Chapter Fifty-two: Illusory Realm

  After a moment of contemplation, Li Xiaoman's gaze swept over us and landed on one of the bodyguards: "Zhang Yandong, you go down first and take a look, be careful."

  The bodyguard hesitated for a moment, his face showing a look of hesitation, clearly also fearful of what was inside. But under Li Xiaoman's gaze, the bodyguard gritted his teeth and took out a machete, heading down into the darkness. The dim light stretched out his shadow, making it seem even longer. Fortunately, Li Xiaoman had given him an antidote pill and he wore protective clothing and a mask, so at least he didn't have to worry about being poisoned or infected by bacteria. However, in this long passageway, listening to the sound of his own footsteps was not a pleasant experience, and his heart felt like it was going to jump out.

  The corridor was very quiet, and only the bodyguard's footsteps could be heard. Even we were holding our breath at the entrance of the cave, carefully watching the bodyguard's shadow. With reason, nothing unusual happened, all the mechanisms had been removed, until the bodyguard's shadow disappeared into that side of the cave, we shifted our gaze to the computer screen.

  Inside the cave, there was nothing but four stone walls. Right in front of that stone gate was another stone gate. I don't know what's behind that stone gate. But this cave made us very curious. Fortunately, we had a self-driving car inside, so we could still see the situation clearly. But what is the use of such an empty place?

  The bodyguard was very careful, and slowly inserted one leg into the cave. Although he knew there were no traps, he couldn't shake off the feeling of fear. With his rational thinking and experience with trap mechanisms, it seemed impossible that this could be a simple cave. However, as he stepped inside, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and the bodyguard finally let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, a voice came from the wireless earpiece: "Miss, I'm about to enter, if anything's off, remind me."

  "Don't worry, just be careful yourself. If you encounter anything strange, remember to come back or ask me." Li Xiaoman responded with a deep voice.

  It was visible on the screen that the bodyguard stepped into the cave step by step, but nothing happened when he took this step. This step was like a heavy hammer hitting our hearts, but nothing happened. Of course, we didn't want anything to happen, but this was too unexpected.

  He swallowed his saliva, and the bodyguard let out a breath, calming down for a moment before taking another step. Still, it was just as nerve-wracking, but unfortunately, nothing happened again. As they took their third step, Li Xiaoman couldn't help but urge: "Zhang Yandong, hurry up and take a few more steps to check out the situation at that stone gate."

  The bodyguard responded with a sound, although the speed was slightly faster, but still very careful, step by step, and soon reached the middle of the cave. In fact, after talking for half a day, it was only seven or eight steps away. However, strange things happened at this time. Although he was facing the stone gate, the bodyguard suddenly changed direction and walked towards the stone wall. Just as we were stunned, the bodyguard was about to hit the stone wall, but then turned to another side. What on earth is going on?

  "Zhang Yandong, what are you doing?" Li Xiaoman's face sank, and her voice was tinged with anger, really couldn't understand what the bodyguard was doing.

  However, the bodyguard did not respond, as if he had not heard Li Xiaoman's call, and continued to circle around in the cave according to his own pace, making Li Xiaoman's face even more unsightly. After calling out several times, the anger on her face disappeared, and she furrowed her brow in hesitation instead. This bodyguard was really not right in the head.

  After a while, the bodyguard didn't change, except for looking more and more anxious, nothing else could be seen. Later, he simply ran around in circles, but couldn't get to the stone gate, making Li Xiaoman's face even harder to look at. Suddenly, she gritted her teeth and waved her hand at another bodyguard: "Xiang Haixiang, you go take a look."

  He naturally didn't dare to refuse, so he got dressed and prepared to go in. However, at this time I felt very strange in my heart. Suddenly, I grabbed him again and looked towards Li Xiaoman: "It's not right, why do I feel like Zhang Yandong has encountered a ghost wall? If Xiangfeng can't break the ghost wall, it's useless for him to go down."

  Li Xiaoman didn't say a word, just looked at me with an expression that seemed to convey something. I nodded and said, "I know, let me go down first and take a look. I've experienced being trapped by ghosts before. Give me a torch and a few lighters."

