mesbooks Chapter 943 Backlash
Chapter 943 Backlash
Inside the carriage, Yu Shijiu constantly used the seats as cover to avoid the old woman's angry attacks on him, as well as the other strange passengers around him who were alerted.
Ange's thrusting dagger was about to pierce the hooded passenger.
A cold glint flashed in Lin Hai's eyes, his tiny pupils almost shrinking to pinpoints. He abandoned his posture of absorbing the black mist and abruptly raised his hand, aiming it at An Jie who was rushing towards him—
A solid, sharp, and intensely piercing invisible force instantly shot into Anjie's brain.
"laugh--!"
The bus came to a stop, and the door slowly came to a halt with a hissing sound of air leaking out.
Outside the car, the space was no longer empty or filled with people.
The platform at Burial Mound was deserted.
Only a single old street lamp, rusted to the point of being almost nothing but a skeleton, cast a dim and blurry glow.
The platform floor, bathed in a halo of light, wasn't made of cement, but rather... a wet, dark red muddy expanse.
Scattered in the mud were some pale, irregularly shaped objects, reflecting a faint light in the dim light.
It looks like... human bones.
"Ahem—If you need to get on the bus, hurry up and get off."
The driver coughed several times, his muffled voice a reminder to the passengers in the carriage.
As soon as the driver finished speaking, the half-open car door was fully opened.
call--
The icy wind, carrying a strong earthy and rusty smell, howled into the already ghostly carriage.
The ten players, caught in a chaotic battle inside the carriage, all shivered as the chill surging in from the platform outside the train window swept through them.
The long-awaited system notification sound suddenly rang out at this moment—
[Current surviving players in the dungeon "The Way Home" - "Alive" 5/5, "Echo" 5/5]
[WARNING: The abnormal energy concentration inside the carriage is rapidly increasing!]
[A friendly reminder: All players in the vehicle, please note that getting off or getting on may not be the only way out...]
After the system notification sound disappeared, the smell of rust and rotten soil from the Burial Mound Platform instantly filled everyone's nostrils.
However, what was even more unsettling was not just the smell, but the scene in sight—
The pale bones scattered in the mud seemed to... undulate slightly under the dim, broken streetlights.
This subtle "undulation" went unnoticed by anyone inside the car.
Inside the carriage, the brief pause caused by Yu Shijiu's forceful "snatching" of the black mist and the interruption of Lin Hai's actions was completely dispelled by the cold wind blowing in from outside.
"Well!"
Anjie let out a muffled groan.
Lin Hai's silent, penetrating mental attack struck her precisely.
Although her willpower far exceeded that of ordinary people and she had taken precautions, it was not an external injury after all.
Lin Hai's icy malice, which penetrated deep into her brain, still made her vision go black, and her momentum of charging forward with the blade suddenly stopped, causing the blue light on the short blade to dim a bit.
In that brief moment of hesitation, Mulanzhi and the others had already positioned themselves between her and the passenger in the hoodie.
This seemingly gentle woman had somehow acquired a slender, silver weapon resembling an Emei dagger. The tip of the weapon gleamed with an ominous purple light as it silently stabbed towards An Jie's wrist at a cunning and ruthless angle.
Just as Anjie was about to be stabbed, she forcefully twisted her body and deflected the attack with her short blade.
clang--!
The clanging of metal against metal, though not loud in the chaotic carriage, heralded the start of a direct confrontation between the two players.
On the other hand, Yu Shijiu's situation was even more dangerous.
The old woman, who had been unable to subdue Yu Shijiu for a long time, was completely enraged.
The ligature marks on her neck suddenly extended into several thin, long, black tentacles that seemed to be made of shadows, lashing and coiling towards him wildly.
Yu Shijiu dodged left and right as he was being slapped, but his smile grew brighter and brighter.
Snapped!
The old woman angrily lashed Yu Shijiu's back with a "whip".
Yu Shijiu hissed as he was slapped, the area being hit experiencing a sharp pain as if his internal organs were being churned.
He was in so much pain that the veins on his forehead bulged, but he used the pain to force himself to stay awake and quickly dodge between the narrow gaps in the seats.
Because they were so close, two other strange passengers who had woken up and had burn marks on their bodies also staggered and gathered around Yu Shijiu.
"Shi Jiu!"
Xu Han was so anxious that he wanted to rush over, but He Lingling held him back tightly with her icy hands.
"Don't... make things worse..."
