Chapter 208: The Contaminated

"Why are you so slow?" Da Ke said, maintaining an extremely proper polite smile on his face.

"Looking for candles delayed us a bit," Dai Li Ke replied calmly.

He and Da Ke walked side by side, returned together to the table, and each sat down.

Da Ke took a small cloth bag from his waist, smiled and asked, "Freshly dried Dum Fruit, would you like some?"

"No, not needed."

Dai Li Ke shook his head cautiously, his nerves so tight that his voice was hoarse and stammering.

"Alright."

Da Ke took a single black fruit from the bag, shoved it into his mouth, and bit it with a crackling sound.

The room fell silent, only Da Ke's chewing of the black fruit echoing.

After a moment of hesitation, Dai Li Ke spoke up:

"During your exploration of that half‑ruined temple, did you encounter any monsters?"

"There were many, but none were formidable; we cleared them easily."

Da Ke paused for a second, a smile forming at the corner of his mouth, and said:

"We found some strange plants in the temple; they resembled the mushrooms discussed in general education courses, unusually vivid, instantly whetting one's appetite."

"After eating, they enhance spirituality and strengthen the body; paired with roasted monster meat, they emit an unimaginable fragrance."

While speaking, he took a palm‑sized mushroom from the other cloth bag, its color vivid and crystal‑clear, speckled with dark‑gold spots.

Just seeing it made Dai Li Ke's mouth water, his appetite stirred, hard to restrain.

"Here, one for you," Da Ke said enthusiastically, handing over the mushroom.

"Fine," Dai Li Ke forced himself to hold back the urge to shove the mushroom in, and said with a strained mouth:

"I'll try it tomorrow."

Da Ke said nothing more, pushed the mushroom before Dai Li Ke, and then resumed eating the black Dum Fruit by himself.

Dai Li Ke struggled to shift his gaze away from the mushroom and continued chatting with Da Ke about other topics.

"Any discoveries in this exploration?"

Da Ke stopped eating, his expression turning very serious as he replied:

"We discovered many continuous murals; do you still remember that statue inside the temple?"

"The newly found murals record that the temple builders believed the statue represents the Master who creates all, an all‑knowing, all‑powerful deity; when the great cataclysm arrived, the Master bore most of the sins for us, so His image turned from upright to inverted, from free walking to being nailed on a cross!"

"We are not the abandoned; we are the beloved followers of the Master!"

Dai Li Ke listened silently, offering no rebuttal nor doubt.

But Da Ke's attitude toward the statue almost showed that he had sincerely come to worship the True Creator.

Da Ke and his group have been thoroughly corrupted.

"If everything recorded in that temple is true, we only need to alter some symbols and the corresponding honorifics during the rites to regain the Master's response."

Da Ke spoke incessantly, growing more excited, even beginning to wave his hands.

Dai Li Ke's brow furrowed, his energy to listen to Da Ke waning; he found himself increasingly unable to resist the mushroom's temptation, as if his body might soon break rational restraint and swallow the mushroom whole.

"No, I can't eat it; I must hold back," Dai Li Ke thought anxiously, his mind racing about what to do.

"I'll go pour you a glass of water."

Dai Li Ke tried to make his voice sound steady, showing no sign of abnormality.

He then moved to the side, deliberately slowed his movements, and whispered the honorific of the Fool:

"The Fool beyond this era, the mysterious ruler above the gray mist, the yellow‑black king who governs good fortune."

Beike Land, Mingsike Jie 15.

Having just dined on a lavish dinner prepared by a ghost chef at Lei Ke Dun, and returning home, Ke Lai En heard an illusory low prayer echo in his ears.

"The male voice, a little sun? Or Mr. Hanged Man?"

Lei Ke Dun looked slightly puzzled, but quickly sealed the bedroom doors and windows, then stepped back four paces into the gray mist above.

Taking advantage of the water‑pouring, Dai Li Ke silently recited the Fool's honorific twice, but received no immediate response.

After a brief hesitation, he forced himself to say:

"Sorry, the water at home is a bit cold; I'll boil some fresh hot water."

"No problem, we are all extraordinary; it doesn't affect us."

Da Ke crunched on the Dum Fruit, saying indifferently.

Dai Li Ke didn't know how to answer, his right hand already quietly resting on the Hurricane Axe at his waist; if Da Ke moved even slightly, he would spring into action.

"I prefer hot water," Dai Li Ke replied hoarsely.

If I summon a holy light now to illuminate the darkness, would it attract the attention of those who secretly watch me?

As long as there are others here, Dai Li Ke feels he won't be so terrified.

