Chapter 175: 172. True Form

172. True Form

Yu Lianyun felt exhausted; she looked at the few people gathered at the scene, speechless and choked with emotion.

An Investigator who had turned into a Sacrificial Person, an escaped Abnormal Wanted Criminal, a human who had died and returned to life, and a crazy reporter preparing to summon the Inverted Creator... No matter which "person" before her eyes she looked at, as a Mysterious Investigator tasked with maintaining the stability of human society, she felt she had an obligation to arrest them all—no, even killing them on the spot would be fine.

When her personal consciousness was inexplicably dragged into the Forest Cabin, seeing the other "guests" who were just as bewildered, and the Forest Boss with his face full of kind smiles, Yu Lianyun had a premonition that something terrible was about to happen. Once she learned of Li Duojin's transformation and the crazy plan from the mastermind Chen Xiaolin, she couldn't help but tremble all over.

However, individual strength was insufficient to resist these guys whose minds had already developed some kind of pathology.

After hearing Chen Xiaolin's idea, Drake and Xin Junmao didn't even think about it and agreed immediately.

Li Duojin remained silent, only looking at Yu Lianyun; his gaze was devoid of desire or demand, as if he had cast his own life and death upon the others, which was equivalent to a tacit agreement.

No matter how Yu Lianyun objected, it was to no avail; helpless, she could only join them, though she proposed the only requirement: that they hold the ritual in a place with no people, to which everyone agreed.

Seeing that everyone "agreed," Chen Xiaolin decided to set the location on a mountain in the suburbs of the Magic City, where there was an undeveloped area with mediocre scenery and rarely visited by humans, making it just right for them to do such dangerous things.

"Captain Yu, I wonder when my wanted notice can be taken down?" As Li Duojin was setting up the Secret Ritual in the surroundings according to the Forbidden Knowledge that had flowed into his brain from who knows where, Drake asked Yu Lianyun.

"It can't be taken down, not until you're dead, I suppose," Yu Lianyun said irritably. "If people find out you've done something like this now, the manhunt for you will only intensify. You should just live your whole life with a changed face and a changed name."

Drake froze for a moment, then showed a dry smile, not knowing what to say.

When Yu Lianyun's unfriendly gaze shifted to Xin Junmao, who was secretly snickering on the side, Xin Junmao also stiffened immediately, lowering his head with shifty eyes.

"I can't be bothered to talk to you; you know your own situation well enough." Yu Lianyun reached out a finger, then sighed and lowered it, shaking her head incessantly. "I can only tell you that you must support your parents yourself; at most, I can help you keep an eye on the health of the two elders. Also, don't think you're doing anything great."

Xin Junmao kept his head low, looking at the face of Miss Zhao emerging from his palm with a complex expression. Seeing that the face was about to move its mouth, he immediately clasped his hands together and said, "I naturally know I'm not doing anything great; I just feel this is the only thing I can do at the moment."

As he spoke, he took a brightly colored chicken-blood stone Comb from his chest, his voice low. "That day, if she hadn't fulfilled my wish, I know I couldn't have lived until now..."

Watching his own hand suddenly sprout flesh buds and grow a skinless, fleshy female body, Xin Junmao looked as if he were accustomed to it, saying calmly, "I am now Miss Zhao's executioner; I must take care of her, protect her... and also restrain her."

"You have one more thing to do." A layer of fair, smooth skin emerged on the surface of the fleshy female body, turning her into a woman with a graceful figure and a charming face. She leaned close to Xin Junmao's face, her sharp fingertips lightly lifting his chin. "That is to live for me with all your might; otherwise, die for me."

Miss Zhao giggled, laughing until she swayed, her mouth splitting open to reveal rows of sharp, ghastly teeth filling her oral cavity.

Yu Lianyun watched the "sweet" interaction between the human and the Alien God, frowning deeply; this was a bizarre "love" that even a novel couldn't write.

"Alright." Li Duojin clutched his forehead. As time passed, the Weird Mark on his back grew increasingly scalding. The Forbidden Knowledge that came from nowhere, like a tide wanting to fill his tiny human brain to the brim, slowly took away his emotions and reason as a human.

He was now less and less sure that he could continue to "pretend" to perform the ritual to lure the Empty Demon into appearing; he only felt that he might lose his clarity of mind halfway through and "turn the fake into reality."

If it were just him and Chen Xiaolin, Li Duojin would never have agreed to do such a thing, and he would have killed his own irrational self without hesitation.

The others also noticed Li Duojin's abnormality, but they kept it in their eyes and held it in their hearts; they didn't speak of it, but they would continue to monitor Li Duojin's state to prevent him from truly committing an unforgivable sin.

Following Li Duojin's request, Chen Xiaolin took off her shoes and sat cross-legged barefoot in the core position of an eye pattern within the Strange Magic Array. She looked at Li Duojin's unusually cold eyes, her toes tensed and curled together.

She had boldly proposed this plan and had voluntarily offered herself as a sacrifice, but this did not mean she was truly thick-skinned; it was just the only way she could think of to find the Empty Demon. Only when the Empty Demon appeared would there be a chance to banish it from the human world.

Li Duojin glanced at Yu Lianyun and the others outside the Ritual Array and said hoarsely, "I'll leave the rest to you." The last glimmer of rationality flashed through his eyes.

Subsequently, Li Duojin, like a Lost Soul puppet, let his head drop abruptly, then began to smack his lips, spitting out unintelligible breath. Finally, the vocal organs in his mouth moved chaotically, and long, strange syllables combined into a whisper that seemed to come from the Nether Abyss.

The pitch of the whispering grew higher and the volume louder. Gritting his teeth, he opened a pair of white eyes and suddenly pulled a gleaming silver dagger from his waist, walking toward Chen Xiaolin with large strides.

Yu Lianyun, Drake, and Xin Junmao stood on the side, watching Li Duojin's dangerous actions while observing the movements in the surroundings. Yu Lianyun secretly clenched her fists; she knew she had to keep her cool now and absolutely could not disrupt this ritual immediately.

"The Empty Demon can escape into a different dimension and move in a different dimension we cannot see, but that different dimension is not the Inner World; I don't see it." Xin Junmao shook his head. As a living dead person who lived in the Real World but whose five senses could only perceive the Inner World, he did not see any abnormalities.

Drake slowly revealed his fishman features, relying on his superhuman fishman senses, but he also failed to find any movement of the Empty Demon.

"She must be here; I feel it." Yu Lianyun scratched the shivering pores on her arm; her intuition was warning her.

"There!" In an instant, Yu Lianyun unleashed her own intuition. Intense, sharp, and unknown senses that existed yet were not real were pointing the way for her.

It was also at this moment, as if a vicious beast had smelled delicious food and could no longer suppress its wild nature, it became restless. The morning sun that should have risen was suddenly obscured by a large, thick dark cloud, and immediately after, an inverted giant emerged from the clouds, its body gradually fissioning, turning into a large mass of stomach sacs wrapped in intestines...