Chapter 258: Crack

The pain from his left palm being blown up made Lu Mian almost pull out the silver-black short blade that had already been inserted into the trunk of the "Shadow Tree."

Relying on his strong willpower and familiarity with similar injuries, he very arduously controlled his body's instinctive reaction.

His brain, stimulated by this, became clear enough to shake off the two desires Susanna Mattise had forcibly imposed on him again.

Pain and reason intertwined, sweeping through his mind, followed by a torrent of vast and terrifying scenes.

Those were the various experiences accumulated by the "Shadow Tree" over more than a thousand years, the countless desire fragments that watered it and made up its trunk, and the multiple futures that this evil giant tree might have.

They were connected together by a mercury-colored illusory long river, flooding Lu Mian's thoughts like a flood.

This was not only so numerous that it could burst the brain of any middle-to-low sequence Beyonder, but some scenes made Lu Mian instinctively choose to ignore, choose to overlook, not daring to look, not daring to distinguish.

Just when he thought his spiritual wisdom would be washed away by this vast torrent and washed into a blank sheet of paper, he discovered that he had actually endured it, as if there was extra space to accommodate countless scenes that exceeded the limit.

Lu Mian didn't dare to waste time picking the fate he wanted to exchange. Following his danger intuition and spiritual instinct, he directly selected a scene:

"A brownish-green tree root extended toward the bottom of an ancient building, but was directly swallowed by the invisible flames that were quietly burning and illuminating an area in the darkness.

"With a *crack*, the tree root broke from the middle and fell into the depths of the darkness. Purple flames floated on its surface first, then as the flames turned into a color difficult for the naked eye to distinguish, it instantly dissipated, not even leaving any powder."

Lu Mian pulled back "Fallen Mercury" and tried to pry up this fate with force, but it had no reaction at all.

*Swish, swish, swish! *

Tree trunks, brownish-green and not too thick, were like short spears thrown neatly by soldiers, flying toward Lu Mian's body from the sky in an overwhelming posture.

Any one of them was enough to pierce the target and pin it to the gnarled tree roots.

Susanna Mattise in the virtualized canopy, after continuously using abilities like "Lust," "Gluttony," "Greed," and "Performance Desire" to influence Lu Mian without effect, had her emerald eyes expand and chose to use the Tree Spirit's ability to make a physical strike.

And she was attached to the "Shadow Tree," so the power of corresponding means was far superior to those of the same kind that used ordinary trees as companions.

Although she still didn't believe that the sacrifice could harm the "Shadow Tree" with that so-called "Cursed Blade," the other party's momentum and performance gave her a certain vigilance, subconsciously thinking it was better to interrupt.

It was better to believe that it had serious harm and make an over-the-limit response in advance than to be negligent and watch things develop!

The former would at most waste a certain amount of power, consume a portion of energy, and delay the completion of the ritual a bit, while the latter might bring changes she didn't want to see and the outcome of failure.

Even if the probability was low, it had to be prevented; one couldn't wait until it truly happened to make up for it!

The flesh robe covering Lu Mian's body suddenly contracted inward, pressing him to become thin and lean, avoiding the vast majority of tree trunk short spears.

Two of them, which could not be dodged or avoided, fell toward Lu Mian's left and right shoulders respectively.

The flesh that made up the robe was like soldiers who heard the order, rushing to the position where the wooden short spears were about to pierce, building layers of blood-colored soft pads.

Amidst the *bang* sound, those layers of flesh were directly pierced by the two brownish-green wooden short spears, while more flesh rushed over, crazily making up for the gap.

Although the flesh robe turned from Mr. K's finger eliminated the damage, Lu Mian was still pressed by the power of a giant hammer, his legs bent, and he fell backward.

Just at this moment, he felt the fate of "brownish-green tree root being burned and broken by invisible flames" appear to have a certain loosening.

And the illusory power prying it up didn't just belong to Lu Mian; it also came from his left chest, from an unknown place.

Lu Mian gritted his teeth. Borrowing the momentum of falling backward, he exceptionally arduously picked up that fate, letting it turn into mercury-colored droplets, and exchanged it with the fate of "meeting the Monsuri ghost" stored in the silver-black short blade.

A crisp *pop* sound rang out. "Fallen Mercury," unable to bear the corresponding fate, appeared with one obvious crack after another—some were long and distorted, some were subtle, and some directly pierced through the blade body.

*Thump, * Lu Mian fell onto the gnarled tree roots occupying the ground, getting rid of the residual power of the brownish-green tree trunk short spears.

His shoulder hurt, but he didn't suffer substantial damage, while the robe woven from flesh and blood began to disintegrate, dripping downward, blocking the light-colored giant flowers and brownish-green cracks that were opening their "mouths" and trying to swallow Lu Mian—when Lu Mian fell, he pressed onto their "bodies."

With a *whoosh*, crimson flames surged, burning these evil things. Lu Mian took the opportunity to turn over and move to a relatively safe position.

