Chapter 256

Chapter 256

Xie Yinxue met her gaze for a moment before speaking without any concealment, "I believe becoming a mummy is an essential step towards the immortal stage."

Li Chanyi pressed further, "So, you mean even if the brain is removed, it's possible?"

The young man calmly and confidently affirmed, "Yes."

Xin Yuechun frowned, "If one can achieve immortality even after brain extraction, then shouldn't those seeking it simply let the half-beast humans remove all their organs? But then, what's the point of the daily threat of failing the stone task and facing death in the pool?"

Xie Yinxue responded lightly, "To force us all to choose the path of immortality."

In this realm, the journey to immortality seemed straightforward.

The challenge lay in returning to the real world and navigating the path to eternal life's end.

The former required every participant to stay alive, fulfilling daily stone tasks, so that on the last day, they could complete the stairway and reach the blue skies of the outside world. As for the latter, their only hint was ensuring all their organs were intact inside the canopic jars. Those like Tu Wencai and Yao Xiaoguo, whose organs had been devoured by the creatures, would likely fail.

The two of them had but one choice: to construct the stone ladder and leave the replica.

However, the stone-carving task proved almost impossible.

Even with abundant energy, participants would have to labor for over ten hours to complete it, and this is assuming they don’t need to eat or drink.

The reality was: without food and water, they lacked the strength to carve the stones. So, every day, participants had to retrieve gold from the square pond to barter for food and water with the humanoid creatures bearing animal heads.

What’s frustrating is that no one knows how long it takes to retrieve a piece of gold.

Even if they could swiftly gather the gold without any hitches, the process of trading it for food and water would consume a considerable amount of time. Even if they worked relentlessly, they might still not have enough time left for the stone-carving.

At this point, participants faced two choices: either get their brains extracted and die or let the beast-headed men remove their internal organs like stomach, intestines, lungs, and liver, then turn into a mummy in the hopes of achieving immortality.

Considering this, Zhan Meng scoffed, "There must be other limitations. It can't be that straightforward, can it?"

What’s the point of setting foot on the path to immortality?

If you can't reach the end, you'll still die.

"The crux now is figuring out what those other limitations are," Chen Yun nodded. "If we can't deduce them, we should continue carving the stones and building the ladder. This way, we have a fallback plan; even if we can't achieve immortality, at least we can survive."

After hearing Chen Yun’s words, Lu Shuo wiped his face and took a deep breath, "Let’s not waste any more time; let’s fetch the gold."

Completing the stone-carving task on their own seemed unfeasible; they needed the help of the mummified corpses.

Surprisingly, fetching the gold was a breeze. Lu Shuo aimed the grappling hook at a piece of gold in the pond, lowered the rope, and with a little effort, retrieved it in less than three minutes. Compared to the effort required for the stone, this was incredibly easy.

Holding the gold, Lu Shuo incredulously asked, "Is it really this simple?"

He looked towards Chen Yun and Xiao Siyu and saw that they too had easily retrieved their gold.

Even Zhan Meng scratched his head, looking baffled, "It does seem... quite easy, doesn’t it?"

After saying this, Zhan Meng looked around, chose a mummy that seemed amenable, and carefully handed it the gold, "Brother, could I ask for a favor? Please, could you carve some stones for me?"

The mummy swallowed the gold in one gulp but remained motionless, slowly stretching its right palm towards Zhan Meng.

Unable to speak and unfamiliar with the gesture, Zhan Meng contemplated for a moment, then had an epiphany, "You want more gold, right? Just give me a moment!"

Considering how easy it was to retrieve gold, Zhan Meng quickly fetched another piece and handed it to the mummy. This time, after swallowing the gold, the mummy dove into the square pond, emerging shortly after with a rounded stone in its arms.

The round stone felt as light as a feather in the mummy's embrace and crumbled as easily as tofu under its touch. Effortlessly shaping it, its speed was astoundingly fast. Without any supervision or prodding, once a stone was shaped, it would dive back into the water to retrieve another raw stone. Zhan Meng simply had to watch it work.

"I feel like I'm dreaming," Zhan Meng said in astonishment, taking a while to snap back to reality. He nudged Lu Shuo with his elbow, "Maybe you should pinch me?"

Hearing this, Lu Shuo instantly offered his own arm, but not to pinch Zhan Meng. "You pinch me instead. I feel like I'm dreaming too... The mummy I chose doesn’t even require extra payment."

Just one piece of gold got the mummy working for him!

However, not every participant had it as easy as they did.

While Chen Yun, Xiao Siyu, Lu Shuo, and Zhan Meng had already processed one or two stones each, Yao Xiaoguo was still struggling with her grappling hook submerged in the water. Her voice quivered with panic and confusion, "Why can't I retrieve any?"

"That can't be right? It's clearly so simple," Zhan Meng replied as he effortlessly retrieved another gold piece, weighing it in his hand.

