Chapter 253

Chapter 253

“Don't you want eternal life?”

After listening to him, Xin Yue Chun pondered deeply, then inquired with interest, “You just want to pass the game, break free from Lock Changsheng, and return to live a normal life in reality?”

“Who doesn't want immortality?” Zhan Meng retorted, pointing to their hearts, “Feel your conscience—if you still have one—and tell me: wouldn’t you wish for immortality?”

Before Ming Sheng could interject, Zhan Meng waved him off, “Don't say you wouldn’t. I wouldn’t believe it.”

“We aren't billionaires not because we don't want to be, but because we can't make that much,” Zhan Meng asserted, each word ringing true, piercing the hearts of everyone present who wasn't a billionaire, “I'll put it straight: whoever wants that single slot for eternal life, go for it. I don't. I fear dying halfway through the journey more than I crave eternity. What I truly want is simply to live well.”

Pointing downwards as if swearing on his life, Zhan Meng declared, “If I'm lying, may I die tonight! If any of you don't believe me, then tonight, you must... must reconsider whether to believe me or not.”

Everyone: “...”

That was an awkward backtrack.

Qian Xi chuckled, “Zhan Meng, with such a good mouth, why do you even speak?”

“Bro, there's no need for such harsh oaths,” Tu Wen Cai stepped forward, placing a reassuring hand on Zhan Meng's shoulder, “We all just want to clear the game. Ultimately, survival is what matters most, right?”

“What are you thinking?”

A soft, velvety voice gently drifted into their ears, so faint it seemed like a sigh at first. Yet, the questioning lilt at the end was like a hook by a temple pond, effortlessly capturing their attention.

All eyes turned to Xie Yin Xue at the sound of his voice. The young man gazed back coldly, his icy demeanor contrasting with the faint curve of his lips. Smiling, he said, “Did you really think these three paths were yours to choose from?”

Xin Yue Chun found his words oddly unsettling, understanding that what Xie Yin Xue meant was that their choice of path wasn’t truly up to them.

There was just something inexplicably strange about it.

She was about to speak when her gaze shifted to the pool in the center of the temple. Her mouth opened wider in shock, and her eyes bulged. Noticing her reaction, the other participants turned to follow her gaze.

“Oh my…”

Looking at the "humanoid entities" continuously emerging from the square pool, Yao Xiao Guo covered her mouth, swearing, “What on earth is that?”

The pool in the center of the temple seemed bottomless.

The deeper one looked, the blacker its water appeared, as if it led straight down to a cold, dark underworld. Even surrounded by sweltering heat, any who gazed upon it felt an immediate and chilling dread, an overwhelming sensation of being suffocated beneath cold, damp soil.

The pool, usually only rippled when activated by its pulley system, was now boiling. But instead of bubbles, what surged out were countless desiccated corpses with ashen, wrinkled skin, tautly stretched over their bones.

They were so withered that "skeletons" might be a more fitting term than "dried corpses".

Li Chan Yi replied through gritted teeth to Yao Xiao Guo, “Like mummies without their wrappings… Zhan Meng! Congratulations, you were right. There are mummies here!”

The dried corpses charged towards them, their hands resembling claws and their mouths open wide, eerily reminiscent of the iconic painting 'The Scream', as if they could swallow a head in one bite, letting out silent screams.

No one wanted to find out what would happen if they were caught.

“Run! Just run!”

Zhan Meng was the first to dash towards the stone steps they had entered from, cursing himself aloud and echoing Qian Qian's sentiment, "Damn my big mouth! Why did I even speak?”

Chen Yun reminded everyone, “We need to go back! Get the tools from those anthropomorphic creatures and redo our eye makeup!”

It turned out the real purpose of the makeup was just being revealed.

With the makeup on their eyes, they were protected by the Sun God and Horus, allowing them to see a world of peace and serenity. Without it, they saw the wicked, bizarre side of the world.

They would also…

Be attacked by them.

The source of the dried corpses wasn't limited to the central pool of the temple. As the group exited the narrow stone steps, they realized that arms of dried corpses, thin as sticks, were emerging from the walls on both sides, moving frantically, trying to grab any participant passing by.

Given his large stature, Zhan Meng was at a distinct disadvantage in this situation. The narrow stairway provided little space. Zhan Meng squeezed in, looking very much like an oversized moving target. In no time, he was grabbed by two withered arms.