Dai Li Ke hesitated slightly, then saw Da Ke step forward two paces, and asked with some doubt:

"What are you doing?"

Dai Li Ke opened his mouth to make up a reason, when dense gray‑white mist surged before his eyes, a deep red light rose, and he saw the true state of his room at that moment:

Da Ke's expression turned suddenly grim, with strands of bright red flashing in his blue eyes!

The Dum Fruit he had been eating also revealed its true form: a human finger, blood‑stained!

Where the vivid mushroom had been, a blood‑stained scalp with short black hair appeared!

In the next instant, a magnificent golden figure bearing twelve pairs of black wings appeared before Dai Li Ke, enveloping him with layers of feathers.

Dai Li Ke felt the panic, fear and other emotions in his heart all suppressed, and reason regained dominance.

"What are you doing?" Da Ke's voice grew colder, his gaze fixed on Dai Li Ke, hidden malice seemingly ready to surge at any moment.

Dairike did not answer, clasping both hands in front of his chest in a prayer pose.

A beam of light descended from the heavens, a holy, bright, radiant and pure warm light that instantly illuminated the entire room.

The purifying power of the holy light seemed naturally to restrain the abnormality on Dak's body; the Dumu fruit in his hand, the vivid mushroom beside him, and even Dak himself all sizzled under the holy light, and plumes of black smoke rose.

Dak's clothing was violently forced into a series of strip‑shaped bulges.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Blood‑soaked strips of flesh pierced Dak's clothing, surging forward toward Dairike.

Dairike swiftly seized the Hurricane Axe and hacked forward.

Puff! Several blood‑soaked strips of flesh were cut off, falling to the ground, still bearing rough skin with body hair.

More blood‑colored strips surged, tightly winding the Hurricane wind in successive circles.

Dairike decisively released his right hand from the tightly‑gripped Hurricane Axe, stepped back quickly, and simultaneously held both hands empty in front of his nose and mouth, assuming a prayer pose.

In the silent instant, a bright, pure column of flame‑lit light materialized and struck the blood‑colored strips.

"Ah~" the now‑monster Dak let out a scream more like a howl; numerous blood‑colored strips blackened, snapped, and fell.

All these changes occurred in an instant; the next moment, the blood‑colored strips that Dak had become seemed provoked, launching a swift counterattack.

Dairike's complexion changed abruptly, and he quickly moved to evade to his side‑rear.

The anticipated attack did not hit him; after steadying himself, Dairike looked and saw that the Dairike, surrounded by swirling blood‑colored strips, was enveloped by an unknown black, viscous liquid, his whole body like a cat sealed in an opaque bag.

The surrounding shadows kept spreading and twisting; soon, the monster that Dak had become was wrapped into a massive black silkworm cocoon.

Dairike quietly watched the suddenly appearing figure, realizing this was the one tasked with covertly monitoring him.

For a moment he didn't know what to say, could only stand silently in place, watching the other quietly, wondering how they would deal with the now‑monster Dak.

The monitor glanced around the room, seeing pale skeletal fingers scattered on the floor and a blood‑stained scalp with short black hair, and involuntarily inhaled sharply.

Then, using his extraordinary ability, he manipulated the external shadows, forming tide‑like ripples to notify the chief inside the Round Tower.

"Dak was silently contaminated while exploring that temple; I think the other members of the exploration team should have the same problem!"

Dairike hesitated for a moment but still spoke up to remind.

"Someone will deal with them," the monitor replied in a heavy, hoarse voice.

The two fell silent again until the chief of the Six‑Person Council arrived.

At the top of the Round Tower, inside the chief's chamber.

The silver‑city chief, Colin Iliat, whose hair was speckled with gray, listened quietly to Dairike's account of what had happened, and gently nodded, saying:

"Why did Dak go to you first, instead of returning to his own home and then acting later?"

Dairike lowered his head, a bit at a loss, and said in a somewhat dull voice:

"Perhaps because when they were still isolated at the training ground I visited, I had some interaction with him, and besides, Dak and I were already fairly familiar with each other."

Thinking of the previously cheerful Dak, always with a radiant smile, Dairike's mood inevitably dropped a few notches.

"How did you discover his abnormality?" Colin continued to ask expressionlessly.

"That mushroom, that blood‑stained scalp; when Dak handed it to me, it appeared to me as a mushroom."

"It possessed an abnormal allure, constantly drawing me to devour it. I thought this was wrong, so I quietly recited the revered name of a great being, and it allowed me to see the true scene inside the room."

"The monitor also took part in what happened afterward."

(End of chapter)