Chapter 408: Wandering Among the Flowers of Death

Walking amid the Flowers of Death, the eerie melody set nerves on edge, stirring an uncontrollable unease.

The strange pain radiating from every part of his body was enough to crush a person’s will.

The melancholic sorrow and agony exuded by the Flowers of Death built into a tidal pressure that felt as if it were dragging one to the ocean’s depths. Nearby, pale mental entities swam like fish, and the overwhelming psychic radiation interwoven among them made one feel as if they were truly submerged, with every pore sealed and breath stolen away.

The entire Forest of the Dead resembled a turbulent sea of undercurrents filled with negative emotions.

In many ways, it was nothing short of a shallow abyss.

Every emotion that death embodied could be found here, swirling like chaotic currents.

Any mental entity in this sea was vulnerable to obliteration.

Whether it was the intrinsic fear, defiance, or anguish of death itself, or the rage and curses directed at those condemned to this state, all were hidden within the mental entities emerging from the dead and diffused bit by bit by the unique presence of the Flowers of Death, influencing everyone nearby.

If death were a proposition…

Then this forest illustrated that proposition in its entirety.

……

Lu Xin wandered through this eerie sea, absorbing and experiencing every sensation.

He was learning first-hand what pain truly felt like.

It was the perfect way to validate the Seven-Step Theory he had just discovered.

Merely studying the materials wasn’t enough; practical experience was essential.

At that moment, Lu Xin resembled a young man just starting out in medicine, continuously experimenting on himself.

Whether it was the Forest of the Dead or the two uncanny, terrifying abilities affecting him through a flawed field, Lu Xin suddenly felt that they were not as mysterious as they once seemed.

He was still uncertain about his stance toward the Moon Eclipse Research Institute.

But he had to admit, at least those mad—oh, I mean, researchers in the Moon Eclipse Research Institute were formidable.

The notion that people facing mental pollution manifested seven specific flaws was truly fascinating.

Perception, Emotion, Understanding, Instinct, Memory, Self.

From the superficial to the profound, seven flaws.

Or, rather, the seven inherent wounds of being human.

Mental power works by contaminating a person through these seven wounds.

In short, every form of pollution impacts one of these seven aspects.

……

Perception encompasses the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

Ability users can manipulate these senses, rendering a person effectively blind, deaf, or unable to smell.

Or, more drastically, they can not only disable these functions but also trick the mind into perceiving illusions instead of reality.

A typical example is the Drunkard.

Her ability can directly warp the five senses, plunging one into an illusory world where what is seen, smelled, heard, and touched is all false—leaving one to question the very nature of reality.

Emotion covers joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

When one should feel exhilaration yet burns with anger, or when anger turns into nothing but sorrow, it’s a terrifying distortion in itself.

Temptation embodies desire, lust, and any allure that seeks to corrupt.

Understanding is the grasp of all external phenomena and the concepts behind them.

Instinct is the inherent energy within one’s body—why the heart beats, why blood flows, why organs play their parts, why cells divide and die, and why a human assumes the form of a human instead of that of a cat or dog.

Then there is Memory, which determines one’s identity in this world.

And finally, the deepest layer: the Self.

……

At that moment, Lu Xin clearly felt that the massive turbulence of mental and ability energies surrounding him was launching a targeted assault on these very aspects—especially undermining his understanding, as evidenced by the sorrow of the Flowers of Death.

Humans are driven by an innate will to survive, a primal instinct that outweighs all else, yet these Flowers of Death can twist that drive into a notion that perhaps death is something beautiful.

That haunting melody subtly manipulated his emotions.

Where did joy come from, and why did anger arise?

The intense pain was even simpler—the mind convinced itself of a wound, and so it felt pain.

Whether the wound was real was irrelevant; what mattered most was the pain.

……

He no longer felt like himself, calmly observing and carefully recording every detail.

Yet his actions remained unaffected as he steadily advanced toward the Forest of the Dead.

The third ability of Zero Ability Users: Endurance.

……

When an ordinary person amasses great psychic power, three abilities—or rather, instincts—emerge.

One is the Distorted Force Field, another is Mental Impact.

The third is Endurance.

No matter what ability is unleashed against him, one must simply absorb it.

Like a pond of pristine water enduring every force that seeks to alter it.

Sometimes, such changes permanently alter the pond; yet at other times, no matter the contamination, the water remains water, unyielding to defilement.

“So, is this the true feeling of normalcy?”

Lu Xin continued his journey, feeling, observing, and silently synthesizing his thoughts.

The pollution in every facet never abated.

But if one could endure it all and still remain true to oneself, then one had, in essence, triumphed over the pollution.

Even the Flowers of Death seemed to recoil in genuine fear at his composed stride.

The eyes on each petal and the human faces appeared startled—what began as an instinctive move toward him shifted into a timid retreat.

It was as though they were clearing a path before him.

……

“Why is this happening?”

The white-haired old man set down his saw in a daze.

Cold sweat streamed from his head, soaking his hair and clothes entirely.

A look of disbelief spread across his face. In a moment of madness, he snatched a bottle from a case and swiftly poured its liquid over his right arm. Instantly, a pale blue flame ignited along his arm, gradually consuming his sleeve and skin, leaving them scorched and curling with a sizzling hiss.

The agony from the burning flame dimmed his blue eyes as he gazed downward in hopeful despair.