At first, Zhan Meng wasn't particularly concerned. The momentum generated by a person running at high speed is considerable, much like how a loaded truck can't stop instantly due to inertia. Therefore, those thin arms shouldn't have been able to halt him. Instead, they might have been torn off by Zhan Meng's body.

However, to everyone's astonishment, Zhan Meng was brought to an abrupt halt.

The withered arms slammed him into the wall, all the momentum and inertia impacting his own body, almost causing him to vomit blood.

"Damn..."

Zhan Meng, looking agonized as if he'd sustained internal injuries, croaked out, "How are they so strong?!"

Lu Shuo and Xiao Siyu stepped forward to help, straining against the fingers of the withered arms which were digging into Zhan Meng's flesh. Despite their efforts, they couldn't free him.

"It's no use! We can't break their grip!" Xiao Siyu said, wiping sweat from his forehead.

To make matters worse for Lu Shuo, while attempting to assist, he ended up ensnared as well. "Damn it! I'm caught too!"

What's more alarming is...

The stairway isn't wide. Now with Zhan Meng and Lu Shuo, two large men, pinned against opposing walls, the pathway was effectively blocked. And with mummies still emerging from the square pool, closing in from behind, they were caught between a rock and a hard place.

Soon after, Tu Wencai was also seized by two withered arms. As he struggled fiercely, he yelled out to the others, "Damn, they're incredibly strong! Is there no escaping their grip?!"

"What the hell? It's growing a human head!" Zhan Meng exclaimed in horror, looking at the miniature mummified head forming on the bicep of the arm holding him. He feared for his future workouts, worried that he might sprout a head from his bicep while training.

On the other hand, after staring at the head growing on the arm grasping him, Lu Shuo suddenly remarked, "This face... it looks familiar. Is that you, Huli?"

Huli was a male participant they met at the Qing Shan Mental Hospital. Due to his name sounding like "fox" in Chinese and because he had put Chen Yun in a life-threatening situation, Lu Shuo remembered him well.

"Chen Yun, Xiao Siyu, take a closer look and tell me if this is—"

Lu Shuo's words were cut off. The moment he uttered the name "Huli", the withered arms released him and retreated back into the wall, and the head on the arm disappeared.

"It's the name!" Lu Shuo realized. "Quickly, say their names out loud!"

In ancient Egyptian mythology, the path to the afterlife's court is filled with demons that devour souls. However, if you can loudly pronounce their names, they would be repelled. It seemed this scenario was incorporating that legend as a rule!

But this posed a problem for Zhan Meng: "I don't recognize the face on this arm that's holding me!"

"You definitely know it," Chen Yun hinted, "If I'm not mistaken, these mummies are participants who died in the scenarios we've experienced. Zhan Meng, look at its face and think hard!"

"I'm doomed. I can't recall!" Zhan Meng said in despair. "Who can remember the names of every participant they've encountered in these scenarios?"

Lu Shuo thought to himself: Well, some actually might.

For instance, Xie Yin Xue would definitely remember them all, and perhaps Bian Yu Chen might as well.

He, Chen Yun, and Xiao Si Yu had a natural advantage in this round that others didn't possess—they had tackled almost every challenge together. They might not remember every fallen participant individually, but together, they could jog each other's memories.

As this thought crossed his mind, Bian Yu Chen, also bound by the withered arms, seemed to prove the point by speaking a name: "Thirteen."

The moment the word left his mouth, he was freed.

Seeing this, Xie Yin Xue flashed a knowing smile at Bian Yu Chen.

Bian Yu Chen met her gaze and returned a calm smile.

But Zhan Meng wasn’t laughing. He had only a vague impression of the face before him. He blurted out several names in succession, but none matched. After several failed attempts, he exclaimed in frustration: "Brother... I don't recognize you. Please let me go. I promise to burn offerings for you when I return."

Surprisingly, the withered arm loosened its grip, releasing Zhan Meng.

Stunned, Zhan Meng wondered: Could there really be such good fortune in this cursed place?

The answer: No.

Just before the arm fully let go, the mini-head on the bicep suddenly "stood up." It sprouted three pairs of metallic, gleaming insect legs, covered in horn-like tufts of fur. Using these legs, it scuttled onto Zhan Meng's shoulder, then opened its wide mouth, biting into his skin and burrowing inside. It moved beneath his skin, from arm to chest and then to his cheek. Every inch of skin it traversed bulged eerily, a sight of pure horror.

Zhan Meng, a typically tough guy, finally broke, letting out a shrill scream.