He Lingling's voice was hoarse and broken. She forced open her bleeding eyes, her huge black pupils locking onto several "nodes" in the flow of black mist inside the carriage.
"Think, think of a way to help him...cut off contact...in the air, look at those black mist threads in the air..."
Xu Han understood instantly.
He took a deep breath, his face pale, and forced himself to calm down from his fear.
The next second, Xu Han took out all the props he had kept and quickly selected the appropriate ones.
His gaze kept falling on the props. He was so anxious that he was sweating profusely.
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry up!!!
Xu Han's hands were trembling with anxiety. Just then, his eyes lit up, and he reached out and grabbed a roll of golden silk thread.
"Have it!"
Xu Han was overjoyed and quickly threw it in the direction of Yu Shijiu.
"Purifying threads: Effectively purifies all contaminants, lasts for 2/3 of uses"
As Xu Han used it hastily, the roll of golden silk thread in his hand seemed to come alive, quickly transforming into several barely visible pale golden threads that shot towards the gray-black mist threads connecting Yu Shijiu's left arm to the old woman and vaguely connecting with the other strange passengers.
"Zi..."
The moment the pale gold thread touched the black mist thread, it emitted a slight melting sound.
Although they couldn't be completely severed, they did disrupt the movement of the black mist, slightly easing the pressure on Yu Shijiu.
Chen Yi was under immense pressure, as nearly six strange passengers were drawn in by his lollipops and his own talent, and they were closing in step by step.
His obese body nimbly dodged the attacks of the monsters in the cramped carriage, his clothes already soaked with cold sweat and an unknown slime.
As Chen Yi passed by the window of one of the empty seats, he caught a glimpse of the platform outside the door, his pupils contracted, and he roared:
"Don't get off the train! Something's wrong with that platform!"
As if to confirm his words, the bones scattered on the ground on the platform slowly began to undulate and writhe.
In Chen Yi's eyes, he even began to see some smaller bone fragments slowly rising up, their white tips pointing at the open car door, radiating a silent desire to get in.
The driver completely ignored the chaos inside the car and the strange occurrences outside, mechanically urging the driver on and on in his hoarse voice:
"We've arrived at Burial Slope! Those getting off, hurry up! Don't delay the departure! Those getting on, hurry up too! Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up! Everyone who needs to get on or off, hurry up!"
His urging was like a repetitive alarm clock, sharp and disturbing in the chaotic carriage... and carrying a sense of uncontrollable fear.
The driver was urging them on. He seemed to be a rather important NPC (player versus player) in the story. What would happen if no one got off or got on at this stop?
Nobody knows.
A savage glint flashed in Lin Hai's eyes. He stopped watching An Jie and Mu Lanzhi's fight and stopped looking at Yu Shijiu's side. Instead, he focused his attention on the hoodie passenger next to him who was grinning.
For a moment, Lin Hai’s gaze lingered on the hoodie passenger for a few seconds, but he quickly regained his senses.
Because the purplish-black, slippery object in the hoodie passenger's mouth had already protruded most of its length, like an eyeless tongue, its tip slightly opening and closing, greedily "sucking" at the chaotic and distorted black mist in the air.
"..."
Lin Hai wasn't looking at him. He quickly formed a strange hand seal in front of him, and the dark, fragmented light in his small pupils spun to its limit, almost overflowing from his eye sockets.
This time, Lin Hai began to frantically direct the black fog that permeated the carriage, growing ever thicker with fear and eeriness, towards the hooded passenger, and... towards himself, through some secret connection, in an almost predatory manner.
An unnatural flush rose on his pale face, and several more strands of white hair appeared among his black hair.
"Lin Hai is still feeding that thing with fear in the car..."
He Lingling was horrified. Her "ghost eyes" saw a thick, filthy energy channel forming between Lin Hai and the hooded passenger, and at the end of the channel, it seemed to connect to the endless darkness and skeletons below the carriage.
why?
Why did Lin Hai do this?
He Lingling was completely baffled.
If, as she suspected, this instance is indeed related to Lin Hai, then why is Lin Hai acting so crazy?
Did he ever get on this bus?
What did he experience on this vehicle?
What could one possibly experience to feel such hatred, fear, and disgust for all the creatures on this vehicle?
Yes, hatred, fear, disgust.
He Lingling could even sense Lin Hai's anger.
What exactly is he angry about?
Even if something really bad happened on this car, wouldn't Lin Hai want to earn more points before leaving?
