Chapter 181: Bewitchment

In the eerie room covered in a layer of dim color, difficult to be lit by sunlight, dense characters faded from the air, but a hideous and terrifying tentacle extended from a hole in the ceiling, slowly swelling, shrinking, and swaying in the air, getting closer and closer to where Yu Sheng stood.

Yu Sheng's heart instantly tightened, and he hurriedly stepped back two paces—he had indeed witnessed many strange or terrifying and ugly things recently, but the scene before him still made his scalp tingle; mainly, the appearance of that tentacle was truly unimpressive, and even with Yu Sheng's imagination, in the first few seconds he could not think at all how to process it to make the thing less repulsive...

This truly brought Yu Sheng a huge impact.

The tentacle swayed sluggishly in the air a few times, as if suddenly losing perception of the "target," and then began to slowly swell, shrink, and shake in place without aim.

This scene was like blindly sleepwalking.

Yu Sheng calmed his slightly nervous mood, kept a cautious distance from the thing, and slowly moved along the wall to the other side of the tentacle.

Faint, blurry ripples rose in the dim room, as if Yu Sheng's footsteps had disturbed a bizarre dream; the ripples rising in the dream spread out, stirring some faintly glowing patterns on the surface of that tentacle.

Is this the thing the contact called "Old Zheng" once touched? Is this some "high-dimensional projection" he "summoned" using a crude spiritual technique after being bewitched by those Angel cultists? Is this... the "Envoy" spoken of by those Angel cultists?

Yu Sheng hesitated, then cautiously took half a step closer to that tentacle; after confirming this distance would not disturb it, he began to carefully observe the surface of the tentacle and the eerie hole from which it emerged.

If the content of that secret letter was true, and if the spiritual technique told to Old Zheng by that group of Angel cultists was also true, then this thing should be a part of some "Dark Angel."

Although Little Red Riding Hood had just said that the true Dark Angels would not respond to human calls, Baili Qing had once told Yu Sheng that those cultists could indeed "touch" the "Angels" under specific conditions—perhaps only touching a part of Them, perhaps only summoning a projection, or even just seeing a phantom limb in an illusion and hearing a vague voice.

The hole in the ceiling was filled with thick darkness; the "entity" behind that tentacle was completely hidden in the depths of the darkness. Yu Sheng could only vaguely see a small structure closest to the opening; he confirmed that behind that tentacle was connected to something even larger, something motionless, lurking in the void at the end of reason and perception.

The tentacle blindly writhed in the air, passing in front of Yu Sheng once again.

Should I try?

Touch it?

Bold thoughts tangled in Yu Sheng's mind, and even he was startled by his own thoughts—reason told him that for such an obviously sinister and dangerous thing, one should stay far away at first sight; Little Red Riding Hood had also warned more than once not to contact things related to Dark Angels; Baili Qing had also said that the very existence of Dark Angels was the source of madness and loss of control...

But contacting it might gain some information, at least allowing one to see what that "client" once saw.

Let's contact it; perhaps it's not as dangerous as it looks; this tentacle has only been blindly writhing and has shown no aggression.

Let's contact it; even if there are consequences, they won't be too serious; anyway, this is just a bizarre dream, and what's before us is just an illusion.

Let's contact it; an ordinary person with no power once contacted it, and even perceived Its kindness and sincerity; if it really feels wrong, just let go and step back...

Let's contact it...

Just once...

Yu Sheng frowned, turned his head to look around: "What the heck is that chattering..."

That tempting voice of unknown origin suddenly vanished—just like the x090 graphics cards, co-branded controllers, toolboxes, and top-tier fishing spots along the path in the Black Forest earlier, producing absolutely no use.

Yu Sheng blinked, instantly deciding not to touch that strange tentacle—in fact, if those chattering noises hadn't come into his mind, he might have already grabbed the thing by now...

However, just as he calmed down and prepared to check other parts of the room again, a cold, sinister aura suddenly appeared in his perception.

The next second, Yu Sheng felt that familiar cold, sinister aura touching his limbs, slowly piercing into his flesh and blood, spreading within his body, as if dragging him backward; he subconsciously stepped back half a pace and saw dense black threads emerging from the air in all directions at some point, some of which had already wrapped around his hands and feet.

Irene's voice cut directly into his mind like a sharp blade: "Yu Sheng, what are you staring at!"

