Chapter 86

Based on the performance of the flame monster and the three-faced monster when facing him, Lu Mian divided the monsters in the dream ruin into three levels:

The lowest-level ones only have instincts; as soon as they see him, they will attempt to attack, but once he triggers or semi-triggers the black thorn symbol on his chest, they all choose to surrender completely and let him slaughter them;

Those of a slightly higher grade will also hunt him before he semi-triggers the black thorn symbol. Once he finishes the sacrificial dance, they very spiritually choose to flee. However, beyond a five-meter range, they cannot sense the existence of the black thorn symbol. The flame monster just now should have only had lingering fear, equating the aura originating from the corruption inside the seal with Lu Mian, which is why it kept dodging;

Those whose level has reached a certain degree can directly perceive his "specialness" and show obvious fear without Lu Mian needing to trigger or semi-trigger the black thorn symbol on his chest himself, and without the distance between the two sides entering within five meters.

Whether there are other levels beyond these three, Lu Mian feels there should be, at least one, at most three. For example, those that are not afraid to the point of fleeing on the spot when facing the semi-triggered black thorn symbol, and continue to attack while bearing the relatively large weakening; for example, those whose level is so high that they won't have any reaction to the black thorn symbol...

Therefore, Lu Mian was happy on one hand that he could scare away the three-faced monster and seemed to be able to walk sideways in the dream ruin, but on the other hand, he didn't dare to be the slightest bit careless.

Not to mention the terrifying things that might exist with a level higher than the three-faced monster, just the flame monster, relying on its powerful long-range attack ability, could completely ignore the semi-triggered black thorn symbol and burn him into a charred corpse.

With this judgment, Lu Mian hesitated for a moment and sneaked along the route the three-faced monster had fled toward the depths of the dream ruin, intending to probe the state of the blood-colored "mountain peak" and the area around it today, to do preliminary intelligence gathering work for the subsequent unlocking of the dream's secrets.

On the way, he kept walking in places that were relatively hidden and not so easy to be discovered, guarding against monsters that might jump out suddenly.

I don't know if it was because the three-faced monster had just passed by, causing the other monsters to be scared away from their original positions, but Lu Mian didn't see a single "human figure," successfully passing through collapsed buildings and gray, dim rubble everywhere, and arrived at the foot of the blood-colored "mountain peak."

There was another circle of ruins here, but unlike the layers outside, the buildings here hadn't collapsed themselves, but seemed to have completed a distorted reorganization as if they had their own life. They were connected to each other, seemingly building a strange city wall woven from "thorns."

The "city wall" was stained with a faint, grayish black. The windows and doors belonging to the original buildings were messily embedded in its surface; some were open, and one could see broken tables and chairs inside, while others were tightly closed, as if they could no longer be pulled open.

Lu Mian glanced at it and looked up at the blood-colored "mountain peak" behind the "city wall."

At this distance, even though the mist at high altitude was still thick and the light penetrating into this world was quite thin, he could see the details of the "mountain peak" clearly.

It was piled up from stones and soil, no more than thirty meters high, yet it gave people the feeling of reaching into the clouds. The color on its surface was very unnatural; whether it was the brownish-red of the stones or the reddish-brown of the soil, it seemed as if it had been dyed on afterward, quite evil.

"According to Aurore's novels and those supernatural magazines, this might be dyed red by human blood..." Lu Mian muttered to himself silently, his gaze lifting higher and higher, cast toward the place on top of the "mountain peak" covered by thick mist.

Just then, it was as if an invisible wind blew through the air, causing the mist there to dissipate quite a bit.

The top of the "mountain peak" was instantly reflected clearly in Lu Mian's eyes.

Sitting cross-legged there was a "giant" that should have been four or five meters tall.

"He" was naked, with three heads growing on his neck. One faced the left, with emotions like anger, greed, and hatred overflowing, very evil; one faced the front, with a distorted expression, filled with pain and regret; one looked to the right, with a holy face and eyes containing pity.

This "giant" had a total of six arms, stretching out into the air at different angles on both sides. "He" was covered from head to toe, including those three heads, pieced together from pieces of flesh and fragments of organs. Cracks could be seen everywhere, and yellowish pus flowed everywhere, especially the head facing Lu Mian, with transparent blood-colored tears sliding down from the corners of its eyes drop by drop.

As soon as he saw this "giant," Lu Mian's mind instantly went "buzz," and he heard that terrifying sound that seemed to come from infinitely far away yet was right in front of him.

His head felt as if it had been split open directly by an axe, and intense pain occupied all his thoughts, depriving him of all his ideas.

On the surface of his body, blood vessels, either thick or thin, protruded, red to the point of being about to be ignited.

By the time Lu Mian "woke up" from the near-death state, he found himself curled up on the ground, rolling back and forth, as if that were the only way to resolve the pain in his body.

His vision was blurry, stained with blood color, and everything looked misty.

