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墨書 Inktalez
“Damn it!” The Death Apostle exclaimed as he rushed to the stone slab, desperately pushing against it with both hands in an attempt to move it. No matter how hard he tried, the slab didn’t budge an inch.
Seeing me standing by, doing nothing, he gritted his teeth and said, “Don’t just stand there, come help!”
“It’s useless. Given its width and height, this slab must weigh at least a thousand pounds, and its thickness is beyond our knowledge. There’s no way we can move it with just the two of us. Save your strength.”
“But right now, Yao Long and the others are still outside! How can we get them out if we don’t move this stone?!” The Death Apostle seemed anxious.
I remained calm. “Have you forgotten something...?”
“Forgotten what?” The Death Apostle paused, looking at me in confusion.
“We’re currently in the Cursed Realm. Don’t you remember? If we can break the Cursed Realm, we can return to the real world. The key issue now is to find a way to leave the Cursed Realm as soon as possible, not waste our energy here.”
After hearing this, the Death Apostle gradually calmed down and said, “Among the four of us, you’re the only one who has been in the Cursed Realm and escaped from it. You’re the only one who can figure something out.”
“Let me show you something…” I pulled out a photo I had picked up from the previous layer and handed it to the Death Apostle. “Based on my previous experience, there is actually only one main entity in this Cursed Realm—the Creator of the Grievance Realm. It is invincible within the Cursed Realm; killing it a thousand times would be futile.”
He pointed at the photo. “Are you saying that the creator of the Cursed Realm might be one of these three people?”
“I believe it’s the man in the photo…” Suddenly, I remembered why I found the woman in the picture familiar. She was the ghost I had seen in the previous layer; her lack of eyeballs and somewhat distorted features had prevented me from recognizing her immediately.
The Death Apostle muttered to himself, “Why couldn’t it be this woman or that child?”
I explained, “The woman in the photo I encountered in the previous layer; she even called for my help. Considering what happened with the Hotel Waitress earlier, if this woman were indeed the creator of the Cursed Realm, she wouldn’t have let that waitress go so easily or sought help from her.”
“As for that child, it's simply impossible because the Cursed Realm is generated by powerful grievances. The child has experienced too little and lacks sufficient life experience to accumulate such strong grievances. Therefore, based on this reasoning, the creator of this Cursed Realm can only be that man.”
After hearing this, the Death Apostle returned the photo to me. “That sounds reasonable, but look at these three people in the photo—they all have smiles on their faces and seem very happy. How could they…”
Hearing Death Apostle ask this, I fell into deep thought. "Yes, it seems like a harmonious family of three. How could such strong resentment arise? What kind of tragedy is hidden here..." I tried to connect all the known clues in my mind.
"Arguments between the man and woman, the child's cries, the woman's pleas... first layer, second layer, third..." Suddenly, I realized something and said to Death Apostle: "Let's move forward; there must be more clues ahead! Only by finding all the clues can we figure out how to break this Cursed Realm."
Death Apostle looked somewhat puzzled, but he had no choice but to follow me.
"Let's go and see what lies ahead before making any plans..." With that, the two of us walked toward the corner, one after the other.
As we turned the corner, I discovered another long corridor ahead, but this time there were two entrances. One was about ten steps from the corner, located in the middle of the corridor, leading to the left. The other was at the end of the corridor, turning to the right.
"Two paths; are we supposed to split up?" Death Apostle asked.
Seeing that he wanted to separate, I quickly replied, "Absolutely not! If we split up, not only will we not find a way out faster, but it will also be more dangerous. Haven't you seen horror movies? People die because they act alone!"
Death Apostle seemed displeased by my rejection of his suggestion and asked again, "Since you don't agree with splitting up, which path do you want to take?"
"Hold on; let's take a look first..." I said as I slowly approached the first entrance. As soon as I got near it, a pungent stench hit me in the face, making my head spin.
I pinched my nose and turned to Death Apostle: "Alright, now we can split up. You take this path while I go down the one ahead..."
He was following closely behind me and also caught a whiff of that disgusting smell. "No, I'm not going there. Now I think your method is correct; we shouldn't split up."
I stopped teasing him and said seriously: "The smell coming from here is unusually strange. We don't know what kind of monster might be hiding behind it. Let's check ahead first."
With that, I took the lead and bypassed that foul-smelling entrance, reaching the corner at the end of the corridor.
I peeked around the corner and said: "This area seems safe; there’s no strange odor." With that, I stepped in first, followed closely by Death Apostle.
After just a few steps, we found that this corridor also had two entrances—one in the middle and another at the end. However, this time their directions were completely opposite: the middle entrance led to the right while the end entrance led to the left.
