue things first."
system:……
Something's not right, it's a trap!
How could it not know that Yan Xun was such an easy-going person?
It looked at Yan Xun suspiciously. "You're up to no good, aren't you?"
Yan Xun: "..."
"Don't we even have this much trust between us?"
The system remained silent, refusing to speak.
It thought it was only a matter of time before it and Yan Xun broke through that barrier—of course, it sensed Yan Xun's suspicion and his probing.
But the system, of course, can't say anything; it can only pretend to be stupid.
So, faced with Yan Xun's question, the system could only chuckle awkwardly, "How could that be?"
[Dear host, we are the closest partners!]
Yan Xun: "..."
system:【……】
As expected, money is hard to earn and food is hard to eat; people can say anything against their conscience. Yan Xun didn't hide anything from the system when he thought this to himself.
Or rather, he said it on purpose for the system to hear.
The system, seemingly deaf to Yan Xun's inner grumbling, resumed its initial line of dialogue: "Host, let's search for the Blue Gold first!"
Yan Xun looked troubled upon hearing this, "But we don't have any gold mining equipment right now."
The system thought to itself, "Should I get you an excavator or a mining machine?"
But it felt that Yan Xun's words had a hidden meaning, so it could only watch helplessly as he put on his show.
"If only I could find a shovel right now."
"It would be best if there were some equipment left behind by the people from the last expedition."
"Do you think this is a wishing center?" the system couldn't help but complain. But before it could finish its thought, Yan Xun had already spotted a backpack that had been thrown in a corner.
The backpack happened to be hidden behind a pillar, in Yan Xun's blind spot, so it's understandable that he didn't notice it at first.
Yan Xun kicked the backpack with his foot, and after finding no problems, he opened the backpack, which seemed to have been left behind by the previous explorer.
The system originally thought there would be some mining equipment inside, but to its surprise, Yan Xun took out a packed lunch box, two cans of energy drinks, and a bag of potato chips.
—The most common kind, the kind of bagged potato chips sold in supermarkets.
Even when Yan Xun tore open the packaging, the potato chips inside were still very crispy.
Even the system sensed something was amiss.
Why would a bag of potato chips, commonly found in modern supermarkets, appear in a scene with such a background?
Yan Xun held up the potato chip package and sniffed it again. "Cucumber flavor."
[Is this the time to worry about what the potato chips taste like?] The system was unusually speechless. [You should be more concerned about why potato chips are in a place like this!]
Yan Xun ignored the system and just stared at the bag of potato chips.
The image on the packaging is blurry, not in the sense of blurry printing, but in the sense of blurry information.
No brand, no production date, no ingredient list—important information has been deliberately omitted, just like those comic book items on the shelf that are never described in detail.
This sleeping creature could not describe in detail what it had not seen.
He can see your dreams, your subconscious—but because when you dream, those potato chip packages are just a vague impression, not showing every detail clearly—so what He depicts is also just vague.
Yan Xun felt that he probably already knew what the unknown creature inside the ice wall was.
It was probably a creature akin to a nightmare, capable of bringing everything that came near it into a shared dream.
"When I see these polar scenes, I always think of the horror movies I watched when I was a child."
"An underground base that appeared out of nowhere."
"Ancient giant ruins, or mysterious messages left by extraterrestrial civilizations."
The thing in the ice crevice received his thoughts for a moment, and thus simulated the scene that subconsciously surfaced in Yan Xun's mind.
"It's just too much of a coincidence."
Yan Xun looked at the egg-shaped creature at the top of the pillar and said, "I just suddenly wanted to eat an egg... and then an egg-shaped creature suddenly appeared on top of it."
The system knew that Yan Xun was making up lies. This person probably noticed that the underground ruins were too similar to what he imagined to be there, so he wanted to test it out. An egg-shaped creature appeared in his mind.
As for the conversation with the system just now, it was also telling the nightmare in the ice crevice—
Hey, I want a mining tool, hurry up and conjure it up for me!
It's unclear whether the thing inside the ice wall is truly stupid or can only grasp vague keywords. As Yan Xun kept mentioning the mining tools and the equipment left behind by the previous explorer, something actually appeared behind the pillar.
The same applies to potato chips. Nightmare has never seen such a thing before, so it cannot accurately recreate the packaging information of potato chips. It can only extract the general appearance from the player's subconscious.
Meanwhile, under the system's watchful eye, Yan Xun continued to munch on potato chips.
Why don't you look for someone else?
Yan Xun: "Click, click."
System: [Perhaps others haven't realized they're dreaming yet.]
Yan Xun: "Click, click."
System: [What's so good about these potato chips?!] It bounced around in Yan Xun's head, making a dissatisfied sound.
"It's not tasty." The potato chips are advertised as cucumber flavored, but they actually have no flavor at all, Yan Xun thought.
He didn't act rashly because he couldn't quite understand it—
Yan Xun felt that the nightmares in his memory were not that powerful.
For example, it can pull so many people into a dream, or its blood can grant immortality.
Do nightmares bleed?
