Chapter 351: Chant

Stepping into the magnificent Gubao, Wang Han was deeply stunned by the grand front hall.

The wall panels and floor that met the eye were paved with expensive, unknown stone, brilliant and resplendent; stone pillars of the same color stood on both sides of the wide staircase, reaching straight to the dome. The surrounding furnishings, like the caisson ceiling above, were as vivid as blood. Looking up at the sky, one would see a magnificent, legendary, epic-like painting: before the bowing masses of Blood Rose Silver-Armored Knights, a Red Crown Empress with skin whiter than snow and dressed in bright red sat upon a scarlet throne, looking down upon all living things.

Without realizing it, Wang Han and Li Yuning had walked into the center of the front hall. Looking down, they realized the floor was also a stunning work of art. The white-skinned Empress, her hair styled in a rose bun, gazed at the people on the ground with a mysterious smile. Rose-thorned branches wove and wound through her silk-like hair like a hairband; for a moment, it was unclear whether the roses were coiled on her hair or had taken root behind the woman's head, growing and blooming there.

That a person could be more beautiful than a flower yet not seem human—this was the greatest source of eeriness and terror.

For an instant, Wang Han even felt as if he had locked eyes with the person in the painting, and from this, he felt that the Empress in the painting was smiling in a strange and ferocious way. He felt as if he were looking up at a high mountain, trembling all over, unable to move, until someone pushed him lightly, and he suddenly came to his senses, realizing he was not about to be swallowed by a giant and a flood of blood.

He tightened the Copper Coin Mask on his face, hoping to receive more protection against evil.

From the moment they entered the Gubao, the faint, ethereal sound of a sacred chant, which they had heard from outside the Gubao, whispered as if right by his ear; the lingering sound circled the beams, echoing endlessly within the Gubao.

It was just that Wang Han could not understand the content of the chanting at all, because the language was one he had never heard before, nor did it resemble any language he was familiar with. Yet, the eerie vocal tone made one feel that this ethereal singing should come from a distant shore; by following the singing, they would find a mysterious gathering point.

Wang Han looked at Li Yuning and realized she seemed to have no time to attend to him, having already walked five steps ahead. He hurried to catch up, his heart inevitably filled with doubt: who had just pushed him lightly to wake him from his illusory daydream?

The two did not speak, pursuing the singing forward by tacit agreement.

They walked along the red-carpeted path, climbed the stairs, reached the second floor, passed through corridors, and went by countless, varied Abnormal works of art, appreciating the beauty amidst madness, while feeling a chill in their hearts and having to marvel at the uncanny workmanship of those insane artists.

After walking for who knows how long, and seeing even more dazzling "Abnormal" art pieces than those in the villa of Zhao Qian—which was comparable to an Abnormal museum—the two finally arrived before the room from which the singing was loudest.

The red door in front of them was tightly shut. The anti-human, giant door handle, which required one to stand on tiptoe to reach, was above their heads. Wang Han could just barely reach the end of the handle by standing on tiptoe, but Li Yuning, who was a head shorter than Wang Han, could only hang from the door to reach it, unable to even exert force. Thus, Wang Han indicated that opening one side of the door would suffice.

This door did not seem to be designed for humans. Wang Han stood on tiptoe until his soles felt like they were going to cramp, only then managing to find the feel for opening the door through sustained effort, and he slowly pulled the door open.

A crack in the door opened, as if a forbidden Pandora's box had been released. The sacred chanting, now free of all interference, spread directly out along the desperate air; the singing of the near-manic, pathological choir finally poured out without restraint.

Wang Han did not understand a single word of the singing, but he felt the fanatical worship and obsession for some existence within it; it was all female voices, yet they emitted strange, beast-like cries.

Wang Han was struggling just to pull the door open from behind; he could not peek at what was inside, but he heard Li Yuning, who had always acted as if she feared nothing, let out a scream that made every hair on his body stand up in terror after she saw the scene inside: "Run!"

The two short words contained all the fear of the unknown in the world behind the door. Wang Han saw Li Yuning running back like an arrow released from a bow, and he let go without hesitation, turned, and ran for his life.

The drawback of standing on tiptoe to open the door appeared quickly; Wang Han felt his soles cramping and going numb, and a sluggish, blocked sensation spread slowly from his soles to the gastrocnemius muscles of his calves. He ran with all his might, his body's rapidly circulating blood helping him break through this state of poor circulation and muscle tension. The secreted adrenaline stimulated his brain, allowing him to break through his physiological potential to sprint while enduring severe pain and numbness. Although every step felt like it was tearing his leg muscles, the desire to survive outweighed all pain.

His gaze looked back involuntarily; although he kept reminding himself not to look back, the instinct of curiosity still drove him to peek. He then saw red, fleshy tentacles slithering out from the crack of the red door, like a snail with countless black tentacles poking its head out from behind a shell-like door. The massive body constantly squeezed the heavy red door, gradually deforming the door and even the wall connected to it.

Suddenly, with a loud bang, the door shattered into pieces, the wall exploded, and an indescribably eerie, giant creature rushed out, chasing after Wang Han and the others.

It was likely a giant, blood-colored centipede, its body covered in the texture of flesh and blood. Silver armor and various high-end modern fabrics were either stuck to or embedded in the centipede's body. Each one was not fully fused, like humans about to drown in a blood-colored swamp assimilating with the centipede's body, becoming scarlet and semi-transparent. Those people were all screaming in despair, but their voices could not drown out the roar emitted by this blood-colored centipede.

Gaka gaka gaka!

Listening carefully, the wails of the people on the centipede and the roar of the centipede combined to form the sacred chanting they had heard earlier. This was actually the sound emitted by a giant monster.

Although Wang Han was so panicked he could barely breathe and dared not stop, his brain did not stop working. He realized that the semi-transparent, blood-colored humans floating on the centipede-like monster were the missing socialites of Baizhou City. Their state was likely already dead, or if not dead, they were already irreversibly fused together, becoming monsters forever.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

Wherever the monster behind them passed, the surrounding walls, furnishings, and windows were inevitably shattered, flying everywhere.

"What the hell is that!?" Wang Han wanted to shout and ask, but he couldn't even catch his breath.

Li Yuning had also lost her usual composure. She rummaged through her pockets, unable to find a tool that seemed useful at this moment. Having almost turned her pockets inside out, she finally pulled out something that could be held in her hand and threw it behind her.