72: Chapter 72 When He Awakens, the Entire World Will Come to an End
As that enormous, deathly pale, and somewhat eerie smiling face appeared, the surrounding pink mist suddenly grew denser.
The visibility, which had previously stretched two to three hundred meters, was instantly compressed to just two or three meters.
The air also became filled with a salty, greasy, damp, and stuffy odor, mixed with an indescribable kind of rot.
"Tap... tap... tap..."
From deep within the mist, a series of heavy, dragging footsteps suddenly sounded.
Chen Feng and Wu Jian exchanged a glance, swiftly stood back-to-back, their bodies tensed, entering a state of high alert.
A moment later, a tall, slender human figure slowly emerged from the thick fog.
It was a woman.
She stood a full eight chi tall, wearing a tattered white dress, her long hair disheveled and covering most of her face.
She stood with her back to Chen Feng and Wu Jian, her body twisted into an extremely bizarre posture, as if all her bones had been broken.
Her hands hung down past her knees, swaying back and forth like two dead snakes with the motion of her body.
"Sizzle..."
Right at that moment.
A pool of bright red blood suddenly seeped out from beneath Chen Feng and Wu Jian's feet.
The blood slowly writhed, eventually coalescing into several lines of crooked, scrawled blood characters, like a child's scribbles:
[Hide and seek is starting!]
[Please hide within thirty seconds...]
[If you are found... you will die!]
[If you don't hide... you will also die!]
[Hehehe...]
"Playing ghost games!"
Chen Feng snorted coldly, a flash of disdain in his eyes.
Inside the Rebirth Temple, through Chen Feng's perspective, Lin Chuan also saw through the true nature of that Eight-Chi Woman.
The woman was not some terrifying entity; the level of her rules was not even as high as the former A-Ranked Resentment Fetus Ghoul.
"It's nothing but a B-Ranked Anomaly."
Chen Feng had clearly realized this as well.
The Supernatural Dagger in his hand trembled slightly, emitting a cold, gloomy light.
"Wu Jian, you don't need to move."
"I'll go deal with it."
As he spoke, he was about to step forward to directly suppress that mystifying aberration.
"Wait! Young Man, don't be impulsive!"
Right at that moment.
A voice, aged, stern, yet carrying a touch of kindness, suddenly came from the mist to the side.
Chen Feng's steps halted, and he sharply turned to look.
He saw an old woman, wearing a tattered Daoist robe, black Martin boots, and a black suit top hat, slowly walking over, leaning on a cane.
Her attire was utterly incongruous.
A Peach Wood Sword hung at her waist, yet she held a silver Cross in her hand, and a string of large Buddhist Prayer Beads was wrapped around her neck.
It was as if she had hung all the world's faiths upon herself.
But her outfit did not make her seem comical.
Instead, it gave one a sense of... an indescribable antiquity and vicissitude.
She was like a living fossil who had walked out from the long river of history, carrying an aura that was long decayed yet exceptionally tenacious.
As if time had stopped upon her.
"Who are you?"
Chen Feng asked warily.
"Who I am is not important."
The old woman shook her head, her turbid eyes reflecting the wisdom of one who has seen through the ways of the world.
"What's important is... you must not touch it."
She pointed at the eight-chi-tall woman.
"This place... is a Land of Calamity."
"Every aberration here is like a precise gear, maintaining a certain fragile balance."
"Once you break this balance..."
"it will trigger a chain reaction, releasing something even more terrifying."
"When that time comes, not only will you die, but even the Yanlong Empire across the sea, and the entire Dongsheng Continent... will suffer disaster."
Her tone was steady and serious, like an Old Professor instructing ignorant students.
Moreover.
She was speaking fluent official Yanlong Empire language!
"Are you from the Yanlong Empire?" Wu Jian asked in surprise.
"You could say so."
The old woman sighed, seeming unwilling to elaborate.
"Come with me. This is not a place to talk."
Having said that, she turned and walked deeper into the mist.
Chen Feng and Wu Jian exchanged a glance, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately followed.
This old woman gave them an extremely mysterious feeling.
Through Chen Feng's perspective, Lin Chuan was also gazing at the old woman.
By his own means, Lin Chuan could not see through the old woman.
The panel deep in his consciousness also gave no prompts... just like when he encountered that Mysterious Old Man before!!
Passing through layer upon layer of mist.
The old woman led Chen Feng and Wu Jian to the front of what appeared to be an ordinary small wooden hut.
Around the hut, all sorts of flags and eerie Talismanic Incantations were planted, forming an invisible barrier that kept the pink mist at bay.
"Come in."
The old woman pushed open the door and entered first.
