Cyber, Extraordinary and Extraordinary Adventures

Chapter 32 The Sinking of Reason

A book that was casually placed aside became a key clue to revealing the problem.

Yu Jing then realized that the team had actually gotten lost in this seemingly uncomplicated library...

No, to be precise, they stepped into a trap that had been laid in advance in the library!

Otherwise, given the abilities of the four people present, they wouldn't have been so confused by the rows of bookshelves.

There must be some hidden entity lurking in the shadows, using methods to affect their spatial perception or create illusions, causing them to unconsciously wander in circles, resulting in a situation similar to being trapped in a maze.

"What do I do now? I don't have time!"

Black Hand, who was already in a hurry to complete the assessment and go out to treat his poison injuries, was now numb in every sense of the word.

I was just feeling happy to have found a safe room.

Now he couldn't wait to have a one-on-one duel with the heavily armored skeleton, so he could at least die a glorious death.

"Can you climb up there?"

The mercenary looked up at the top of the bookshelf; there should still be some space between it and the ceiling of the room.

If you can climb to the top and see the entire maze's structure, you might be able to find the right route.

"I can't do it. Let alone whether I can see the surrounding layout if I climb up there, these bookshelves are so rotten that I can't even step on them."

The blue demon reached out, gripped the bookshelf, and with a slight effort, broke off a piece. He then thought for a moment and said...

"Two clumsy methods: either forcefully break through a path and charge forward regardless, or mark each bookshelf we pass and move quickly, maybe we can find our way out."

"Given the height and density of these bookshelves, dismantling just a few could easily trigger a chain reaction and block the correct route... Forcibly clearing the way is the last resort; let's try marking the route first."

As he spoke, the mercenary smashed the nearest row of ancient books with his fist as a marker, then looked at the black hand beside him.

"How are you feeling? We need to speed things up. Can you still keep going?"

"Let's go, I... I should be able to hold on a little longer!"

Black Hand responded somewhat reluctantly.

Although he had lost all feeling in his left arm, he knew that as long as his leg wasn't broken, he had to keep walking.

It's always better to give it your all than to stay put and wait to die.

The team, having reached a consensus, quickened their pace. This time, the mercenaries would smash a few books with their fists every time they passed a bookshelf, so they could tell whether they had passed through that area. If they saw a marked bookshelf or an aisle with scattered books ahead, they would immediately change direction.

However, this approach doesn't seem to be very effective.

After running around a few times, Yu Jing noticed that the ground around them was littered with decaying ancient books and tattered, yellowed scrolls. Changing directions again and again, going around in circles in vain, gradually made everyone anxious.

He kept increasing his speed until his steps became disordered, his breathing became heavier and heavier, and he inhaled more and more of the cold, damp air into his body.

Having just experienced a chaotic battle, the group hadn't had much rest due to the pressure from the Black Hand, and the accumulated fatigue made it difficult for them to concentrate.

Especially Black Hand, who was suffering from poison wounds, walked with increasingly heavy steps. His face was not just pale, but had turned bluish-gray. His left arm hung limply at his side, swinging back and forth. He wanted to speak to calm down, but his gaze was somehow drawn to the scattered pages at his feet.

The pages of the book, which were written in strange and exotic scripts, had somehow curled up at the edges and transformed into flying insects that looked like dead leaf butterflies. These insects flapped their wings and flew around him, their wings covered with patterns formed by the twisted and deformed characters.

What happened? Has another accident occurred?

Suddenly, Black Hand realized he understood the meaning of those strange patterns, vaguely recognizing fragmented words such as "sacrifice" and "awakening." He subconsciously stopped, wanting to see more clearly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly caught sight of something crouching in the shadows of the corner of the bookshelf beside me. Its torso was hidden in the darkness and I couldn't see it clearly, but a few protruding eyeballs were darting around.

My temples throbbed, and I heard soft murmurs in my ears.

He tried his best to stick his head out to find out what was going on, but the group of dead leaf butterflies scattered at that moment.

He then revealed a thug wearing a bandana from a rival gang, who charged at him with a knife in hand.

"You bastards from the Mud Gang, die!"

He swung his knife forward with a sudden slash, blood gushing out before his eyes, and Black Hand screamed hysterically.

"Are you crazy? Stop it!"

The mercenary, whose shoulder had been slashed, staggered backward, staring in horror at the black hand that suddenly lunged at him.

He had just noticed that something was wrong with Black Hand and was about to slow down to check when he turned around and saw Black Hand swinging his knife.

Luckily he dodged quickly enough, otherwise that Gurkha knife would have been slashing his neck by now.

At this moment, his left shoulder and neck were covered with bluish-black lines, and a small part of them even extended to one side of his cheek. It was clear that the spider venom had spread completely during his strenuous exercise.

What's even stranger is that his current state doesn't just seem like he's poisoned, but rather like he's completely lost his mind.

His face was contorted in a ferocious grimace, and he kept spouting nonsense, only knowing how to wildly swing his knife.

Amidst the flying sawdust and paper scraps, the Blue Demon, following behind Black Hand, strode forward, grabbed Black Hand's waist, and delivered a slam.

Black Hand, already in extremely poor condition, was thrown around in a daze without any ability to resist, yet he continued to struggle, his gaze towards the mercenary and Green Ghost as fierce as if he were seeing his father's killer.

"What's wrong with him? Why has he suddenly become delirious?"

The mercenary stepped forward and kicked away Black Hand's military knife and submachine gun, then helped Green Ghost hold his shoulder and repeatedly asked him questions.

"It's possible that the spider's venom affected his nerves, causing him to hallucinate. In addition, the environment... no, that's not right. There's definitely something wrong with this library. You should have noticed it too. We haven't encountered any monsters yet, but our physical strength and energy are constantly being depleted. The other side is trying to wear us down in this way."

With his knee pressed against Black Hand's abdomen, Green Ghost watched his increasingly frenzied behavior and quickly realized that the root cause of all this was not the spider venom.

As she wandered among the bookshelves, she noticed her own condition was becoming increasingly depressed. At the time, she thought it was due to fatigue from the continuous battles, but now it seemed that something was secretly causing trouble!

This hidden danger is far more deadly than those skeleton soldiers who only know how to charge with their swords.

"Ash, what do you think... Where are the Ash people?"

Thinking of the insight that Yu Jing had shown in the previous rooms, Qing Gui subconsciously wanted to seek his opinion.

Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly realized that Yu Jing, who was supposed to be following behind them, had disappeared without a trace!

The mercenary was also a little confused at this point.

His attention was just focused on the black hand that attacked him.

Although I felt like something was missing, I didn't have time to think about it until now, when I suddenly realized that the versatile player in the team was gone!