Although Yan Xun had never seen this legendary creature, in countless stories, this thing seemed to have no specific form. How did the nightmare that appeared in this instance become a giant that occupied an entire ice wall, and even caused everyone in the Evil Spirit Sea to fall into similar dreams while they were sleeping?
There were still some things that Yan Xun didn't understand, so he carried the bag of potato chips and walked around the space.
"I think at this point, I should at least be able to meet some companions."
Yan Xun spoke again.
"You think nightmares are wish-granting fairies?" the system thought to itself, but soon it said it aloud.
Because it saw Qin Ke appear from the corner again.
System: ...Wow, it really is a wish-granting fairy!
The person who made the wish is not right.
Qin Ke stood still, looking at Yan Xun as if trying to determine whether the person was genuine or not.
Yan Xun naturally wouldn't move either.
After a long while, Qin Ke suddenly asked, "Are you alive?"
Yan Xun: "..."
"Your question is like asking a seller if a secondhand item is genuine," Yan Xun said. "Would I tell you that directly if I were dead?"
Qin Ke nodded. "It seems you're alive."
That tone is definitely Yan Xun's.
He slowly walked over... When he got closer, Yan Xun realized that Qin Ke had changed his clothes.
"Stop." Yan Xun gestured for him to stop. "Where did your original clothes go?"
"Something unexpected happened." Qin Ke stopped walking. "But I found a new set of clothes."
"Where did these new clothes come from?"
"Same as yours." Qin Ke looked at the backpack at Yan Xun's feet. "I picked it up from the ground."
Qin Ke looked at Yan Xun for a while, "Didn't you encounter anything strange?"
Which one?
"Like monsters?" Qin Ke took a few more steps forward, but seeing that Yan Xun was still very wary, he stopped. "I just encountered some monsters."
What kind?
"Humanoid?" Qin Ke pondered slowly, seemingly recalling the appearance of the monster he had encountered.
Seeing this, Yan Xun was about to stop him when he shouted, "Don't recall!"
But his ability to call a halt was never as fast as the speed at which Qin Ke's thoughts flashed—
As soon as Yan Xun finished speaking, several creatures dressed in what appeared to be nun and priest robes suddenly appeared in the previously empty underground building.
Their faces were covered by masks, making it impossible to see their expressions.
With arms that almost touch the ground and bizarre movements, it's immediately clear that these things are not living people.
It's break time now.
Why are you outside?
'You must accept the punishment.'
'You should be put in solitary confinement.'
These creatures immediately spoke in human language, and then they moved their limbs and quickly crawled on the ground toward Yan Xun and Qin Ke.
Yan Xun ran towards Qin Ke without looking back.
The Book of Corruption cannot be shown to Qin Ke. His mother's skill has a chance to trigger a berserk state. As for his husband's skill, Yan Xun is worried that if he uses it, the dream will immediately shatter and the monsters in the ice wall will awaken. So he can only run away first.
Fortunately, there are plenty of pillars around here.
By maneuvering around the pillar, Yan Xun managed to shake off a priest who was following him.
Then he quickly appeared from the other side, wielding an axe and severing one of the priest's arms.
The priest's head turned 180 degrees in an instant.
It seemed to be enraged and chased after Yan Xun even more furiously.
Qin Ke watched as the remaining monsters rushed towards him, unable to see how they moved. Suddenly, several sharp spikes appeared on the ground, piercing through the monsters' bodies and pinning them to the ground.
Yan Xun saw this scene when he turned around.
The priest following behind him was instantly pierced through by the spike that emerged from the ground.
One of the spikes even pierced his mask, revealing the face beneath.
The other party's mouth was wide open, and translucent spikes emerged from it... Unlike the monster Yan Xun had imagined, the face under the priest's mask was quite ordinary.
They are just like any middle-aged person you would see if you randomly entered a church.
Everything here originates from someone's subconscious.
Yan Xun looked at the priest's shattered mask and the face beneath it, then looked at Qin Ke.
Qin Ke was stepping on the faces of those monsters, crushing their masks.
Noticing Yan Xun's gaze, he turned his head and looked over. "What are you looking at?" he asked softly.
"You know him?" Yan Xun gestured for Qin Ke to look at the priest's face.
Qin Ke asked curiously, "Why do you think that?"
"Isn't this what you fear most?" Yan Xun asked.
Qin Ke seemed surprised that Yan Xun would be so direct—he thought the other party would pretend to be unaware, just as Yan Xun deliberately pretended not to know his identity as a member of the Angel Guild.
But the priest and nun who suddenly appeared in this underground space were too obvious. If Yan Xun couldn't figure out where they came from, it would indeed be somewhat illogical.
They all knew this perfectly well, but Qin Ke didn't expect Yan Xun to bring it up directly.
"Yes." Qin Ke finally admitted this.
He crushed those masks, and in doing so, crushed those faces.
He walked up to Yan Xun and almost roughly plucked the priest off the thorns—the thorns gradually shortened and disappeared as he approached.
"I am very afraid of them."
He tossed the priest's body aside in Yan Xun's sight.
“I never left my crib before I was 3 years old.”
“What I fear most are these priests and nuns.” He looked at the monsters he had thrown aside. “Intellectually, I fear them, but sometimes I can’t help but see them as my parents.”