Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 220: Chapter 24: Origin of the Beauty Mark

In the still water, there was no sign of life —— a reverse shadow.

Wang Shili followed up with a cold realization in an instant, turning to look towards the dense forest.

The wristwatch reading shot up to ninety in a flash. The evil spirit within the mirror had made the forest unnervingly quiet, especially considering it was initially in the purple lavender manor.

"Fuck me! What the hell did I run into again! Get the fuck out of here, motherfucker!"

Suddenly stopping, he looked at the inverted image in the Crystal Labyrinthine’s pale blue waters, which had become an impenetrable white mist, turning into an extremely complex structure right away.

The power of the Crystal Waters had already become a part of the scene, and it was hard to break down after being irradiated by the moonlight. Significantly malformed, the legend says it grew indefinitely without restrictions.

["If you go to the left side in nine minutes and forty-three seconds, you will return to the original point, but if you take the wrong path, oh... you would have mistakenly entered Erleipu’s den."]

Making the dense mist pay an unusual amount of attention was inadvertently suggested by a system calibration tone, but there was no cryptic answer to be found this time.

But the white mist was indifferent, and the structure of Crystal Labyrinthine was very complex.

"It is clear that the Wells are very closely connected with the reigning rulers; from a business perspective, it is overwhelmingly likely that Erleipu’s underbelly would involve some gambling arena," she asserted.

"An appropriate form of transference ceremony should be associated with his evil fall," he mentioned.

"She must find a way to transfer herself because she is already a fortress of the dominators; she has grown at an extremely rapid rate... devouring, incessantly proliferating. She wouldn’t have been that strong initially, but she completely lost control after the Shen Yue transformation," he reflected.

"Unlimited proliferation —— she became an indestructible figure through the fabled grotesque evolution, having consumed the power of the Crystal Waters... She was born out of extreme resentment, and the painful process made her who she is," he solemnly declared.

"These Crystal Waters could replicate any person they shone on, who possibly possessed some kind of proliferative power. Given Shen Yue’s ethereal beauty and the perilous nature of this terrain, she became the standard for the dominators’ experiment..."

Little Bai kept observing these Crystal Waters, piecing together fragments of the past.

Shen Yue, Beauty Mark.

["You couldn’t have already guessed who I am, clever as you are. She has become a cursed object that could potentially decimate an entire mysterious domain. The Secret Weapon only Little Bai could use to transfer out to the unknown zone, or else, it would be unimaginable... something that could cause so much destruction."]

In the end, her experiment utterly failed, leaving behind just a fragile fragment, which Shen Yue consumed. Enormous resentment was all that was left of some woman, after she had been absorbed by the irradiation of the Crystal Waters.

This chamber was indeed the site of some wicked experiment, but they had turned this section of the Crystal Labyrinthine into a playground of a mysterious dominator, having gathered various materials and Spiritual Possession artifacts. From this emerged a big hassle, including Little Bai and Little Fish, just outside the shooting range of the Crystal Waters.

These Crystal Waters were, however, even more curious.

The structure became incredibly complex, transforming the original vast space to contain blocks of Crystal Waters on the fourth level.

Crystal Labyrinthine, fourth-level fortress...

...

...

Her consciousness rapidly spread throughout the entire building, changing her into someone much like Little Bai, familiar yet different.

"Without form, ’Comply with the command’." She withdrew from the top level of the building.

"Let’s go, lest you disappoint me," she urged.

Once the external force had transmitted past the tower, the story would transfer to a different realm.

This turn of events had occurred several years ago, and it was also the reason.

If it was his favorite toy, it would be placed on the fourth level, where there were all kinds of toys. Xu Zhong thought back to those days when he hadn’t gone to the fourth level, that was indeed no one’s main stage but the Formless Woman.

"Those toys were nothing like me," the Formless Woman laughed.

Looking at the Formless Woman with a skeptical eye, Zhong Xu questioned, "Have you actually killed a few already? Do you have a hold on them?"

"Haha, the fourth level is my territory, isn’t it? Would I let you go kill them if they were not guests, my lord?"

"Formless as the shape of the woman seemed, suddenly sharp.

With just the slightest movement, the corpulent body quivered, as if it could sense the jiggling fat.

Qin Xuzi had made up his mind, he would join this team of people personally.

Could it be that some of those people, who were forced to hurry to the outside of the tower, part of a large separation, were not among the living? During the conflict of that year?

Perhaps, in this crowd, there were also those who possessed the same thing as himself, and it was no coincidence that the gambling field was destroyed. Xuzi began to realize the truth.

He couldn’t stop a team of people, a mere four out of nine classes of wickedness.

If they were completely annihilated in battle, today’s settlement would be straightforward; they spoke with a tone as cold as ice, without warmth.

Xuzi was actually quite pleased with this, but that was just a fox demon using playthings to vent for the guests–they were already weary of the flavor of those playthings. Peering through the knot hole, Xuzi saw the White Fish manager, the White Snake, and the Sparrow demon.