Yet through the field he saw that young man, who, bent over and examining his left arm, must have felt the pain; however, the old man noticed a curious expression on his face as he scrutinized it.

After a while, the young man even looked up and offered a tentative smile.

“Whoosh!”

The white-haired old man abruptly withdrew his gaze, his hands trembling slightly.

After a long pause, he slowly uttered, “Monster!”

“Great Knight Shenze…”

The red-haired woman nearby spoke in a trembling voice, her eyes fixed on the rapidly spinning music box in her hands.

She could even feel the music box growing subtly warm.

Inside, the woman who spun and sang silently had become a blur; only when her figure aligned with the observer could one faintly discern a sinister malice in her gaze.

It seemed the woman inside the box had come to hate her, as if waiting for an opportunity to exact revenge.

This was unmistakable evidence of her overusing her parasitic items ability.

Yet, despite her capacity to obliterate such items, the person below showed no reaction whatsoever.

In a hushed tone, she asked the old man beside her, “Is this person really only in the third stage?”

“Our ability hasn’t failed,” came the response.

Great Knight Shenze murmured, “He’s been influenced by us, but our influence is insufficient to shake him.”

The red-haired woman cried, “What does that even mean?”

Great Knight Shenze replied, “It means he isn’t in the fourth stage yet.”

“Does that even matter?”

The red-haired woman shouted, “We can’t stop him from coming here…”

“We can,”

Great Knight Shenze whispered, “We still have another plan.”

The red-haired woman suddenly froze.

Great Knight Shenze lifted his gaze toward the center of the Forest of the Dead, his eyes growing profoundly deep:

“I still don’t know what kind of opponent we’re up against. By all rights, there shouldn’t be such powerful ability users in Qinggang.”

“But the Bishop’s mission must not be compromised. So we have no choice but to eliminate him. Even if our abilities can’t finish him off, if we detonate these Flowers of Death as mental bombs around him, our chances remain strong. Besides, triggering the Flowers of Death will create a void in the field, drawing out the power of Happy Town to its fullest…”

“That would significantly ease the pressure on the Bishop.”

“……”

“Are you insane?”

Listening to the Bishop’s words, the red-haired woman’s face turned an unnatural, ashen white as she replied,

“This land of the dead contains thirty thousand corpses; if we detonate them all, it will unleash a tidal wave of psychic turbulence…”

“The two of us wouldn’t survive it either!”

“……”

Great Knight Shenze, his expression unmoved, softly repeated, “The Bishop’s mission must not be compromised.”

“I won’t…”

Having confirmed Great Knight Shenze’s resolve, the red-haired woman abruptly stepped back several meters, cradling the music box as she stammered, “You’re a madman. You endure so much pain that you no longer fear death, but I’m different—I can choose happiness anytime. I live well every day. I joined the Technology Church…”

“Also to live well.”

“Then why should I share my death with you?”

“……”

Great Knight Shenze turned his calm gaze toward her and sighed softly.

“You will die. Wait until I’m gone, then meet your end…”

The red-haired woman, fixated on Great Knight Shenze, slowly retreated while gently clutching the music box.

Yet Great Knight Shenze simply lowered his head.

Suddenly, his fingers interlocked and then snapped back sharply.

Crack.

His ten fingers twisted and broke into grotesque shapes.

The red-haired woman had been watching him, wary of his reaching for the silver case.

But she never expected him to resort to such a method—she was utterly shocked.

Before she could react, searing pain shot through his fingers and the music box slipped from his grasp, crashing to the ground.

The music box, seemingly a cheap roadside trinket with a thin layer of glass, shattered instantly.

The dancing woman inside was suddenly exposed to the open air.

Her face went blank, and she, disregarding the pain in her fingers, stared dazedly at the ground.

The woman from the music box lay face down, pressed to the floor, while the tiny doll slowly shook its head.

Bit by bit, its neck made a full turn, aligning its face with that of the red-haired woman.

Then that once sweet, rigid smile turned eerie and terrifying.

“Ah…”

The red-haired woman screamed and, in a fit of madness, spun around to flee.

Yet the doll on the ground suddenly leapt up, landing on her neck. It chirped a song, tearing at the skin on the back of her neck, while its two small, pale hands began burrowing inside.

“Foolish mortals, lost without direction. Paranoid souls, forever scarred.”

“Trapped in a cage, eyes bloodshot and tongues ablaze. Sleeping in a grave, forever under the starry sky.”

“……”

After a long struggle on the ground, the red-haired woman fell still, and an ethereal melody emerged from her lips.

She slowly rose, balancing on one foot as she rotated on the ground and softly sang.

“Pray, pray, all you entangled in the darkness of the crowd.”

“Hope, hope for the god who descends within the Red Moon!”

“……”

“Truth isn’t preached; grace isn’t distributed equally. Those unprepared to sacrifice can never claim true piety.”

“Only those who seek merely to sacrifice others are despicable and selfish…”

Great Knight Shenze murmured to himself, slowly straightening his posture as he reported in a quiet tone:

“The sniping mission has changed. A suspected third-stage ability user has appeared in Qinggang. The Rose Knights and I cannot eliminate him, so we’ve decided to execute the second plan—detonate the Flowers of Death as mental bombs. This might trigger regional shockwaves; all fellow believers, please take note…”

“May the true god descend upon humanity soon!”