I turned to look at Death Apostle, just about to speak when he cut me off, saying, "Don't rush, let's take a look first..."
I smiled and replied, "I wasn't planning on splitting up; I just found this place a bit strange and wanted to ask you..."
"What do you want to ask?" Death Apostle looked puzzled.
"I feel like this level is a bit odd. What should we do...?"
Seeing that I was momentarily at a loss for words, Death Apostle picked up my train of thought: "You mean this place feels like a maze, right?"
I nodded in agreement and said, "If this place really is a maze, then what is its purpose? If it was created by the Cursed Realm's maker to trap intruders, the combat power of the monsters in the previous two levels would have been more than sufficient. Why create this?"
"Emotion, or feelings..." Death Apostle's words suddenly enlightened me. I realized, "Right! How did I not think of that? It's emotions; these spaces indirectly reflect the feelings of the Cursed Realm's creator."
"Have you figured something out?" He gently tapped me as I seemed lost in thought.
"Huh?" I snapped back to reality. "I was just pondering your earlier statement and suddenly understood something. Coupled with what I thought before... I believe we can get out soon!"
Death Apostle, sensing my reluctance to be direct, asked anxiously, "Stop playing coy! Just say what you mean!"
"The clues aren't complete yet; some parts haven't fully connected. If I force it, I can't make it clear. Once I've found all the clues, I'll naturally tell you..."
With that, I turned and walked toward the corridor's entrance.
Before I could reach it, a sweet and sour scent wafted past my nose. The aroma was reminiscent of freshly squeezed orange juice, instantly reminding me that since entering the Cursed Realm, I hadn't had a drop to drink and felt my mouth watering.
"What is that smell? It’s so fragrant!" Death Apostle followed closely behind.
Hearing his words made me instantly reconsider my urge to take that path. "No matter what that smell is, I feel that in a place like this, any pleasant scent must come with danger. Let's check the path ahead first."
I pulled Death Apostle along as we headed toward the next intersection.
"Listen, there seems to be some noise ahead..." I stopped in my tracks at the corner, blocking Death Apostle who was following closely behind me.
In this silent space, any sudden sound was enough to send chills down one's spine.
I quickly moved Death Apostle aside and pressed myself against the wall to peek out. I saw a child about ten steps away from the corner, walking away from us.
From his height, he appeared to be around seven or eight years old. He wore a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, his body covered in wounds. As he walked slowly, he murmured to himself, "Mommy, these are all treasures, but why did Daddy tear them apart..."
Hearing this, I glanced at what he was holding. Although he had his back to us, I could still make out that he was cradling something in both hands.
"I need to hide them because these things can help my home return to how it used to be..." The boy began to hum a tune, "Sister carries her doll—walking to the garden to see the cherry blossoms—The doll cried out for Mommy..."
At this moment, a chill ran down my spine. "Isn't that the creepy children's song?! Why is it coming from this child's mouth?"
As I thought this, I noticed that the boy hadn’t seen me yet, so I continued listening. "Daddy got drunk—picked up an axe and went after Mommy—Daddy oh Daddy swung it many times—Red Blood stained the walls—Mommy's head rolled under the bed..."
Suddenly, his singing stopped abruptly. I thought he had noticed me and quickly pulled my head back. Death Apostle seemed about to ask what I had discovered, but I hurriedly covered his mouth and gestured for silence.
At that moment, the boy's voice came again. He whispered to himself, "Where should I hide the treasures next? The cat and my favorite fruit have already helped me hide some... What should I do? I don't like dogs, but I can't let Daddy find them..."
His voice was too faint for me to catch everything; the rest of his words remained unclear.
Death Apostle heard him and gently pushed my hand away, speaking in a barely audible voice, "Could your clue be the treasures he mentioned?"
I nodded and replied softly, "It might be..."
With that, I stealthily moved away from the corner and led Death Apostle back to the intersection where a sweet scent lingered. "He mentioned his favorite fruit; this could be it."
Then I hurried into the corridor. It wasn't long; just a few steps brought us to the end.
At the end, I saw a slightly ajar door on the left side. Without hesitation, I reached out and pushed the door open.
Inside was an all-white room with a table in the center. On the table sat a cup filled with an orange liquid, and beneath the cup was a piece of paper.
"Is that where the smell is coming from?" Death Apostle remarked.
I ignored him and stepped forward to pull the paper from under the cup, catching a glimpse of some writing on it.
Before I could examine it closely, a ghostly voice came from behind me, "What do you want to do with my treasure?"
Hearing that voice sent a chill down my spine. I quickly turned around and saw the boy I had spotted earlier at the corner, now standing behind me, staring at me with his hollow eyes...
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