They showed expressions of excruciating pain, struggling fiercely as they were slowly devoured bit by bit. He even seemed to look forward to watching these few intruders suffer.

Although, to Xuzi’s view, the place was just another tedious patch of sun-scorched earth, barely more moistened than an anthill. It was the sudden surge in Xuzi’s strength that caused it to screech so sharply.

"Am I doing something wrong, sir?"

Xuzi looked at Beauty Mark with a bewitching face, still bewildered, feeling a strange thrill mingled with a loathing of pain that she seemingly did not sense.

"What are you yelling about? It’s useless, isn’t it?"

Blood began to ooze from the corner of Beauty Mark’s mouth, her pale skin showing clear fingerprints. Immediately following, a loud slap was delivered to Xuzi by Beauty Mark, who had just let out a piercing scream.

Well felt as if he had merely touched himself; it was a faint sway in the absolute darkness, an imperceptible tremor felt by those such as the White Mist people.

Even the White Mist itself seemed to have its own entity; there was a king’s momentum, a boundless forest, and a long queue. It wasn’t just a myriad of voices in the echo; he reinforced his call twice over.

"Remember what I’m saying! Remember my words!"

The White Mist roared loudly.

Yet nothing could be seen in the absolute darkness, and the cacophony around him never ceased; it was like the noise of a crowd of a dozen people speaking continuously without interruption.

The surrounding area plunged into utter darkness in an instant, right as the White Mist’s speech dropped, as if it had been meticulously predicted.

A sudden change occurred, but the other three people had not yet vanished after that segment of dialogue.

The White Mist spoke very quickly.

"Listen well! Do not interrupt me at this crucial time, remember to keep apart after this, we ought to not go seeking the other side. Regardless of who you encounter, whether it be Origin or Little Bai, do not initiate contact. If you notice any movement from them, stand your ground, we can’t run or fight just yet; anyone who approaches you is not to be trusted implicitly. We must spread out, you all must remember to separate, the scene we are witnessing might unfold in a way where we could be divided at any moment. Time is of the essence, and we can ill afford the luxury of putting too much distance between us."

His expression grew stern and serious.

White Mist could quickly find himself amidst the familiar aura of human presence if there was any change in the numbers.

As he thought about what might happen in this region, a spark of spiritual light flashed in his mind, causing White Mist to narrow his eyes.

That breath of human scent was merely a temporary replacement, gone as suddenly as it appeared after a very short time––it was enigmatic.

This breath was not weaker than the encounter with the manager of the Crystal Labyrinthine, the White Fish, White Snake, and Sparrow before; it was just as strong as a whiff of the fourth class Spiritual Possession. White Mist, despite his power of perception, was not the only manager unaware of this.

The other three also unexpectedly discovered that it was not solely the White Mist they had perceived.

White Mist stopped in his tracks quite suddenly.

If they could only be eternally sealed inside the Crystal Labyrinthine world, there would be no need to break through this prohibition. It seemed as if an ultimate prohibition still remained. They had never been able to leave the Crystal Labyrinthine from the beginning, not because of what they did but simply because the exit was impossible.

They kept on knocking on the Crystal Labyrinthine, unwilling to stop, even though the mirrored images on the Crystal Labyrinthine’s barrier had already been utterly convincing without a trace of flaw; they kept moving with the times.

If this was their own arrangement, the creator of such a labyrinthine palace, they would undoubtedly have to consider how to obstruct intruders.

Although leaving this labyrinthine palace would take some time for White Mist, there were no intricate mazes before Erleipu’s discerning eyes.

The path in the Crystal Labyrinthine was always changing, never the same when they looked back, complicating their every turn with its intricate and convoluted layout, but still, they persisted without wavering under the guidance of Little Bai, despite the dense white fog that shrouded the way.

Their clothes did not match at all, and their external forms were not identical to the four figures seen in the Crystal Waters. Little Bai, Wang Qi, Beauty Mark, and Erleipu—these four were the ones within.

A complete person began to slowly transform, increasing in size without limit, starting with those missing parts at the very moment they had left after those few minutes of separation.

The group continued to hurry along.

"We must hurry up and get out of this damn place, pick up the pace, stop dawdling and dithering, faster, faster, faster! I’m the only one trying, you have to try too!"

Ling Wu shook his head lightly with a dismissive wave, a gesture of encouragement:

Little Bai let out a stream of laughter, revealing a sense of amusement in his tone. "We can but try, though I do not know."

"Will it be very dangerous... if that thing gets out and starts running?"

Ling Wu was like a child scared by a horror flick: freewebnσvel.cøm

"If we keep delaying and it manages to get out, it will definitely come running," Little Bai replied.

Ling Wu was still very afraid of this kind of creepy talk: "He’s not supposed to climb out... really."

Not a single member of the leading group doubted Little Bai’s words in the least.

