chsdbacks Page 162
Page 162
"That's right, I simply memorized the patterns of the maze's transformations."
"The rules of deformation?" Xiangzi blinked.
"The planetarium's enclosure is a moving maze, meaning it doesn't make any noise when it transforms, so it's a bit hard to spot," Miao Meng said. "I was memorizing the route from the beginning, and after walking through it twice, I realized it was a moving maze. I was just trying to find the planetarium's main entrance but couldn't, and it turns out there isn't one."
"How did you discover the truth about the maze so quickly and even remember the route?"
"Hehe, that's awesome."
Miao Meng pointed to her head and smiled.
"This is my old profession. I've seen witch barriers like this before."
As she was talking, she stopped in front of a mottled wooden door and knocked on the door.
"Look, do you still remember this place?"
After saying that, she pushed open the door and walked out first.
As soon as they stepped into the reception room, the oppressive feeling that had been weighing on them for so long disappeared, even the fishy smell faded, and the surrounding environment returned to its original state.
Miaomeng pushed open the window and took a deep breath of the salty sea breeze.
"Wow, the air outside is so much better!"
They didn't seem to be trapped inside the barrier for long; the setting sun outside the window had only partially sunk, with half of it still visible on the sea.
With a whoosh, Miaomeng flipped over the window and jumped down, shouting at them from below.
"Hey, they're already out!"
"Let's go then."
Xiangzi patted Muhe and Hailing on the shoulder, telling them to jump out of the window first. She herself lingered at the windowsill for a moment, then turned back to look at the wooden door that represented the entrance to the barrier.
"Is this really a witch's barrier?" Xiangzi frowned.
I feel that this barrier has too much of a purpose.
It doesn't resemble a witch's barrier, which is created by unconscious dreams; rather, it's more like... a magical girl's barrier?
Who exactly is Chu Hua's mother, Lin?
With a puzzled look in his eyes, Xiangzi jumped down from the windowsill and followed behind them, his head down.
Never mind who she is, there's no doubt she's hostile towards me.
The most important thing now is to meet up with Chu Hua and tell her what happened. Regardless of whether Chu Hua is mentally prepared, they will have to face a witch with self-awareness.
Bang.
Xiangzi bumped into Mu's back, his nose hitting the back of Mu's head, causing a sharp pain.
"Why did you stop suddenly?"
Xiangzi pinched the bridge of his nose and peeked out from behind Mu to ask.
"We are surrounded," Mu said calmly.
In the vast shadows beyond the reach of the setting sun, figures surrounded Xiangzi and her companions. Their lifeless, wavy pupils gleamed eerily in the darkness, and a strong, fishy smell emanated from the shadows, assaulting Xiangzi's nostrils.
The sunlight gradually disappeared into the sky, and the blood-red setting sun could only illuminate a small area.
The surrounding world was shrouded in darkness.
The figures seemed to have moved a little closer together.
"Are you all villagers? There are so many of you, did the whole village come?" Miao Meng chuckled, taking a step back. "Is it because no one has visited in a long time that the whole village came out to welcome us?"
“That’s not a funny joke, Meow Dream.” Hailing placed her hand on the hilt of her sword.
"Looks like these guys, like you, Hai Zi, have no sense of humor." Miao Meng smirked, picking up the long whip from her waist. "Are they not welcoming us?"
"No, guests, you are very welcome here."
A woman's voice came from behind them.
Xiangzi turned back to IXlinglusi (six) and abandoned the head of Erbaliyi.
Lin walked out of the planetarium.
She was now completely different from before; her long golden hair had been replaced by bluish-white octopus tentacles that stretched all the way to the ground, and her pristine white dress was now filthy, covered in barnacles that stuck her clothes and dress together.
"Tonight is the full moon, and what's special is... today is an important day."
She opened her wavy pupils, looked at Xiangzi and the others, and opened her arms to welcome them.
"Welcome to the Day of Emergence."
The Lost Tale: A Young Man's Spirit: Chapter 198 Xiangzi Went Away
"Welcome to 'Day of Emergence'."
The day of breaking free from the cocoon?!
A storm raged through Xiangzi's heart.
What does "cocoon" mean? Could it be that the sea witch wasn't fully grown before, like... a rebirth?!
She looked up at Lin, who stood atop the tentacles, high above, like a god, and a strange, sharp pain flashed through the depths of her soul.
Is it possible...
As Xiangzi pondered, Lin finished speaking.
The blood-red sunset sank below the horizon, and night rapidly devoured the remaining rays of the setting sun from east to west. In the far east, the enormous moon had already risen into the sky without anyone noticing.
From the darkness ten steps away, a sound of flesh and bone twisting and turning could be heard.
The blurred human silhouette deforms and grows.
Bones pierced through the flesh and grew into all sorts of different shapes. Under the last rays of the setting sun, the old flesh and blood fell to the ground, emitting a strong, pungent smell of the sea.
Within seconds, the villagers surrounding Xiangzi and his group transformed into familiars that resembled the pirates who had hijacked the ship.
Not only the seafood people who were like the pirates, but some of the villagers even clung to each other, their flesh and blood intertwining, wriggling, combining, and deforming, transforming into the shape of a sea anemone amidst a nauseating sound.
Suddenly, the villagers who had surrounded them revealed their true identities.
"Do you think this is welcoming us or not, Hai Zi?"
"They must be welcoming us—"
An uncontrollable villager raised his hand, the bone protruding from his skin, and thrust the sharp, broken bone at Hailing.
