Chapter 75: The Dragon Prison Well (3)

The remaining people were terrified out of their wits and immediately followed Ma Liang, running toward the direction away from the lake, where a dense forest of gray-brown trees stretched out. The monster disguised as the lake was enormous; within the woods, its speed would be significantly hindered. Otherwise, on flat ground, it would surely catch up and devour them all.

Sure enough, just as they fled toward the forest, the monster surged forth, its round, slippery body wriggling like an eel, kicking up clouds of dust as it pursued them. Where the lake had been was now nothing but a deep, bottomless pit.

By now, Ma Liang had already darted into the woods and quickly climbed a tree, turning to look back at the others. Only the photographer and the spiritual investigator remained alive; the rest had already, at some unknown moment, been swallowed by the monster.

As the two survivors entered the forest, a sudden iron chain appeared above the monster's head, snapping taut in an instant. The scales along its body flapped restlessly, emitting the sound of waves full of resentment. After circling the area briefly, the creature withdrew.

It returned to the original lake’s location and soon transformed once more into a shimmering expanse of “lake water.”

“Did you… sense… any resentful energy?” the spiritual investigator leaned against the trees, panting heavily as he asked the other two.

“No!”

“I… didn’t either!” Ma Liang and the breathless photographer replied in turn.

“Let’s search for another exit. I have no desire to return to that lake!” The photographer spoke up once he’d caught his breath.

Just then, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble.

No—it was not just the ground beneath them, but the entire forest that was shaking. The scenery around them receded rapidly as the forest began to glide toward the distance, moving farther and farther from the lake, as if it were a living creature.

The photographer clung desperately to a nearby gray-brown tree, the violent shaking making it impossible to steady himself. He shouted, “What in the world is this thing now!”

Ma Liang made no reply. He took the golden brush from his belt and stabbed it into the tree beside him. A plume of black smoke drifted out—it was the energy of resentment dispersing!

But as soon as he withdrew the golden brush, the wound on the tree healed swiftly, just like how the strange creatures’ bodies would recover when attacked by golden weapons.

“The entire forest is some kind of monstrous body—find a way out, quickly!” Ma Liang shouted to the other two.

Hearing this, the pair were stricken with terror. The lake monster, though vast, at least had visible edges, but this forest stretched endlessly with no boundary in sight. They had assumed the lake-shaped creature was held back by the iron chain, only to discover the woods were even more dangerous.

They clung to the surrounding gray-brown trees and stumbled back in the direction they had come. Before long, they reached the forest’s edge. The scenery was still rushing by rapidly, proving that the forest’s strange movement was far from slow!

Ma Liang observed carefully and realized that about four or five meters of earth beneath their feet were moving together, and underneath the shifting land were segments resembling the feet of arthropods—gray, jointed limbs, countless enough to drive anyone with a fear of clusters mad.

At this speed, if they leapt recklessly from the moving land, they would likely break their limbs!

The three had no idea where the forest-creature intended to take them, or if it even noticed their presence. But they dared not gamble; even a broken leg was preferable to being slain by a monster!

“Jump!” Ma Liang shouted and was the first to leap.

The dust stirred up by the monster’s swift movement instantly engulfed him; with such speed, Ma Liang must already be far from the others.

The photographer and spiritual investigator followed suit.

The expected bone-breaking fall did not happen; the earth was surprisingly soft. But the land behind the monster surged forward, burying the two directly. Luckily, the soil was loose enough that they could crawl out, otherwise they might have suffocated before escaping.

“Ugh… cough, cough. This damned place—unless the monsters are wounded, there’s not a trace of resentful energy to sense. They really hide themselves well!” The photographer spat out dirt and coughed.

“This space beneath the Dragon Prison Well is enormous. With the monster moving at such speed for so long, we still haven’t reached the edge.” The spiritual investigator crawled out, checked around to confirm the monster hadn’t followed, and then spoke.

Now the pair stood in a wasteland. Where the forest-creature had not passed, the ground, though not sandy, was hardened and cracked, gray earth fissured with no sign of life.