Of course, this sort of pushing was typical Little Bai, given the circumstances.

One by one, parts of the body—the eyes, ears, hands, and those feet—started to emerge bit by bit, gradually forming a complete person.

That blurry, indistinct face quickly took shape, appearing out of the white mist like a drawing on a sketchpad, its colors and details gradually being filled in.

This transparency would reveal itself if they but paused and observed, as if being slowly patched up.

Overall, parts of the body, whether it was an arm or a leg, hands, eyes, ears, or even just a blurry face, were still mostly translucent, their colors faint.

Upon the walls of the Crystal Waters, even stranger objects began to appear, pointed out by Little Bai and followed by the rest of the group, including Wang Qi. More horrifying figures began to appear on the crystal barrier walls.

Little Bai pointed ahead to the place they had passed by earlier. "Look behind you, he won’t come out just yet, it’s just a faint shadow," he said.

Ling Wu stepped back quite a few steps in fright upon seeing this scene, reminiscent of the ghostly figures in the mirror maze at the manor.

But while Ling Wu’s image in the water was continuously knocking against the Crystal Waters, as if trying to break through, Ling Wu himself was clearly standing still, not moving at all.

This discordance with the labyrinth’s backdrop became even clearer as they moved deeper, contrasting with their movements. Previously unnoticed, these reflections in the Crystal Waters had been detected by Little Bai.

However, no specific details of the manor incident had been mentioned at all, and even Wang Qi hadn’t made explicit reference to it, let alone Origin, her small role in the events of the plot.

Ling Wu shivered entirely, thinking about something after having walked just ten steps.

Ling Wu felt a little reassured, as if remembering something truly significant about their group.

"You’re mistaking it; you were still with the group of Yushuang, and I was with the team of Little Bai and Qin Lin. Besides, I wasn’t taking part, you’ve just remembered it wrong," Qin Lin said, after Wang Qi hesitated:

"With me and you, there’s the team of Origin and Little Bai, not to mention the squad of Yushuang. About that incident at the manor, do you still remember our group going there together, Wang Qi?"

Ling Wu suddenly halted in his tracks, feeling that he would soon be led to some extremely bizarre place.

Although Ling Wu felt more and more out of place, that, apart from looking like a woman, there was something else about him that was very feminine—he followed the three figures of Little Bai that had started to move ahead.

Ling Wu thought. Could he really have remembered incorrectly?

Wang Qi and Qin Lin also echoed, "You, you’ve remembered wrong."

"This labyrinth is so complex, you’ve remembered wrong," they said. "Only I remember this path that you’ve walked, oh! Of course not, I am definitely not Little Bai, are you incapable of even recognizing me anymore? How are you, Ling Wu?"

Finally, Little Bai turned his head with an indifferent expression, saying,

"You, Little Bai... are you really Little Bai?"

A sudden chill ran down Ling Wu’s spine, and in that moment, he unexpectedly thought of a certain possibility, feeling an odd sensation inside himself.

"How... how will we find the way out?"

Little Bai, without turning back, simply spoke in a strange tone. "Wait... maybe we are going back the way we came."

He quickly realized that something was not quite right about this place.

But Ling Wu was not so foolish.

He was not considering what might be the best strategy; his thoughts did not revolve around that. Ling Wu felt as if this place had a hidden, dark connection to him, though he wasn’t thinking too deeply about it.

Ling Wu, nodding without giving any particular response to the assurances of the three, found himself unable to respond to any feedback from his environment.

"Let’s hurry on our way then," they all said.

"That’s right, let’s hurry!"

"Why so serious? Shall we just continue on our way?"

"Do you guys not feel anything... like your senses have been sealed off?"

Ling Wu felt a faint pang of strangeness after taking but a few steps.

It seemed as though the recent commotion, the rumbling, the dark uproar, was just an episode that could be dismissed, as if nothing at all had changed.

Ling Wu nodded.

Little Bai looked at Ling Wu. "Then let’s continue on our way."

"I’ve done nothing wrong," he said.

Wang Qi looked at his own hand and spoke,

"I’ve done nothing wrong," said Wang Qi with a somewhat rigid shake of his head.

"Hm, did you guys see anything scary just now? Everything’s fine," he said.

Relieved, Ling Wu opened his eyes and exclaimed, "You all are here, you really scared me."

Little Bai was concerned that his identity would be mixed up within this group, causing a creature that was an exact replica of a human being to emerge, leading to too much worry and unease within himself.

Ling Wu’s mind was filled with the tumult and darkness of the recent events as he pondered Little Bai’s words, which became clearer in his mind.

The forerunners of the group slowly opened their eyes, with the darkness that had persisted for so very long being fractured by the light.

The darkness was impenetrable, and Little Bai’s intense vision could not break through it immediately.

It was as if their group, including Ling Wu and Wang Qi, was almost aligned in the dense crowd, brushing past an unknown someone at any moment.