Just like Fang Youhua in the "Thumbelina" dungeon—at least Fang Youhua was thinking of earning more points before perishing together with those disgusting creatures.
Lin Hai seemed to have lost his most basic judgment. Again, even if he didn't care about himself, why didn't he care about his teammates at all?
He Lingling felt like her brain was about to explode.
She originally intended to forcibly use "Ghost Eye" to search for Lin Hai's past memories, but she suffered a backlash.
As someone with similar talents and skills to herself, but whose abilities lean more towards proactive mental attacks, Lin Hai was completely beyond He Lingling's ability to probe any of his memories.
No, it wasn't that I saw everything. It was just that Lin Hai's memory layer looked like a murky, twisted black sludge.
Not a single inch of color can be seen.
"We can't let him continue like this!"
While He Lingling was annoyed about what was going on with Lin Hai's memories, An Jie also sensed the extremely unsettling energy gathering around Lin Hai.
She shouted sharply, and tried to force Mulanzhi back with her hands.
However, the other three male players of "Echo" had already broken through the obstacle that Chen Yi had barely created with the strange passengers. Two of them intercepted Anjie, while the third had a clear objective—
They rushed straight at Xu Han, who was interfering with the connection of the black mist, and the weak and powerless He Lingling.
"Minor Cold!"
Chen Yi's eyes were bloodshot with rage as he tried to rush to the rescue, but the school uniform student with the dented neck suddenly pounced on his back.
The cold, rotten smell from the other person's breath hit his face, forcing Chen Yi to lean back awkwardly, narrowly avoiding the sharp claws that were reaching for his throat.
Xu Han looked at the male player "Echo" rushing towards him; his face was cruel yet pale.
He was so frightened that his hand trembled, but the instinct to protect He Lingling and maintain support for Yu Shijiu overwhelmed everything else.
In an instant, Xu Han swallowed hard. Instead of retreating, he forcefully pushed his remaining "healing energy" into He Lingling's body.
He then took out a palm-sized tortoise-shell shield covered with runes from his system inventory and held it in front of him.
--boom!
The male player, "Echo," slammed his fist into the small shield, producing a loud thud.
A flash of light appeared on the small shield, blocking the opponent's attack, but Xu Han's arm was also numb from the shock, and he was knocked to the ground and sat down in his seat, temporarily interrupting his support for Yu Shijiu.
Yu Shijiu suddenly felt immense pressure.
A shadowy tendril grazed his cheek, leaving a burning pain and a cold, corrosive sensation. He narrowed his eyes, glanced at the situation on Xu Han's side, and stopped trying to dodge.
Using another feint to pounce on the old woman and attract her attention, Yu Shijiu suddenly lowered his body and slid under the seat. His target was not the old woman, but the male player "Echo" who was frantically attacking the small shield.
Yu Shijiu flipped over and jumped up, but just as he was about to run forward, his right leg got caught.
boom!
Yu Shijiu was grabbed by the old woman's right calf and pulled backward sharply—
The next second, Yu Shijiu's beast-like left hand fiercely grabbed the carriage floor.
Stab it--!
A sickening metallic tearing sound rang out.
That wasn't decorative sheet metal, but something... like rusty skin.
Yu Shijiu's eyelids twitched, and before he could even dodge the old woman grabbing at him from behind, he abruptly pulled back his left hand, rolled to the side, and crashed into the bottom of the seat.
The old woman was also rolled around several times by him, and she raised her head in a daze, and then she stopped moving.
From the carriage floor that Yu Shijiu had accidentally torn open, a thicker, more viscous, blackish-red mist, seemingly filled with countless layers of despair, suddenly gushed out from the damaged area.
This fog originated from the same source as the black fog on the passengers, but it was much thicker and more filthy, gushing out wildly as if it had been released.
In an instant, everyone in the car was forced to inhale several breaths of the black mist gushing out from the broken floor, and their faces turned slightly pale.
Even Mulanzhi, who was confronting Anjie, looked rather unpleasant, glancing with disgust at the hole in the floor that was still emitting steam.
This smells awful.
It's disgusting.
"Ugh—!"
The man in the suit closest to the car door was the first to scream in shock.
He was already in a state of extreme mental breakdown, and after inhaling the mist, he became even more agitated and unable to control his fear.
Under the players' gaze, he suddenly shuddered as if frozen, and then began to frantically slam his elbows, head, and body against the partition of the driver's seat.