Xue Ba and the Demon Hunters did not quite understand what Wu Siyu meant by the changing of space and dimension, but Gu Jun understood it immediately. He explained, “They’re conducting some kind of ritual.”

This was because he was exposed to the same sensory stimuli. It felt like the space around him was twisting. If he had to describe it, it was like he was being yanked out of his corporeal body to enter a kind of space that was not a kind of dream or illusion.

“The howling is the chanting of the spell, and the winged creatures are conducting the ritual. Our minds and souls are being drawn away…”

Yes, drawn away. Instead of saying the space around them was being twisted, it was more like their souls which were being distorted.

Therefore, if they failed to interrupt this ritual and allowed it to complete, their souls might be vanquished, or they might get sucked into some kind of illusion or dream, while their bodies would become a feast for the zombies. Once these thoughts crossed Gu Jun’s mind, he could not help but worry, but he also understood that the more dangerous the situation was, the more important it was for him to keep his mind calm.

“Quick, get back into the car!” Xue Ba shouted. His jaw was locked tight. “We’re charging out of this forest!”

That was not a bad idea. The armored car was parked nearby, and as thick as the fog was, the armored car was sturdy enough to just ram down the trees. As long as they kept to one direction, they would eventually exit the forest.

“That won’t work.” Gu Jun called for them to stop. If he had not read the case file on the Phoenix unit, he might have agreed with Xue Ba. However, he knew from the report that those that wandered about aimlessly in the mist eventually got lost and perished while those who stood still survived. “The illusion will only misdirect us. There is no way of telling we have physically gotten into the car. It might all be in our minds. The ritual has seriously influenced our perception and mental power.”

“But…” Uncle Dan was desperate. “Ah Jun, what should we do?”

The current situation had officially gone out of control. The air around them was palpably tense, and it felt like it was choking on their breath.

“F*ck!” Lou Xiaoning did not care about that much. With her left eye glaring, she aimed the machine gun up into the air. She took down as many of the winged creatures as she could.

There was no more time for Gu Jun to dawdle; he had to come to a decision soon. Now was not the time to retreat. Only by fighting would they have a chance to survive. The power of a spell could only be overwhelmed by another spell. The only thing that he knew about spells was related to the foreign language, the Son of Steel, the Son of Misfortune, and the sentence that he had chanted earlier. With every single chant, he felt more connected to it. It was like something was awakening, something that he was born with… That feeling had gotten more intense since he saw the picture of that stone statue.

Gu Jun was not privy to the connection. His mother was part of that cult. Perhaps his connection to the statue had been seared into his soul before he was born. Or perhaps the Old Great Ones worshipped by the Son of Misfortune and the Old Great Ones worshipped by the cult were one and the same…

“Siyu, lend me your mental power. Just like during the training, we will work together to chant the sentence one more time.” Since the enemies did not like it, all the more reason to do it. The words did not roll particularly smooth off his tongue during his second chanting, he was certain he had not yet unleashed the full potential of that chaotic energy.

“Okay.” Wu Siyu sighed helplessly. “I guess this is it, but I have to warn you, this is not something that I’m good at…”

Her original responsibility on this mission was to observe and maintain Gu Jun’s mental stability and not get sucked into his madness, but she knew that there was no other choice now.

“Well, if this isn’t it, I promise there will be wonderful bowls of soup waiting for you.” Gu Jun reached out to grab her hands. Wu Siyu instantly grimaced from pain. Gu Jun’s touch still felt like a razor-sharp surgical scalpel to her.

The whispering appeared to have tuned into their plan. The howling from the mountain became louder and more intense. Some of the winged creatures dive-bombed at them.

Xue Ba, Lou Xiaoning, and Uncle Dan provided cover for the two of them, but they were barely holding on. The night mist around them became blurrier. They could feel their bodies becoming lighter, and their arms felt weak. It was as if they could be blown away at any moment. The winged creatures in the night sky morphed into the shape of a whirlpool that appeared to be sucking their souls out.

“Urgh.” Wu Siyu did not resist the pain but opened her mind to feel and embrace it. This was one of the results of their special training. Holding hands like this, the friction from their palms intensified the ESP connection between them. She relaxed her mind, closed her eyes, and chased other thoughts out. The outside stimuli slowly faded away. Day or night, danger or safety, it no longer mattered. She slipped into a colorful world and allowed the brilliant burst of colors, shapes, light, and shadow to flow all around her. She allowed herself to be led along by Gu Jun. If she had to make a comparison, it was like she was placed on a rollercoaster ride that had a spanning, twisting route, one she had no idea where it would lead or traverse. But she could not ignore the many strange and large shadows that loomed in the background.

“Alright, be ready…” Gu Jun trained his focus to remind himself of the picture of the stone statue. The indescribable lines, the strange yet exquisite carving…

One of the illusions that he triggered when he first saw the statue returned to him. It was the underwater palace that was impossible and mysterious.

R’lyeh

R’lyeh

It was like he was suddenly sucked into a dream. He padded down the empty stone corridor surrounded by large stone pillars that were covered in dirty green sticky liquid that burst out from the bloated corpse. It made the carvings and letters on the surrounding pillars hard to read. Right underneath this place, there appeared to be an abyss even deeper than the seafloor. An indecipherable voice came echoing out from it. Was that even a human voice?

Was there an ancient existence known as the Great Old One slumbering down there? Was the stone statue the best facsimile of its appearance that could be replicated by human hands?

Gu Jun suddenly awakened to the meaning of the phrase R’lyeh. That was the name of this palace. He was still clueless as to the rest of the sentence, but he had a feeling that it might be related to the master of R’lyeh.

Xue Ba’s group was still taking down the winged creatures that were getting more aggressive. They tried to slow down the ritual as much as they could. Their eyes flitted over to Gu Jun and Wu Siyu. They knew the two had ESP, but they did not understand why the two had gone so silent. They were nervous, but they knew it was not a good idea to disturb them.

Suddenly, Gu Jun’s eyes opened. The calmness had taken on a different shade. It reminded Xue Ba of the time they were at the shrine. There was madness, chaos, and a chilling detachment within.

“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh.” Gu Jun turned his head up to the night sky and sang. His voice was hoarse, but the words came out as smooth as a lullaby. It carried with it a fanaticism that Gu Jun himself did not notice, the one that he had seen in his mother’s eyes. His chanting rose and fell in rhythm, sometimes rising to a screech, sometimes lowering to a growl. Xue Ba noticed with a shock that Wu Suyi’s face had also taken on a cast of unfamiliarity and strangeness. “Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!”

As Gu Jun finished the last syllable, the vision around them changed drastically.

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