He decided to exchange this piece of gold with the beast-headed people for food and water.

Just as he was speaking, Li Chan Yi echoed, "I can't retrieve any either."

Xiao Siyu looked up at the empty-handed Xin Yue Chun, Tu Wen Cai, Ming Sheng, and others, puzzled. "None of you can retrieve any?"

"Correct."

This affirmative answer, coming from them or even from Bian Yu Chen and Xi Xi, might have been slightly unexpected but not astonishing. However, it was Xie Yin Xue who said it.

"What's going on?" Lu Shuo's eyes widened even more than when he thought he was dreaming. "Even Mr. Xie, you can't retrieve any?"

Xie Yin Xue leaned over the pool, "They get pushed away."

Pushed away by what?

As he leaned down, his hair, which had previously been cascading behind him, now lightly touched the water's surface, creating gentle ripples. With questions in his eyes, Lu Shuo gazed deep into the pool following Xie Yin Xue's gaze.

Many mummies resided below, their skin dark and motionless. In the deeper parts, they almost merged with the water, making it hard to distinguish between them. However, when the grappling hook was about to touch the gold, these mummies would suddenly lunge forward, pushing the gleaming gold away, leaving the hook empty-handed.

Seeing this, Xie Yin Xue smirked, replying to Lu Shuo, "Persistent damned souls."

"Oh, could it be like in the stone path where we need to call out their names?" Lu Shuo speculated. "But it's too dark down there; I can't see their features at all."

It wasn't just the dimness at the pool's bottom. The mummies moved extremely swiftly, leaving almost just a fleeting afterimage. Human eyes aren't high-speed night-vision cameras; who could discern the mummies' appearance under these circumstances?

Xin Yue Chun tried using the grappling hook three times in a row. Every time, just as she was about to grab a gold piece, it was pushed away. She couldn't contain her frustration and began cursing, "So annoying! I can't see anything. What are we supposed to do? Should we guess each of their names?"

Inside the stone path, any mistakes or delays in calling out the names of those human-headed reptiles would result in them burrowing under one's skin. However, if you hadn’t done anything guilty, it seems there wouldn't be major issues and it could be overlooked. But this approach doesn't seem to work here; if they call out the wrong name, the mummies won't stop attacking the gold pieces.

The only solution is to start from scratch—from the first level of the Lock of Longevity, reciting the names of everyone you've encountered in the same level until you guess correctly.

But who can remember every name?

A single instance would have at least ten people. Eight instances amount to eighty people. Some you might have encountered several times, spending perhaps over a week with them in the instance; their names might be easy to remember. But others might be present for only a few hours or even minutes. Who would remember? And for how long?

Seeing Bian Yuchen bending over by the pond, Xin Yuechun, with teary eyes, remarked, "I truly envy you, having a name known throughout the world."

Yet Bian Yuchen shook his head, "It doesn't work here."

He squinted, bending his neck to get closer to the water’s surface, appearing rather awkward, as if trying hard to recognize the face of the mummy below.

"Why doesn't it work?" Zhan Meng teased, unable to resist mocking Bian Yuchen, "Didn't you say just mentioning the name 'Thirteen' would suffice?"

Hearing this, Bian Yuchen just laughed. Looking earnestly into Zhan Meng's eyes, he clarified, "'Thirteen' isn't the name of any lingering specter below. There isn’t a 'Thirteen' down there."

After saying this, Bian Yuchen refocused and called out an unfamiliar name, subsequently retrieving a piece of gold—it seemed he had recognized which mummy was obstructing him.

Simultaneously, Xie Yinxue identified another mummy, calling out its name: "Hu Li."

Hearing this name that was both familiar and annoying from the Qing Mountain Mental Hospital instance, Xiao Siyu, Chen Yun, and Lv Shuo instantly understood what Xie Yinxue meant by "lingering specter". Lv Shuo stared at Bian Yuchen for a moment before asking, "And you can still laugh?"

Bian Yuchen replied softly, "I have a clear conscience. Why shouldn’t I?"

Zhan Meng was puzzled, "What are you guys playing at? What's this riddle?"

"The mummies below are participants who held grudges against you," Xiao Siyu explained, taking a deep breath and warning Yao Xiaoguo, Ming Sheng, and Li Chanyi, "Think of the instances you've been through. Consider the participants who despised you, opposed you, and eventually died. Calling their names might be the right choice."

"Damn, I might not remember all of them. A lot of people hate me," Xin Yuechun muttered, massaging her temple. Then she couldn’t help but glance at Zhan Meng, "And no one hates that mouth of yours?"

Zhan Meng replied with a touch of sentiment, "To be honest, I only realized today that more people in this world love me than hate me."

Regarding those who bear grudges, human memories tend to be deeper. With this clue, everyone's efficiency in retrieving gold increased significantly. However, the challenge remained—some mummies just swallowed gold without doing any work.