  That made the bodyguard, Hui Xiang, let out a sigh of relief. In fact, he was also afraid in his heart. At this time, I said I would go down, and he was very grateful in his heart. What I wanted was full support, but just as he handed those things over to me, something unexpected happened again. Zhang Yandong below suddenly seemed to be crazy, waving the machete in his hand and chopping out continuously in the air, not knowing what he was chopping at. The most frightening thing was that he was still shouting: "I'll chop you to death, I'll chop you to death——"

  The whole person was like a mad demon, although the expression on his face couldn't be seen, but from the hysterical voice, it could also be heard that Zhang Yandong had collapsed and was filled with fear. Every time he swung his sword, it seemed as if he really hit something, and every swing would pause in mid-air for a moment. However, just as I hadn't made up my mind to go down and take a look at this sudden change, an even more severe situation occurred - Zhang Yandong began swinging his sword at himself, using all his strength with each blow. Although his chest and back were blocked by armor, his arms and legs weren't, and after just a few swings, they were already bloody and mangled. He couldn't stand up anymore and fell to the ground, but he still desperately swung his sword at himself, probably thinking that he wouldn't stop until he killed himself.

  I swallowed my saliva and rushed downstairs without thinking, not even bringing a gas mask with me. I couldn't just watch as a life was lost before my eyes. No matter what Zhang Yandong did, I thought I still had some strength to resist.

  I rushed down from the mountain path, my speed was very fast, almost sliding down. Fortunately, the torch had not gone out yet, and the lighter was still in my pocket. It only took a few seconds for me to reach the bottom, without hesitation, I rushed into the cave. However, what I saw in front of me made my heart sink to the bottom. Before entering, I was worried that Zhang Yandong might accidentally hurt me, after all, he looked a bit crazy at this time. But now there's no need to worry about it anymore, because Zhang Yandong had already fallen into a pool of blood, he himself had hacked the machete fiercely on his own head, fresh blood and brain matter flowed out, lying motionless on the ground.

  It's too miserable, I feel like vomiting, but after calming down a bit, I felt a chill creeping in from all over my body. I've experienced this feeling before, it was when facing fierce ghosts. At this time, the torch in my hand began to flicker uncertainly. Although there should be no wind in the cave, the torch seemed to be about to go out at any moment.

  Is it a fierce ghost? My instincts have tensed up, but looking around, apart from the dead person on the ground, I couldn't see anything else. Could it be my own misconception? Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I told myself not to think wildly, but one hand still unconsciously reached for the dagger Li Hongjun gave me. Suddenly opening my eyes, I saw countless evil spirits roaring towards me. I finally understood why Zhang Yandong was chopping away. However, at this moment, there's no time to think, and the dagger in my hand has already swung out.

  The dagger emitted a murderous aura, and as soon as it swept past, it was as if a warning line had been drawn in front of me. At that moment, those evil spirits stopped in their tracks, hesitating and not daring to come closer. However, they only stopped at the place where the dagger had swept past, whether from above or below, the evil spirits still pounced on me, opening their bloody mouths wide to devour me. To say I wasn't afraid would be a lie, but I didn't become paralyzed with fear either. After all, I still had my dagger and my fists. However, facing the surging evil spirits, I couldn't help but feel a bit breathless.

  The dagger stabbed wildly, each time hitting an evil spirit, which would disappear, and I even felt like it was being sucked into the dagger. However, no matter how fast I moved, countless evil spirits pounced from all directions, filling the surrounding space to the brim. All I could see were ghostly heads with open mouths about to bite me. Although the dagger could keep the evil spirits at bay, it was only for a short time. Having avoided their attacks on my head and chest, my legs were left unguarded, and in the chaos, I was grabbed by an evil spirit, which was just about to sink its bloody mouth into me.

  I want to scream, my legs feel like they've been ripped off a piece of flesh, yet I feel like something's not right. A piece of flesh is torn off, revealing the bloody bones inside, but more evil spirits pounce on me, even on my back. Just as I hesitate for a moment, another evil spirit grabs my head, and in that instant, my whole body turns cold. Am I going to die? Die in this nameless cave? No, I don't want to die. Yang Xiufeng is still waiting for me to return, I'm still young. This thought supports me to struggle, but as a person surrounded by evil spirits, it's like being trapped in quicksand, unable to escape.

  I see chunks of flesh being torn away, and in just a short time, I've become nothing but bare white bones. The pain is unbearable, and I wish I could just die immediately to end the suffering, both physical and mental. What's the point of struggling? Can I even survive in this state? The evil spirits are descending upon me from above my head, and I feel like my skull has been ripped open. They're devouring my brain, but why won't I just die already? I should have died long ago. Why is the pain still following me? I can even feel that except for the hand holding the dagger, all the evil spirits are gnawing on my bones, sucking out my marrow, and even digging out my internal organs to devour them. What's left of me?

  This thought suddenly occurred to me and I was stunned, yes, what else do I have left? Since there's nothing left, obviously I've already been divided up by the evil spirits, why does the pain still exist, it doesn't add up. I finally know why Zhang Yandong chopped at his own head, that moment I suddenly froze, Zhang Yandong...