In this state, Lu Mian felt that even if a skinless monster came, it could easily kill him, but perhaps because the black thorn symbol was fully triggered, no "person" in this area dared to enter.

And the "giant" on top of the blood-colored "mountain peak" didn't know if it couldn't leave or was also affected by the black thorn symbol, so it didn't launch an attack on Lu Mian, who was almost out of control.

After calming down for a long while, Lu Mian climbed up, only to see that the linen shirt inside his dark jacket was covered in blood stains and sweat.

"What was that?" The more he thought about it, the more lingering fear he felt.

Just by taking one look, his black thorn symbol was fully triggered, and he was close to losing control, even more dangerous than when he obtained the "Dancer" power.

He didn't even dare to recall the appearance of that "giant" now, and could only make certain inferences based on his impression:

"An advanced version of the three-faced monster?

"Possesses intense corruption?

"Sure enough, Aurore was right; things that shouldn't be looked at cannot be looked at...

"It sits on the blood-colored 'mountain peak,' which is the center of the entire dream ruin... Does this mean it is part of the dream's secret?

"..."

As his thoughts raced, Lu Mian suppressed the urge to lift his head and take another look at the top of the "mountain peak."

Looking again would really mean death!

He decided to evacuate first, return to reality to recuperate, and come back to explore at night.

Turning his body, Lu Mian was just about to leave along the road he came from when he suddenly heard the sound of "Clang! Clang! Clang!"

"What's the situation?" He felt curious and intended to sneak over to take a look.

Of course, he wasn't that eager or reckless; he found a semi-collapsed building to hide in across from the "city wall," waiting for his spirituality to recover a bit.

After a while, Lu Mian once again danced that mysterious sacrificial dance.

He seemed to have transformed into the priest of that hidden existence, pleasing Him with a dance that could mobilize the surrounding natural forces.

Once the scorching heat on his chest appeared, Lu Mian stopped and sneaked toward the intermittent "clang-clang" sound.

After circling the blood-colored "mountain peak" and the twisted "city wall" for half a loop and dancing once more, he saw a glimmer of firelight.

Behind a half-open brownish-red wooden door on the "city wall," flickering orange firelight shone through.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The figure of the person inside the room was reflected on the surface of the glass window diagonally above, shaped like a human, but dragged a bit thin and long by the light.

At this time, that "human figure" was holding a hammer-shaped object high and smashing it down with great force.

"Clang!"

Another crisp sound of metal collision.

"A blacksmith? There's still a blacksmith in the dream ruin?" Lu Mian made a guess based on the knowledge he possessed.

Relying on the fact that the black thorn symbol on his chest hadn't disappeared yet, he hunched his back, darted to the side of that glass window, turned his body sideways, and cast his gaze inside.

Although Lu Mian's eyes hadn't fully recovered and seeing things was still a bit unclear, he could barely distinguish the scene inside this room on the "city wall":

Everywhere were broken tables, chairs, and furniture. In the middle was a stove that had lost its upper half. A fire was burning in the stove, and an iron plate that looked like it had been pieced together was placed on it.

On the iron plate lay a silver-black short blade. It was slightly twice as long as a normal dagger, and its surface was covered with layers of strange patterns. Lu Mian felt a bit dizzy just by looking at it once.

"Clang!"

The "human figure" holding the hammer was like a skilled blacksmith, constantly hammering that short blade.

"He" was wearing a black robe, and the face turned sideways toward Lu Mian was full of signs of decay, with some places even revealing the white bones inside.

Another monster? Is it continuing what it did when it was still human? That short blade is not ordinary; it's a bit evil. I wonder if it's a sealed artifact or a Beyonder weapon? One thought after another flashed through Lu Mian's mind.

The straight-line distance between him and that decaying "blacksmith" was less than three meters, but the other party seemed not to have sensed the black thorn symbol on his chest and kept "silently" hammering that short blade.

Considering that the black thorn symbol was about to disappear, Lu Mian shrank his body back and tiptoed away from the window area.

He had just walked a few steps when the scorching heat on his chest disappeared.

The next second, a creaking sound came from behind him.

Lu Mian hurriedly looked back and happened to see that brownish-red wooden door being fully opened.

The "blacksmith" wearing a black robe appeared there, with four or five decaying wounds on his face where bones could be seen. Half of his left eyeball had slid out, as if hanging on the eye socket, and overall, he was like a corpse that had been dead for some time.

"He" held the hammer in his right hand and the silver-black short blade in his left hand, and Lu Mian's figure was reflected in both of his wooden eyes at the same time.

"Fuck!"

Lu Mian couldn't help but curse angrily.

He instantly understood what the situation was now:

That "blacksmith" monster had clearly been affected by the black thorn symbol just now, which was why it had been "quietly" hammering the evil short blade, pretending to be nonchalant.

Once the black thorn symbol disappeared, "he" immediately picked up his weapon and came out to hunt him.

Truly treacherous!

PS: Second update, asking for monthly votes~

(End of chapter)