Chapter 39
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After agreeing, Lou Yan seemed to have changed, suddenly becoming more friendly towards Fu Xuezhou. A face that had never shown a good expression to Fu Xuezhou before now revealed a polite and pleasant smile, asking, “How do we get out?”
Fu Xuezhou looked deeply at him for a moment, took back his silver hair from Lou Yan, then turned to look at the other two dark rooms without lights, “Let’s change back into our clothes first.”
Lou Yan naturally agreed, and he and Fu Xuezhou separated. Lou Yan went back to the bathroom to change his clothes. After putting on his various weapons back in their hiding places, he tore off a piece of long cloth from the red robe, stood on a stool, and used the sturdy fabric to wrap around his fractured ankle.
This action was better than nothing, at least providing some protection. After wrapping his ankle, Lou Yan looked at the metal watch lying aside for a few seconds, disgust flickering in his eyes, but ultimately he calmly put it in his pocket.
Then, Lou Yan walked out of the room as steadily as if his ankle hadn’t been broken.
Fu Xuezhou was already waiting outside the door, he was adjusting his cuffs, and he still carried the Tang blade wrapped in the rag on his back. When he saw Lou Yan, his gaze swept over Lou Yan’s ankle, and Fu Xuezhou took the lead to walk towards the courtyard gate, “Let’s go.”
These few short encounters were enough for Fu Xuezhou to understand that Lou Yan was a resolute and decisive talent, and such talents always had their own persistence. It was normal for them not to want to show weakness in front of others.
Lou Yan noticed that the pulsating red heart was gone and asked, “What about that heart?”
“Ate it,” Fu Xuezhou said.
Lou Yan narrowed his eyes and asked directly, “Since the Anomaly Resurgence, how many anomaly powers have you consumed?”
“I haven’t counted,” Fu Xuezhou said casually, “Too many.”
Lou Yan smiled and approached, “After swallowing so many hearts, why hasn’t the anomaly in your body revived?”
Fu Xuezhou had reached the door by now and turned to look at him, “Do you want to know?”
Lou Yan nodded without changing his expression.
Fu Xuezhou’s pitch-black eyes swept over him, “After you tell me everything about you, I will tell you how to restrain the anomaly.”
Lou Yan’s expression darkened.
“From this life to the last life, from how much you remember to what you did after you were reborn,” Fu Xuezhou’s tone lifted slightly, “and even your feelings and thoughts after seeing me, every detail. Show me your entire self.”
Lou Yan smiled superficially, “Are you asking me to strip naked and stand in front of you, Fu Xuezhou? People can’t be without secrets.”
Fu Xuezhou tilted his head, his lips curled slightly, “This is just an exchange condition. Lou Yan, you are the only human who makes me want to fully control even your thoughts.”
Lou Yan felt the air between his nose and lips suddenly thinning, an invisible mountain pressing heavily on him.
Fu Xuezhou spoke casually, but Lou Yan felt a chill creeping up his spine. Lou Yan was a dictator, with a strong desire for control, but the meaning conveyed by Fu Xuezhou’s casual words was even more dictatorial and terrifying than his desire for control.
Lou Yan’s eyebrows revealed a hint of hostility, “Even if I die, I won’t consider it.”
Fu Xuezhou’s smile deepened, as if he was amused, he muttered to himself, “Is that so?”
At this point, the two of them stopped talking and instead looked together at the darkness outside the door.
Outside the courtyard gate was a vast expanse of towering forests, with a path leading straight into the darkness and trees at the end, making it impossible to see where the road led. With no moon in the sky and it being late at night, it was difficult to determine the directions.
Neither of them rushed out. Fu Xuezhou glanced around and then turned to Lou Yan, “The way to leave the Red Coffin is in the river. We need to jump into the river to find the Red Coffin.”
Lou Yan pondered. Indeed, when he emerged from the river, he guessed that the method of leaving was related to the river.
“The anomaly in this illusion appears at a certain frequency,” Fu Xuezhou zipped up his jacket to his neck and bent down to check his shoes, “After killing one anomaly, the next one will appear five minutes later. We need to reach the riverbank within five minutes after killing the first anomaly.”
Lou Yan frowned, “This illusion… doesn’t even give you a chance to catch your breath.”
If it were him alone, even if he successfully deduced that the way out was in the river, he probably wouldn’t be able to outlast the anomaly in this cat-and-mouse game. Just recalling these experiences – the four anomaly bearers, the cramped coffin, two maidservants, an old woman, and a blind anomaly… any misstep could cost him his life.