His speed is so fast that normal humans can hardly react to it, and he is even harder to see in the dark.
But Hai Ling merely stopped talking, drew the long knife from her waist, and slashed forward.
brush--!
The villager's neck intersected with the tangent of the semicircle drawn by the long knife. His head fell off due to inertia, and his still-moving body was quickly severed by two more blades from Hailing, one above and one below, cutting off his limbs.
The time between Hailing interrupting her speech and her severing the villager's head and limbs was less than a second.
Blood, smelling of fish, was splattered everywhere.
She gave a look of disgust, flicked the blade, and splattered bluish-black blood on the ground, forming a curved splatter line.
"—Probably."
"""roar----!"""
The familiars that surrounded them instantly erupted in excitement, raising their heads and howling wildly at the night sky.
"Hey, Hai Zi, you seem to have annoyed them!" Miao Meng said with a grim expression.
"It's more accurate to say that they originally wanted to target us."
The first villager being hacked into a human stump by Hailing seemed to be the starting horn of the battle. These animatronic marine creatures and the sea anemones behind them emitted piercing screams and surged towards them in a chaotic frenzy.
In an instant, blood splattered everywhere, and a chaotic battle ensued.
Meanwhile, Lin, who was leading this group of familiars, also disappeared without a trace.
In no time, the short limbs and chunks of flesh on the ground were smeared everywhere, and the stench of the meat filled the air.
Mu used her binding silk to control the greatsword, and her wide-ranging attacks were just right to counter the numerous familiars. Each wide-range swing could clear an area like harvesting wheat. Most of the writhing limbs and pieces of flesh on the ground were thanks to her, and even Hailing couldn't compete with her.
Hailing's primary responsibility is dealing with highly threatening enemies like sea anemones.
Watching Hailing and Hemu wreaking havoc everywhere and each fulfilling their duties, Miaomeng felt like she was just there to make up the numbers.
The barbs of the long, bladed whips instantly turned the bodies into a bloody mess, the wounds so deep that bone was visible. But the fact that only bones were visible was of no use; these were monsters that could move freely even after their heads were cut off.
The villager, whose wound had been churned into a bloody mess by the barb, still raised his wood-chopping axe and cleaved Miaomeng's body from her right shoulder to her left waist, from top to bottom.
"Roar----!"
The fish-faced villager holding an axe opened his round mouth and roared in celebration.
Just as he was celebrating, a whip covered in sharp barbs wrapped around his neck and arms.
"huh?"
The dazed fish head turned to look at the woman who had clearly been split in two and should be dead.
"It hurts a lot to cut someone like that."
Miao Meng's ferocious face appeared in the fish head's eyes. She gripped the handle of the whip, and the half of her body that had been split open was rapidly growing fleshy buds, connecting the severed part to the skirt.
She endured the pain and itching sensation and pulled the bladed whip wrapped around the fish's head.
With a pop, like the sound of a cork being pulled from a bottle, a head and a severed hand fell to the ground. She then kicked the villager, who was still alive despite being headless, sending him flying.
Since there's no way to directly turn the other party into chunks of meat, Meow Dream can only resort to this silly method.
The villager who was kicked away landed right next to a giant anemone. Three or four of the anemone's tentacles had been cut off by Hailing and Mumu, and thick, bluish-black blood was flowing from the cut surfaces of the wounds.
Then, Meow Dream witnessed a scene that made her feel nauseous.
The severed tentacles swirled up the villager on the ground, pressing the broken ends of the tentacles against the severed ends of his head. White flesh and blood writhed and emerged, connecting the villager to the tentacles.
The headless body struggled desperately, seemingly refusing to merge with the tentacles.
But not long after, he lost the ability to struggle, and his body deformed and grew into the shape of tentacles, becoming one with the sea anemone.
The tentacles that had just been severed were restored to their original state in front of Miaomeng.
"What the hell? Is this some kind of heavy-handed B-movie?" Miao Meng grumbled, her mouth twitching with disgust. "Don't you think you're a bit too ugly as a witch's familiar? I'm starting to think even the ants in Ave Maria are pretty."
She sighed and began to miss the money that had been with her for so long.
Its familiar at least looks pretty good, doesn't it?
"Step aside."
A short voice sounded behind Miaomeng, interrupting Miaomeng's grumbling.
Hailing leaped past Miaomeng and charged towards the giant anemone several meters tall in front of her. Her long sword drew a powerful stroke in the air, slicing the giant anemone diagonally apart.
The foul-smelling blood poured down from the sky like rain.
Taking advantage of the moment, Hailing turned around and looked in Xiangzi's direction.
After the battle began, Xiangzi stood still, holding his Soul Gem, staring blankly at where Lin had been, his eyes vacant, as if his soul had been stolen.
If Mu hadn't been constantly distracted taking care of her, she might already be inside some giant anemone by now.
"Xiangzi, what are you doing?! This is not the time for you to be spacing out!"
The Lost Tale: A Young Man's Spirit: Chapter 199 The Broken Ties Between Childhood Sweethearts
"OK, cut!"
The ending, which we've heard countless times, is the sound everyone most wants to hear during the day.
Because that means it's time to leave work.
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone. That's all for today." The director patted his chubby belly and said with a satisfied look, "Everyone, pack your things and get ready to go home."
When shooting on location, you need to travel light, but even with light travel, you still need all kinds of equipment, and it will take some time to pack everything up.
During this time, Hatsuka and Mana walked to the edge of the cliff.