Chapter 243: Hand-Spiders and the Route

Li Luo's group of three passed through far more smoothly than anyone expected, leaving many of the students present looking stunned and astonished, clearly not having anticipated that these three newcomers would glide through the Mind-Confusion Gate so effortlessly on their first attempt...

Among them were quite a few who, when they had first experienced the Mind-Confusion Gate, had been blocked for several whole days.

Recalling their own miserable experience back then and then looking at these three newcomers, the students who had come expecting a good show immediately felt as though they had taken a critical hit and been humiliated.

Are the newcomers these days all this mentally resolute?

Compared with the astonishment of the others, Jiang Jiang Qinge was instead slightly delighted, while Senior Qiu Bai and Tian Tian stared wide-eyed at Li Luo's group of three, as if this newcomer squad was a bit more reliable than they had imagined.

They had originally all prepared themselves mentally to be stalled by this Mind-Confusion Gate for a day.

A smile surfaced on Jiang Jiang Qinge's delicate, fair cheeks, and her breathtakingly beautiful smile caused even the dim, oppressive atmosphere of the Dark Cavern to brighten for a moment.

The gazes of some of the male students around them could not help but be drawn over.

However, regarding those gazes, Jiang Jiang Qinge paid them no attention. She also stepped out of the light barrier, and the instant she stepped out, her figure did not pause even for a moment, completely ignoring the malicious intent interference coming from the black fog.

Senior Qiu Bai and Tian Tian followed as well; the two of them did pause for a few seconds, then quietly let out a breath of relief.

"Let's go, start moving."

Jiang Jiang Qinge said, then took a step with her long legs, leading the way into the churning black fog around them.

Li Luo, Bai Bai Mengmeng, and Student Xin Fu hurried to keep up with Jiang Jiang Qinge's slender, tall, graceful figure, while Senior Qiu Bai and Tian Tian took up the rear of the formation, essentially protecting the three newcomers.

The two squads gradually moved farther away, their figures being covered by the faint black fog.

Duze Duze Honglian watched their disappearing figures, pouted her lips, and thought there would be a good show to watch, but the result was somewhat disappointing.

"Let's go, we also need to start advancing according to the planned route. The goal of our purification mission this time is to activate a Level-Three Purification Tower before Jiang Jiang Qinge's group. When the time comes, if there's a chance, we can also try to see if we can snatch a second Level-Three Purification Tower."

"If both Level-Three Purification Towers fall into our hands, then for this Dark Cavern purification mission, our final score will surely surpass Jiang Jiang Qinge's group." Duze Duze Honglian said.

The others all nodded, their expressions eager to try, after all this really was a good opportunity to surpass Jiang Jiang Qinge.

Although the "Black Swan Squad" was stronger, Li Luo's group was, after all, a newcomer squad. No matter how outstanding they were, they still lacked a certain polish in terms of strength. So, in order to protect them, many of Jiang Jiang Qinge's choices would be more cautious, and this would inevitably drag down the efficiency of their purification mission.

No one present had any objections, so Duze Duze Honglian no longer hesitated, directly stepping out of the light barrier and leading her group at full speed toward another direction.

After them, more and more squads began to stream out of the stronghold one after another, and the eerily silent Dark Cavern once again began to grow lively.

Faint black mist pervaded the surroundings, and from time to time, strange whispering sounds emanated from nowhere in particular, lingering by one's ears, making people irritable and restless.

Li Luo's group traveled along the road. Every certain distance, a stone lantern hung from a post by the roadside. Inside the lantern was an energy stone that could absorb the energy of heaven and earth and emit a faint glow, serving as a kind of guidepost.

Bai Bai Mengmeng and Student Xin Fu kept scanning their surroundings, their bodies taut, clearly in a state of high nervous tension.

Li Luo, on the other hand, was much more at ease, because the graceful figure ahead was truly capable of giving one a sense of security.

The journey was slightly tedious, and no one spoke, so the atmosphere remained gloomy.

Rustle, rustle.

This gloomy atmosphere continued for who knew how long, when suddenly strange sounds came from all directions, and Jiang Jiang Qinge's footsteps up ahead immediately stopped.

She raised one hand.

Without needing to speak, the bodies of Li Luo's group of three behind, as well as Senior Qiu Bai and Tian Tian, immediately had phase force surging up, and each of them drew their weapons.

Under the gaze of Li Luo and the others, they saw the black fog up ahead churning, the rustling sounds growing more and more intense, and immediately afterward, they saw many eerie things crawling out of the black fog.

They appeared to be spider-shaped things, but when Li Luo and the others looked closely, they felt a chill in their hearts, because the numerous spider-like legs were actually composed of pale, ghastly human hands.

On the spider's body grew a greyish-white human mouth, filled with rows of ghastly white teeth.

Hee hee!

These hand-spiders made sounds that were actually like a baby laughing playfully; the childish voices, in this empty environment, were hair-raising.

"These are some of the lowest-class Otherkind, hand-spiders."

"Their laughter can induce hallucinations, but as long as you use phase force to cover your ears, you can block it out."

Jiang Jiang Qinge's expression was calm. The heavy sword in her hand was slowly raised, and then she stomped down violently.

Boom!

Brilliant light-attribute phase force swept out like a halo of light.

Wherever the light-attribute phase force passed, those astonishingly numerous hand-spiders directly turned to ash amid shrill, miserable screams.

"These Otherkind are truly bizarre and twisted." Li Luo sighed. Such a creepy appearance really made one's scalp tingle.

"Otherkind are originally formed from malicious intent, and the malicious intent of the Dark World comes from our world, and even... from deep within each and every one of our hearts."

"So you can think of these Otherkind as combinations of various human organs."

"These hand-spiders are still the simplest kind; they don't even count as White-Erosion grade. When you see Calamity-grade Otherkind later, you'll understand just how twisted and bizarre they can truly be."

Jiang Jiang Qinge spoke casually, then pulled a map from her bosom and beckoned. Li Luo, Senior Qiu Bai, and the others quickly gathered around.

"Our goal for today is this Level-One Purification Tower. Then over the next few days, we'll gradually advance and clear and activate all these Level-One Purification Towers along the way, securing a safe retreat route first." Jiang Jiang Qinge's slender jade-like finger tapped several Level-One Purification Towers in succession.

Everyone nodded. Their main targets were still some of the Level-Two Purification Towers farther from the stronghold, as well as the final Level-Three Purification Tower. But the Dark Cavern was fraught with danger, and before making a move on those Level-Two Purification Towers, they indeed needed to clear their retreat path first. That way, if any sudden crisis occurred, they could retreat more smoothly and safely.

Securing the retreat path first—this was the prudent move.

Tian Tian stared at the route Jiang Jiang Qinge had set for a few seconds, then suddenly blinked and said: "Captain, this route of yours seems to be a bit of a detour from the nearest Level-Two Purification Tower."

Jiang Jiang Qinge's expression did not change, and her finger pointed to a spot: "Because I plan to make a trip here."

Li Luo's gaze followed, and then his pupils contracted slightly. The spot Jiang Jiang Qinge's slender finger pointed to actually had a small blood-skull symbol on it.

That symbol was completely different from the other small tower symbols, but that blood-red skull symbol needed no guessing to know that it must be an extremely dangerous place within the Dark Cavern.

Senior Qiu Bai's expression also changed drastically at this moment, and he blurted out: "You're going to the Forbidden Zone?"

Tian Tian, on the other hand, was a bit more rational. Her gaze swept over Li Luo, and she said softly: "The captain isn't going to the Forbidden Zone, but wants to go to that Dark Spirit Pool outside the Forbidden Zone, right?"