Chapter 155: A Summoning... from...!?

A Summoning... from...!?

Something's wrong!

Something's very wrong!

Though Cheng Shi walked with an easy air, his heart had been strung tight the whole time.

Because ever since that Fate Die had jumped a moment ago, he had kept hearing a faint, elusive voice echoing deep within his mind.

The voice seemed to come from the deepest depths of his consciousness, yet also from some distant, misty void—broken, muffled.

Cheng Shi focused and listened for a long while, and could only tell it was a woman's voice, but couldn't make out what she was actually saying.

This left Cheng Shi deeply uneasy.

This time it really does feel like something unclean!

In an experimental field that studies "truth" and seeks out laws, hearing a ghostly wail like a spirit's voice—doesn't that just feel off no matter how you look at it?

He swept his peripheral vision over the scholars around him, saw that no one was paying him any attention, then shifted his gaze to his teammates and found they had long since left.

So, taking advantage of the moment when no one was watching, Cheng Shi quickened his pace a few steps, climbed down a ladder to a walkway with few people, and found a corner to hide in.

He had to first determine what exactly this woman wailing inside his head was before he could decide whether his next step was to fight a ghost or to gather information.

But to his surprise, when he reached the corner, the voice in his mind actually became a little clearer.

Cheng Shi nervously gripped the 【Death】 ring in his hand and looked around, confirming once more that no one was nearby before he focused and quietly listened to the woman's voice.

Then, he heard a hazy... song:

"The dead have long... unclosed their eyes, the bones murmur... softly humming...

This is... His domain, only after death... is there rebirth...

Return, my champion... this soul-soothing melody... is a triumphal song dedicated to you!"

As the lyrics of this melody grew clearer, Cheng Shi's heartbeat grew faster, as if something was summoning him to an unknown world.

Cheng Shi was greatly alarmed. He gripped his own wrist, feeling his pulse pump ever more powerfully, his expression tense.

"Damn, the bill collector's here!"

No way, bro, I only just wrote the IOU—how are you already here to dun me?

Can you give me two days' grace? It's not like I won't pay.

Don't rush me!

The more you rush, the more I rush too.

Seeing his own heartbeat racing faster and faster, Cheng Shi clenched his jaw and cast a Calming spell on himself.

He exhaled two heavy breaths and began to check his body's condition, while simultaneously overclocking his eyes, ears, and nose to scan his surroundings, observing and confirming whether someone had played a trick on him.

If anyone had tampered with him, it could only be the vanished Hu Wei.

Because if Bai Fei wanted to take him out, she wouldn't need any of these ghostly tricks—one arrow, and he probably couldn't take it.

And Yan Chun was still a bit green; he couldn't have done something this covert either.

But even if it was Hu Wei, what did he want?

What was he trying to get from him?

Cheng Shi reviewed everything that had happened along the way, and was quite certain he had never leaked any information, nor stepped into any verbal trap that should have provoked Hu Wei into acting so rashly.

So, where exactly had things gone wrong?

He frowned deeply and began to think, and in order to test the influence of his surroundings, he shifted his position once more.

However, just as Cheng Shi left that corner and headed toward the walkway at the other end, he suddenly discovered that the voice in his mind grew clearer as he approached the giant tree at the center of the experimental field!

His steps halted abruptly, and he looked up at the massive thing before him.

He hadn't noticed when the voice was faint and rustling, but now that he stood closer, Cheng Shi immediately felt that the murmuring whispers in his mind seemed to be coming from the direction of this towering giant tree.

Conjugate Whisper! Conjugate Whisper?

So this is how it whispers?

Cheng Shi's expression hardened, and he cautiously took a step toward the giant tree.

Sure enough, with that step, the voice in his mind grew even louder.

Could it be...

This giant tree... has some connection to that lord upon the Wang Zuo?

Otherwise, how to explain a Tree of Void and Reality, planted by scholars of the Substance Tower, whispering a song of 【Death】?

And this voice... it sounds familiar.

Cheng Shi's brows knit tightly as he tried to recall where he had heard this voice before, but just then, the Fate Die in his breast pocket jumped again without warning.

Cheng Shi was startled. He clamped a hand over his chest and surreptitiously pinched the die.

But the instant his fingers touched the die's face, Cheng Shi's entire consciousness was instantly sucked away into the void.

And his body, left behind in place, still appeared natural.

The unconscious husk just stood there, head bowed, hand on chest, frowning in thought.

Though he was frozen motionless on the spot, he looked no different from the scholars around him pondering truth.