The interior was sparsely furnished, with only a table, a few chairs, and walls covered in strange symbols.
As soon as the two sat down.
The old woman's gaze suddenly turned profound.
She did not look at Chen Feng and Wu Jian.
Instead, she directly raised her head and looked at the Void Realm behind Chen Feng.
Clearly, she was looking at Lin Chuan!!
"Come out, friend."
The old woman slowly spoke, her voice calm and even.
"Since you're here, why hide in the shadows?"
Inside the Rebirth Temple.
Lin Chuan's heart shook.
Discovered?!
He tried to activate the panel, but the consciousness panel still displayed no information prompts about this old woman.
This indicated... the level of this old woman was very likely not within the taboo system!
Even... she might be an existence on the same level as that Mysterious Old Man!
"Who are you?"
Lin Chuan's voice, transmitted through Chen Feng's mouth, carried a note of wariness.
"Who am I?"
The old woman gave a bitter laugh and shook her head.
"I've lived too long; I've even forgotten who I am."
"You can call me... the The Gatekeeper."
"The Gatekeeper?" Lin Chuan grew even more puzzled.
"That's right."
The old woman nodded, her gaze carrying kindness.
"Don't be nervous. I mean you no ill will."
"And at a certain future point in time, when the true Cataclysm arrives..."
"we will cooperate two or three times."
"Cataclysm?"
Lin Chuan's heart stirred.
"You mean... those S-Rank, even SSS-Rank Taboos descending into reality?"
"No."
The old woman waved her hand, a trace of disdain in her tone.
"They don't count as a Cataclysm."
"The true Cataclysm..."
Her eyes became vacant and profound, as if piercing through endless time and space to see a scene of utter despair.
"...is the Source of the Chaos Void Realm... awakening from its slumber."
"When that moment arrives..."
"everything will vanish like bubbles."
"Even the world we are currently in... will ultimately turn to nothingness."
Lin Chuan was confused by her words, but a strong unease welled up in his heart.
The Source awakens? The world vanishes?
"Sigh..."
Just as Lin Chuan was deep in thought, the old woman sighed and began to continue her rambling complaints.
"This Neon Country is simply a Land of Calamity."
"A door connecting to 'over there' just happened to fall here."
"For the homeland, for the Yanlong Empire to remain unaffected, this old woman came here and has guarded it for three to five Epochs..."
"But..."
She glanced at the increasingly dense pink mist outside the window, a flash of weariness in her eyes.
"I can't hold on much longer either."
"That door... is being pushed open bit by bit."
Having said this, she suddenly stood up and waved her hand at Chen Feng and Wu Jian.
"Alright, you should go now."
"This is not a place for you to stay."
Hum!!!
An irresistible power of rules instantly enveloped the two.
"Wait!"
Lin Chuan wanted to stop it, but found his own power was as feeble as an ant trying to shake a tree before that rule force.
"Don't worry, friend."
The old woman looked at the Void Realm and said meaningfully:
"I know what you want to do."
"But listen to this old woman's advice."
"Don't try to Peep into the ultimate Source of this pink mist anymore."
"As you are now... you are not yet capable of dealing with it!"
"You should go back too."
"We... will meet again."
As soon as the old woman finished speaking.
Chen Feng and Wu Jian's figures instantly vanished from the spot.
The next second.
At the border between the Yanlong Empire and the Great Xin Dynasty on the Dongsheng Continent.
Inside a medium-sized Base City.
Chen Feng and Wu Jian stood dumbfounded on the street, looking at the bustling traffic around them, unable to process what had happened.
"This... we're back just like that?"
Wu Jian pinched his own thigh, grimacing in pain.
"It's not a dream..."
Chen Feng, meanwhile, touched his chest, his face filled with confusion and unease.
"That old woman..."
"What exactly is she?"
...The scene shifts.
Inside the temple in Rebirth City,
Lin Chuan's mind was heavy.
The old woman's words were like a massive stone weighing on his heart.
"Cataclysm... Source..."
"And that so-called 'door'..."
He felt as if he had touched the deepest secrets of this world.
But just as the old woman said.
His current Rank was too low.
He didn't even have the qualification to know the truth.
"Get stronger! Must get stronger as soon as possible!"
"Must elevate my Rank! Elevate my Terror Level!"
Chaotic black light surged from Lin Chuan's entire body!
He did not want to be that bubble drifting with the current.
He wanted to be the Chess Player who Controls everything!
Suppressing his emotions, Lin Chuan refocused his attention on the immediate situation.
Chen Feng and Wu Jian had been sent by the old woman to the Yanlong Empire border, which was perfect for them to develop Believers there and gather more intelligence.