Nearby, only the traces of the monster’s passage remained, while the forest-like creature continued to race into the distance, raising a storm of dust and showing no sign of turning back for them.

On the far side, however, they could see clusters of modern buildings. Unlike their original world, these structures had clearly been abandoned for ages, their floors low and riddled with cracks.

“Let’s head to the buildings first, then search for Ma Liang. If he can see the cluster, he’ll probably go there too,” said the photographer.

His camera had been lost during their escape, perhaps somewhere back in the forest.

“Agreed. Hopefully there’s a way out over there.”

The spiritual investigator knew that in such a place, it was best not to split up. Any ghost or monster could be more than they could handle alone.

Luckily, for reasons unknown, the monsters here seemed uninterested in devouring humans. They had lingered near the lake monster for ages without it attacking, and even the forest-like creature hadn’t turned back to hunt them.

As the two hurried toward the buildings, Ma Liang, who had jumped ahead, had already entered the area. Gray walls riddled with pits and cracks, hollow windows devoid of glass, silent streets marked only by the footprints of unknown creatures…

Standing before the cluster of buildings, Ma Liang felt uneasy. After some hesitation, he took out a sheet of black paper and a bottle of golden pigment.

A few minutes later, a golden self-portrait appeared on the black paper. As he tossed the sheet, blue magnetic energy surged across its surface, and a figure identical to himself stepped out from the painting, heading straight into the building cluster as the black paper vanished.

Then several ordinary sheets of white paper, imbued with magnetic energy, formed a small illusion outside the buildings, into which Ma Liang’s true self hid.

This place was simply too perilous; Ma Liang would rather expend most of his magnetic energy than risk entering himself.

Now, Ma Liang’s true body was concealed within the illusion he had created, disappearing from sight outside the buildings. The painted double entered the cluster.

All the buildings within sight were made of this gray substance. Confident that his double’s death would not affect his real self, Ma Liang controlled it to approach the most peculiar gray wall.

The wall was fragile, easily peeled away like paper, and the chunk he removed quickly weathered into black powder.

Seeing that the powder posed no threat to his double, Ma Liang casually selected a nearby four-story building and entered.

Inside, it was as silent as outside; the walls and floors remained gray, unchanged, as if everything here had rested for ages.

Yet the building contained some furniture, not particularly attractive in color, but seemingly made of solid wood. The remaining patterns and carvings testified to the craftsman’s skill.

Ma Liang had his double knock on the furniture. The dull thudding sounded muffled; the touch felt like charcoal.

Had there been a great fire here?

Though there were a few pieces, they were just a round lump of charcoal, a square lump, and one with multiple compartments.

In the compartmented lump, Ma Liang found a gray-covered, wordless item resembling a book.

It was not thick—about a centimeter. Ma Liang had his double carefully open the first gray page, and a fragment of text appeared.

Mind intent… flows with breath and spirit… gathers… in the elixir field.

The two words “elixir field” immediately made Ma Liang think of martial arts manuals. Awakened ones skilled in martial arts were far stronger than ordinary awakened, at least in close combat.

But in such a bizarre world beneath the Dragon Prison Well, ordinary, worthless martial arts manuals would have long since vanished; anything remaining must be a treasure.

Thinking this, Ma Liang had his double tuck the gray, wordless book into its cloak and continued searching. This one was badly damaged, but Ma Liang believed intact books must still exist here.

Meanwhile, Uncle Hao Yun the photographer and Zhang Yuan the spiritual investigator had also entered the building cluster. They too found gray, wordless books, their contents much the same as Ma Liang’s discovery.

Then, at a certain moment, every building in the cluster began to emit a steam whistle like an antique locomotive. Black smoke rose from each house, condensing into black threads that converged toward the center of the cluster.

In an instant, the entire cluster seemed to become a spider’s trap, with the sky filled with black threads.

Even so, the three inside the buildings sensed no abnormal resentful energy and could not fathom why.

Confronted with the sudden appearance of black threads, the two groups handled the situation in entirely different ways.