This Red Coffin was as terrifying as a Rank A horror.
Thinking of this, Lou Yan looked at Fu Xuezhou, who was preparing to run, with a complex gaze.
There was no doubt that Fu Xuezhou was very familiar with this place. Lou Yan hadn’t even figured out the directions, let alone where the river was, but Fu Xuezhou’s posture clearly indicated that he was already familiar with the escape route. He knew the pattern of the anomaly appearances, where the heart of the blind monster was located… Was this really the extent to which Fu Xuezhou, who had been reborn three times, could achieve? Or could it be that Fu Xuezhou had been reborn more than three times…
And did his [Time Reversal] have anything to do with Fu Xuezhou and his rebirth?
After Fu Xuezhou was ready, he glanced at Lou Yan and then walked directly towards him. Lou Yan didn’t know what he was going to do, and the next second he was lifted into the air by Fu Xuezhou.
Lou Yan: “???”
Fu Xuezhou looked down at him, “Your foot won’t make it to the riverbank in five minutes.”
Lou Yan said, “I—”
Before he could finish his sentence, a gust of wind hit him, and the scenery around him passed in an instant. Fu Xuezhou had already carried him out.
Fu Xuezhou’s speed was very fast, the trees on both sides flew past them, and Lou Yan could hardly see the surroundings. His eyes were also stung by the cold wind blowing in his face, strangely, amidst the whistling wind, Lou Yan could still hear Fu Xuezhou’s breathing.
Inhale and exhale, steady breathing.
This posture made Lou Yan extremely uncomfortable, his whole body stiff, silently calculating the time.
Soon, the first anomaly appeared. Fu Xuezhou’s speed didn’t slow down at all, only his hair attacked the anomaly. Lou Yan, who was being carried, had no idea what was happening, he only heard a scream, and then he was thrown far behind.
Within five minutes, Fu Xuezhou had already carried Lou Yan to the riverbank. Lou Yan’s face was stiff from the cold wind, and he was about to ask Fu Xuezhou to put him down when Fu Xuezhou directly said to him, “Take a deep breath.”
Lou Yan frowned, rationalizing, “Put me down. I’ll be more convenient in the river than on land, and I’m good at diving. I can just follow you underwater.”
Hearing this, Fu Xuezhou put him down directly. Then he jumped into the river first and swam to the center of the river.
Lou Yan took a deep breath and also jumped down without hesitation, catching up with Fu Xuezhou’s footsteps.
The two of them swam one after the other to the middle of the river. At this point, the river was even colder than before. Fu Xuezhou found the right position and said to Lou Yan, “Be prepared, this river is very deep.”
Lou Yan asked, “How deep is it?”
The river in Liushu Village was at most three meters deep, but Lou Yan knew that this was an illusion, and illusions didn’t follow the rules of reality.
Fu Xuezhou thought for a moment, “About tens of meters deep.”
Lou Yan raised his eyebrows calmly, “I can do it.”
The two of them submerged underwater, and the underwater world was dark and endless, bringing immense psychological pressure. Lou Yan followed Fu Xuezhou deeper and deeper, their lung’s oxygen slowly depleting. They were fast, and Lou Yan used his endurance to keep up. They dived dozens of meters deep in one breath.
The deeper they went, the dim bottom of the river seemed to have a faintly anomaly red light.
When Lou Yan saw this red light, he became fully alert. He followed the red light to its source and, with a glance, saw that the glowing objects were actually two large stones. Under the red light, Lou Yan’s sharp eyes caught sight of the red coffin sinking at the bottom of the river!
Suddenly, Fu Xuezhou turned around, grabbed Lou Yan, and pulled him a few meters away.
Lou Yan followed his force and moved away, then turned to look at him with a furrowed brow, asking with his eyes: [What’s wrong?]
Fu Xuezhou gestured for him to look towards the source of the red light.
Lou Yan, puzzled, looked in that direction and was immediately stunned.
The source of the red light, which he had initially thought to be two giant stones, turned out to be a pair of enormous eyes!
And the owner of those eyes…
Lou Yan stared blankly as he separated the huge, pitch-black figure from the similarly dark water flow, vaguely seeing a strange, gigantic anomaly.
This anomaly, compared to the one Lou Yan had devoured, was even larger, at least two to three times larger!