This journey of consciousness was unlike any before. Cheng Shi felt he had drifted in the darkness for a long time before he followed the direction the song came from and found a beam of light.

As he hesitated, unsure whether to leap into that beam of light, another familiar voice came from the other side of the light.

It was precisely this voice that made Cheng Shi suddenly think of something. Shock rose in his heart, and then he plunged headfirst into the light.

"Return, my champion! This soul-soothing melody is dedicated to your...

Triumphal song!"

"..."

"Qing... Qing-jie, that's the seventh time. Does it really work?"

A melodious female voice rose, its tone carrying a hint of puzzlement and confusion, yet devoid of any doubt.

Perhaps she was merely curious why this artifact had failed to fulfill its intended function.

"It must work!"

The woman called Sister Qing bit her lip, her face pale.

In her hand, she held a golden mask splattered with conspicuous bloodstains; the hands gripping the mask tightly had knuckles turned white and trembled slightly, betraying that her current state of mind was not as certain as she claimed.

Dim firelight danced upon her face, shifting with her changing expression.

She hesitated.

She was no longer sure!

Though she was confident she never misjudged anyone, she truly could not fathom the man who had given her the golden mask.

But with the situation now critical and no other option remaining, she could only force herself to take this gamble.

If even she were to give up, where would the companions she brought along go?

Therefore, it was far too early to give up!

Fang Fang Shiqing! You cannot give up yet!

Indeed, this lady softly chanting the 【Death】 melody was none other than Cheng Shi's former teammate, Fang Fang Shiqing, the one who had sought to recruit him into the Firebearers!

Standing beside her were two teammates, both covered in wounds, gazing at her with solemn demeanors.

It seemed the hope of the entire team rested upon the mask in her hand.

Seeing Fang Fang Shiqing about to try again, the male companion behind her patted her shoulder, shook his head, and said with a solemn demeanor:

"Sister Qing, your 'Bone Soldier' pages are running low. If we consume more, with only me left to hold the front, we will be unable to block their charge. You..."

Fang Fang Shiqing turned back. The eyes that had been full of hesitation just moments ago now sparkled with hope. Looking at her companions behind her, she comforted them:

"Do not fear. Any artifact involving phenomena beyond normal comprehension will inevitably encounter problems we cannot understand during use.

I am not pinning my hopes on a vague summoning; rather, given our current state, we simply cannot hold out any longer.

Even if these Bone Soldiers can withstand the enemy's charge, the problem is...

We are too weak.

My Healing pages are already exhausted; we urgently need a Priest.

At this point, it seems only this mask remains.

Hmm, I have thought of a possibility.

Perhaps the 'Bone Soldier' pages are of too low a grade to trigger its effect, unable to sustain a high-grade 'Player Puppet'.

It does not matter. I still have a 'Skeleton Warrior' page. This is an S-rank talent of the 【Death】 faith. If..."

"No!"

Before Fang Fang Shiqing could finish speaking, the male companion interrupted her.

"That page is your last resort for survival. We can die here, but you cannot.

Sister Qing, the Firebearers cannot lose a Fireseeker, just as fire cannot lose its fuel!

If we die, countless others like us will arise later, but you are currently the only remaining Fireseeker...

For the sake of the Firebearers, for everyone's hope, Sister Qing, you must not die."

"I..."

How could Fang Fang Shiqing not know this? Yet, asking her to abandon her teammates and survive alone until the trial ended was such a cruel thing.

She did not want this, so she still wanted to fight.

This 【Truth】 Chanter clutched the golden mask in her hand tightly. After a moment of inner turmoil, determination flashed in her eyes.

"I... still want to try...

This will not be a useless mask. Although he refused my invitation, I... trust him.

He would not deceive me.

If it truly can awaken a Forgotten Doctor puppet, it will be enough for all of us to hold out until the very end!"

"But..."

The male companion wanted to say something more, but just then, the corpse beneath the three of them, which had shown no reaction until now, suddenly opened its eyes.

Those bright eyes, like pearls embedded in rotting flesh, opened; as they did, the corpse's skin and flesh shed themselves, stripping away all filth.

Beneath that shed skin, a brand-new body slowly sat up.

He looked around and discovered the presence of the three people.

Seeing the joyful look in those eyes, the relieved look in those eyes, the shocked look in those eyes, this 'Bone Soldier' reborn within the corpse shook the bloodstains from his arms and spoke.

"Yo, Big Thigh, you're dressed quite coolly."