Yu Sheng felt a sharp pain in his head, and immediately saw the dim tones around him rapidly melting away like water; in just a few breaths, the colors of the normal world returned before his eyes, sunlight once again filled the room through the window, and warmth dispelled the coldness deep in his consciousness.

He turned around and found he was still standing beside that dark red circle; Little Red Riding Hood was also standing in the previous position, while Irene had opened her arms toward him, with wisps of black threads spreading from her fingertips, connecting to him.

Yu Sheng was stunned, and the next second saw Irene rush over in a rage: "Yu Sheng, you damn fool! Can't you stop 'trying' every single time! What if 'trying' means 'dying'! Even if you really must try, say so in advance, okay!"

"Are you okay?" Little Red Riding Hood also walked over, "Just now you suddenly froze, and then your figure became transparent; Irene said your consciousness was being 'dragged away' by something..." Yu Sheng hurriedly caught Irene, with the little doll's rapid-fire chattering echoing in his ears; only after finally calming her down could he spare a moment to speak: "I'm fine, I'm fine... wait, I was almost 'dragged away' just now? Really?"

While speaking, he hurriedly looked down at his body—of course he saw nothing unusual; however, seeing the worried expression on Little Red Riding Hood's face and Irene's current state of rage, he knew the situation just now might have been truly dangerous.

Although he had not been "tempted" by that tentacle, simply staying in that eerie, dim "room" seemed to have almost caused some kind of "loss"?

"Of course it's true," Irene said, grabbing Yu Sheng's hair haphazardly, "If I hadn't pulled you out in time, you would have disappeared entirely—don't talk about coming back from death or coming back through a door or anything; if I capsize in a gutter, I don't know what you'd do..."

"What did you see just now?" Little Red Riding Hood looked at him with a serious face, "That crude spiritual technique... did it really summon something?"

Yu Sheng steadied himself, his expression becoming serious: "I saw a tentacle, and I also saw another version of this room—your 'contact' seems to have been deceived very badly indeed."

In the following time, he told Irene and Little Red Riding Hood everything he had seen and experienced in that bizarre "illusion" in full detail.

Including the situation where that tentacle tried to "bewitch" him at the end.

After he finished speaking, the room fell silent for a moment.

Irene stared straight at Yu Sheng, and only after a long while did she speak in disbelief: "... You weren't affected at all?"

Yu Sheng frowned: "What kind of question is that? Isn't it good that I wasn't affected?"

"But in most stories, at this kind of scene, you should instantly zone out, then almost get swallowed by an Old God monster or something, and then my power would descend like a divine weapon, saving you from under the tentacles in time; finally, after you woke up, you would bow your head to me and decide to serve me like an ox or a horse for the rest of your life..."

Yu Sheng instantly stopped paying attention to the rest of that chattering doll's rambling.

His gaze turned to Little Red Riding Hood.

The other party had been standing there with a somewhat complex expression since the beginning, silent for a very long time.

Yu Sheng did not speak, and Irene finally gradually quieted down.

After an unknown amount of time, Little Red Riding Hood sighed.

"... Old Zheng has known us for a long time," she said softly.

Yu Sheng nodded: "Mm, you told me before you came."

"He was very close to the orphanage; it is said that very early on, he also served as a 'employee' of the Council, working as a volunteer in our orphanage for a period of time—back then he had not yet joined the Curio Association, nor was he any expert in otherworldly or eerie items," Little Red Riding Hood said on her own, "He helped us contact many clients; in many missions handled by the 'Fairy Tale' organization, the conditions Old Zheng offered were always the best... but in fact, I have never properly understood him as a person; regarding his past, I only heard it occasionally mentioned by the seniors in the orphanage."

Yu Sheng also did not know what to say at this moment, so the room fell into a brief silence.

Then, they heard the sound of a door opening coming from the direction of the living room entrance.

Old Zheng's nephew had returned.

Yu Sheng looked at Irene, who immediately nodded in understanding and waved her hand: "I'll open the door, I'll withdraw first."

Yu Sheng nodded, let Little Red Riding Hood go to the living room to greet first, while he quickly completed the reporting operation and opened a small door leading to No. 66 Wutong Road.

Irene stood at the door and suddenly turned to look at Yu Sheng.

"Those 'cultists' are truly annoying."

"I feel the same way."

(End of Chapter)