His brain suddenly throbbed with pain, whether from mental shock or lack of oxygen, and Lou Yan pinched himself hard, taking a deep breath. He immediately checked his mental value and found that his mental power had unconsciously dropped to 22 points.
And under his watchful gaze, his mental strength slowly dropped by another point.
【Mental Power: 21/50】
Thankfully, thankfully. Lou Yan felt somewhat relieved as he watched his mental strength decrease little by little.
The anomaly in front of him also brought mental contamination, but obviously, this mental contamination was not as strong as the one brought by the anomaly he had devoured. Initially, just one glance at that mysterious anomaly had immediately reset his mental strength to zero, plunging him into a chaotic state. But now, it was just a gradual decline in mental strength, and he still had enough mental strength to hold on.
Feeling stable in his mind, Lou Yan suppressed all the negative emotions such as shock, awe, and fear brought by the anomaly. He quickly regained his calmness and gestured to Fu Xuezhou, asking, [Which way?]
Fu Xuezhou hadn’t expected him to recover so quickly. His eyes flashed, and he directly grabbed Lou Yan’s waist, rushing towards the red coffin without hesitation.
The red coffin was surrounded by an anomaly, and to reach it, they would have to pass by the anomaly. Seeing that their oxygen was running out, Lou Yan also knew that rushing straight over was the best choice now.
This anomaly had been motionless all this time, and Lou Yan couldn’t help but entertain a fanciful idea: could this anomaly be like the one he had devoured, not moving or reacting at all to their presence?
But contrary to his hopes, as they approached within five or six meters of the red coffin, the anomaly suddenly let out a “yawn” sound and then violently opened its blood-stained mouth.
Lou Yan clearly saw the numerous uneven layers of teeth inside the monster’s mouth, covered with blackish-green water plants and chunks of flesh. A strong smell of blood and decay rushed into their noses!
As it opened its mouth, the river water poured madly into the anomaly’s mouth, and in the blink of an eye, a muddy vortex formed in front of the anomaly’s gaping mouth. The vortex grew larger and larger, pulling in water plants and rocks, and Fu Xuezhou and Lou Yan’s bodies began to wobble.
Without hesitation, Fu Xuezhou’s hair danced instantly, and a strand as thick as a palm swiftly wrapped around the red coffin. Fu Xuezhou pulled Lou Yan along, following the traction of his hair, and successfully reached the red coffin, escaping from the terrifying vortex.
Lou Yan didn’t struggle at all throughout the process, cooperating very well with Fu Xuezhou. He did whatever Fu Xuezhou did, quietly observing Fu Xuezhou’s actions where he couldn’t help. He embodied the meaning of “follower” in action.
Fu Xuezhou opened the coffin lid, and the two of them laid down inside.
The coffin lid closed automatically, and as soon as it closed, the water inside the coffin flowed out, quickly providing them with breathable air.
Lou Yan breathed in the fresh air deeply, and Fu Xuezhou’s breath also became heavier and more urgent. In this sealed space, the wetness on their bodies rubbed against each other, soaking the bottom of the coffin.
“Hahaha.”
Lou Yan suddenly laughed, and the water droplets on Fu Xuezhou’s face dripped down from his high nose and chin. His gaze was sharp enough to see Lou Yan’s expression clearly even in the darkness, and he couldn’t help but ask, “What are you laughing at?”
With his almond-shaped eyes squinted from laughing, Lou Yan’s sharp eyebrows softened a lot. His skin was slightly red from the cold, trembling with laughter, and his voice contained a hint of excitement that couldn’t be concealed, “Fu Xuezhou, didn’t you say that if I chose to follow you in this life, you could give me what I want?”
Fu Xuezhou’s eyes darkened. “Yes.”
Lou Yan shifted his gaze from Fu Xuezhou’s face to the coffin lid, murmuring to himself, “What I want is to kill you.”
“Fu Xuezhou, you still don’t understand me. Maybe my past lifetimes of avoiding trouble made you think I’m a coward who will obey when threatened?”
But I… am someone who always seeks revenge, and I’m capable of doing it on the spot.
Lou Yan glanced at his mental strength.
【Mental Power: 21/50】
“It should be enough… As long as it’s less than a minute, there should be a little left…” Lou Yan muttered to himself, looking back at Fu Xuezhou. He smiled lightly, his slightly pale lips spreading into a bold and radiant smile that pierced Fu Xuezhou’s eyes, “Goodbye, Fu Xuezhou.”
Time Reversal!
【Mental Power: 11/50】
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