Only at this very moment did he remember a problem. While smelling occult smelling salts and dodging attacks from trees, branches, green leaves, vines, tree roots, and flowers, he asked in a low voice amidst sneezing sounds:

"Meeting the Monsuri ghost, *achoo*, doesn't mean the Monsuri ghost will launch an attack immediately!"

If it drags on for a period of time, what is the point of the effort just now?

The Monsuri ghost, not to mention waiting for a month or two to attack the "Shadow Tree" again, even if it only waited four or five minutes, Lu Mian felt he had no hope. By then, the ritual's preparatory work would definitely have been completed, and the sacrifice would inevitably have begun for a not-short period of time. Under the gaze of the evil god "Mother Tree of Desire," given the characteristics the Monsuri ghost had shown before, it would likely choose to wait for a period of time before coming again.

Termiboros's magnificent, overlapping voice echoed in Lu Mian's body and ears again:

"It is about to arrive. This is a destined fate."

In the virtualized canopy, Susanna had stopped attacking Lu Mian. She, while remotely ordering Xia Ludi to control the sacrifice with the help of the "Shadow Tree," sank her consciousness into this brownish-green giant tree, looking for the problems that might have been caused by the silver-black short blade's strike just now.

Find it early, solve it early, and advance the sacrifice ritual early!

After hearing Termiboros's words, Lu Mian couldn't help but ask again:

"Can the Monsuri ghost really destroy the 'Shadow Tree'?"

Although both were evil things, this giant tree, which had been rooted underground in Trier for more than a thousand years, nourished by countless desires, and linked to a hidden evil god, clearly made people feel that its level was higher, more terrifying, and more evil.

Termiboros's thick voice rang out:

"No.

"But it can influence the 'Shadow Tree' to a certain extent, creating an opportunity for you to escape from here."

As soon as Termiboros's words fell, Lu Mian saw a black shadow suddenly appear on the side.

It was slightly hunched, like an old man who could no longer bear the burden of life.

The Monsuri ghost!

It passed through various restrictions, ignored many obstacles, and arrived in this different-dimensional space occupied by the "Shadow Tree."

The hunched black shadow took a step forward, instantly arriving at the edge of the brownish-green trunk, reflecting into the eyes of Susanna and Xia Ludi.

They instinctively felt the threat, but neither of them linked this black shadow to the legend of the Monsuri ghost in Trier.

They crazily provoked the various desires of the Monsuri ghost, but it was like throwing stones into a bottomless abyss, completely unable to hear any echo.

At this time, Lu Mian saw the true appearance of the Monsuri ghost for the first time.

It was not an old man, not even a human; it was closer to viscous black shadow pulled into a human form, hunching its waist and back.

The Monsuri ghost stared at the "Shadow Tree" for two seconds, then moved forward again, sticking to the brownish-green trunk.

It suddenly turned into evil, pitch-black liquid, eroding those layers of bark.

A large pool of wet blackness appeared on the surface of the huge trunk, continuously eroding the surroundings and expanding its own area.

In an instant, the bottom of the entire "Shadow Tree" was occupied by this black shadow, and all the attacks of Susanna Mattise and Xia Ludi Calvino failed to take effect.

The next second, this world, where the blue sky and white clouds were like oil paintings and the ground was covered with gnarled tree roots, appeared to shake significantly, just like encountering a violent earthquake.

On the surface of the trunk, on the earth, and in the high sky, subtle virtual cracks were generated in different places. Some of them were still expanding slowly, allowing Lu Mian to see a corner of the street outside through them, seeing the chaotic epitome influenced by tree branches, vines, and desires.

"Get ready." Termiboros's magnificent, overlapping voice rang in Lu Mian's ears.

Seeing that it was impossible to stop the Monsuri ghost and that the situation was moving in a bad direction, Susanna Mattise revealed a resentful expression and chanted a passage of incantation in Ancient Hermes:

"Oh, god-child who should not have been born, you are the cage that imprisons the curse, the evil filth that erodes history.

"I piously pray to you, praying for your help."

As soon as Susanna Mattise's words fell, the branches under the virtualized canopy "secreted" a lot of viscous, pitch-black liquid at the same time.

This was very similar to the black liquid transformed by the Monsuri ghost, but it was also vastly different—more chaotic, more crazy, more evil.

Almost simultaneously, in those liquids secreted from the trunk, pale and deformed skull heads grew out, yellow eyeballs wrapped by thick blood vessels grew out, bright red tongues flowing with disgusting pus grew out, and many strange-shaped things that were difficult to describe but would make people crazy just by seeing them grew out.

…………

On that wilderness where Lady "Judgment" and "Lady Moon" were fighting.

Places like Chaos Street were still scattered in different places, while that brownish-green giant tree shook, and one after another, tiny cracks that pierced through the void appeared on its surface and surroundings.

Just then, a layer-upon-layer virtual door was outlined in the high sky.

A lady wearing an orange long skirt and with a lazy temperament walked out from it. On her face, insects that emitted brilliant starlight and were half-curved into doors were crawling in and out, making it impossible to see her original appearance.

This lady stepped to the front of the brownish-green giant tree, stretched out her hands, grabbed the two sides of an invisible crack, and intended to tear it open directly!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 259 =====