Chapter 264: The Smiling Face on the Wall

Before the level two purification tower, the group was somewhat suspicious and uneasy.

The eerie disappearance of the Otherkind did not bring them joy; instead, it left them with an inexplicable sense of anxiety.

In this Dark Cave, the more eerie the situation, the greater the horror likely hidden behind it...

The silence lasted for a moment before Jiang Qing'e spoke first: "Regardless, let us first activate the purification tower, then... wait for the purification halo to radiate and cleanse this area before we proceed with our investigation."

The others had no objections; although they did not know where those Otherkind had gone, since the purification tower was right before them, there was no reason not to activate it first.

After all, an activated purification tower could also provide them with a measure of security.

Thus, the group entered the purification tower with caution. The interior had not suffered any damage, so they began to activate it once more.

Hum!

As the purification tower bloomed with light and rings of purification began to radiate, the group saw the thick, cold black fog surrounding the tower begin to boil, showing signs of gradually fading.

Seeing this, the group secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This level two purification tower was practically a free find compared to the previous ones; if not for their lingering concern over the inexplicably vanished Otherkind, they would have been very happy right now.

After waiting a moment for the purification tower to be fully activated, Jiang Qing'e said, "Maintain formation. We will survey this area; do not scatter."

Although surveying together was less efficient, it was the safest approach. Until they understood how the Otherkind had disappeared, they needed to maintain the utmost caution.

No one objected, so Jiang Qing'e, holding her heavy sword, took the lead and began to investigate the ruins.

The team moved forward cautiously, weaving through the ruins. It was said that this ruin had once been a purification stronghold long ago, but it was destroyed in a Black Tide, which was why the many tower-shaped ruins were quite similar to the current purification strongholds.

Li Luo followed the team, keeping his mind focused and his resonant power flowing throughout his body, remaining on guard.

However, as the team traveled along, they passed many broken walls and ruins, yet they did not see a single trace of any Otherkind; even the pervasive black fog was gradually dissipating.

Had these Otherkind been cleared out too cleanly?

Li Luo frowned; such an anomaly was truly unsettling.

Li Luo did not stop walking, but as the team turned a corner around a broken wall, he suddenly came to a sharp halt, his expression turning somewhat ugly, for he discovered that all the footsteps around him had vanished.

He immediately looked toward where Jiang Qing'e had been, and sure enough, he found it empty; everyone around him had inexplicably disappeared at that moment.

Li Luo looked up toward the purification tower; it was still radiating light, but that light did not bring Li Luo any sense of security, instead making him feel a chill.

Is this... a trap?

But hadn't the Otherkind here completely disappeared?

Li Luo's expression shifted uncertainly. He placed his palms on the twin blades at his waist, slowly drawing them as resonant power flowed onto the blades.

He gazed ahead, where the wall seemed to twist, and gradually, Li Luo felt as if he saw a smiling face slowly emerging upon it.

That smiling face was exceptionally eerie, with the corners of the mouth split extremely deep, and the mouth itself a pitch-black void, leading to who knows where.

As Li Luo stared at that smiling face, his consciousness gradually began to grow hazy, and an inexplicable sense of malice rose in his heart; then, his own mouth began to curl up uncontrollably, bit by bit.

Gradually, it was about to synchronize with that smiling face.

But at that very moment, the "Green Wood Tablet" hanging around his neck suddenly emitted a trace of icy coldness, allowing his consciousness to recover for an instant.

And in that very instant, the two resonant palaces within Li Luo roared and vibrated, two streams of resonant power gushing out and merging directly into the power of dual resonances.

"Boom!"

Amidst the roar of resonant power, Li Luo suddenly snapped awake. He hurriedly retreated, his face pale, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

He closed his eyes, not daring to look at the eerie smiling face on the wall again.

Bang!

Yet at that same moment, he suddenly felt a familiar and domineering resonant power erupt, and a light shone down, as if it were the flame of a god, dissolving all impurity and evil.

It was Jiang Qing'e's light resonant power.

Li Luo opened his eyes and found himself in a broken alleyway. At the end of the alley was a black wall, and at this moment, this wall and the nearby broken walls were all in a shattered state, as if struck by some extremely domineering force.

Jiang Qing'e's graceful figure stood upon a broken wall, her expression cold.

Jiang Qing'e's eyes turned toward Li Luo, and her voice came: "Are you alright?"

Li Luo still felt a lingering fear; the feeling from before was definitely not something an ordinary Otherkind could bring. Compared to the Otherkind they had encountered previously, that scene was worlds apart.

"What was that?" he asked in a somewhat dry voice.

"An Evil Thought Illusion."

Jiang Qing'e's voice was cold: "To be able to leave behind such a troublesome Evil Thought Illusion, it seems an extremely powerful Disaster-class Otherkind has been here."

"Evil Thought Illusion, Disaster-class Otherkind?"

Li Luo's gaze flickered. He knew a little about this; only extremely powerful high-level Otherkind could construct such an Evil Thought Illusion, eroding the human heart without one even realizing it.

"Where are the others?" he asked hurriedly.

But as his voice fell, he saw several disheveled figures emerging from other directions of the broken walls; they were Qiu Bai, Tian Tian, Xin Fu, and Bai Mengmeng.

Clearly, they had likely fallen into that so-called Evil Thought Illusion earlier as well, only to be freed when the black wall was destroyed by Jiang Qing'e.

The four of them looked somewhat panicked, leaping over and quickly gathering together.

"Captain, this Evil Thought Illusion is so powerful; we were caught in it without even realizing it," Tian Tian said with a solemn expression.

"Are you two alright?" Li Luo looked at Xin Fu and Bai Mengmeng.

The two shook their heads and said, "We had just entered the illusion and hadn't reached the end when we were suddenly awakened by Senior Sister Jiang's light resonant power."

Li Luo breathed a sigh of relief for them; this meant they hadn't seen the eerie smiling face on the wall, otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to wake them.

After all, he had only escaped the influence of that eerie smile because of the eruption of his dual resonant power.

"Something seems wrong here. Was the smile on that black wall left by an Otherkind?" Li Luo looked at Jiang Qing'e and asked.

Jiang Qing'e nodded slightly, then she took a step forward. Suddenly, brilliant light resonant power erupted from her body, directly transforming into a torrent of light that roared past Li Luo's side.

Bang!

The torrent, containing immense light resonant power, struck Qiu Bai, who was walking over, sending him flying backward.

Jiang Qing'e's sudden attack shocked everyone present.

"Don't move," Jiang Qing'e's cold voice rang out.

Everyone stood where they were, their faces turning pale. They believed Jiang Qing'e would not do such a thing without reason, and since she had done so now, there must be some cause...

Their gazes involuntarily turned toward the sent-flying Qiu Bai.

The latter was currently climbing to his feet with an expression of disbelief, saying to Jiang Qing'e, "Captain, what are you doing?"

Jiang Qing'e's golden eyes stared at him, and she formed a seal with her slender hands. Light resonant power condensed into a ring, which expanded rapidly and landed on the ground, forming a circle of light.

"Qiu Bai, step into this 'Circle of Clarity'."

Qiu Bai was stunned. He looked at the circle of light on the ground and smiled helplessly.

But this smile of his made Li Luo's hair stand on end, because the corners of Qiu Bai's mouth were stretching wider and wider, eventually tearing the muscles at the corners of his mouth, with blood flowing down.

That smile was exactly the same as the one seen on the wall earlier!