Chen turned around and walked towards the forest.
“This level is the same as Good Ol’ Days; the mental contamination is gone, so what the hell is there to be afraid of?”
“Did you know that in ancient times, maple trees were generally a symbol of heavy yin energy?” The system spoke to Chen in a desultory manner.
“Isn’t that willow trees?”
“Don’t worry about those meaningless things; I’m tired.”
“No, can you tell me what on earth you are? And how I transmigrated here?” Chen was particularly curious.
“Oh my, I’ll tell you when the time comes; don’t get to the bottom of it.”
…
The maple trees on both sides were baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, and the maple leaves were red enough to drip blood.
Coupled with the overall ghostly blue background, everything appeared exceptionally eerie.
“Beep, main quest released: Investigate the true intelligence of Level 14. Reward: one ranged weapon.”
Oh?
Good stuff?
“Accept it? I dare you?” The system provoked him.
“Heh.”
“Forget it, I can’t be bothered to talk to you anymore; I’m going to sleep.” After the system said this, it stopped speaking.
…
He accidentally kicked a rotten corpse, and Chen cursed his bad luck.
As he continued to push into the maple forest, the deeper he went, the more corpses there were.
The blue mist inside the forest grew heavier, and Chen could no longer see the road ahead.
At this moment, a harsh voice suddenly came into his mind: “Leave here, Wanderer…”
Whoa, there’s an expert here?
System, are you playing ghost stories with me?
Chen called out to the system internally, but the system did not respond.
Ignoring it, Chen continued forward.
After a while, he heard the voice again: “If you don’t leave, you will die.”
Heh, I don’t believe it!
Continuing to push forward, the maple trees on both sides were already restless.
Whenever Chen looked away, they would peculiarly extend their branches.
It was as if they wanted to stab Chen to death.
“Last warning, leave quickly.”
Chen sneered in his heart, but he couldn’t laugh for long.
Five seconds later, Chen suddenly heard a system prompt.
Accompanying the system prompt was extreme dizziness and a spinning world.
It’s over; I guessed wrong.
Chen hadn’t expected this level to have such a move, capable of bypassing the system’s shielding to conduct secondary mental control.
Damn it, the system’s purification is one-time use!
I was wrong, and I’ll dare to do it again next time.
Since things had reached this point, Chen could only close his eyes and slam into the nearest maple tree, hoping to knock himself out.
However, he only felt his forehead ache.
No way, it won’t even let me faint?
Then the maple tree, lacking any sense of martial virtue, extended a branch and stabbed Chen, sucking a mouthful of his blood.
Damn it!
Feeling like his head was about to explode, Chen forced himself to return the way he came and ran to the entrance of the forest.
After leaving the interior of the forest, the headache eased.
Taking out a bottle of almond water, Chen gulped it down.
But the almond water seemed to have no alleviating effect on the mental contamination here, as Chen felt no sense of refreshment after drinking it.
Now it was trouble.
The damn system was playing dead and ignoring him; there was no purification, the exit was currently unknown, and there was continuous mental contamination.
Since things had reached this point, let’s record it first.
Chen recorded the events in the maple forest just now, preparing to report to M.E.G. later.
Turning his head to look at the rumbling waterfall beside him, Chen thought for a moment and prepared to start from this side.
Wait a second, what is that?
Chen looked into the waterfall; something golden seemed to be floating there.
When he looked closely, he found nothing at all.
Is this a hallucination?
No, I just drank almond water, right?
Feeling strange, Chen took another look at the maple forest, and for a moment, he felt a sense of tranquility.
It was as if what was before his eyes was some kind of heaven.
“Join us, come to paradise, and become one of us…” A faint voice drifted out at the right moment, but Chen could not find the source of the sound.
Something was terribly wrong.
Chen’s expression was grave; he was afraid he had been affected by the paradise effect of Level 14.
But it hadn’t reached a desperate point yet.
Chen took out the Consequential Cube.
He didn’t believe he could be this unlucky, repeatedly falling into dangerous levels.
Just after he restored the green face, a full meal appeared in front of him.
Ignoring it, he continued to restore the other faces, but at this moment, the feeling of mental contamination returned and continued to worsen.
This Level 14 didn’t seem to want to let him leave.
As the Rubik’s Cube continued to be restored, the feeling of being controlled also continued to worsen.
Chen felt that every time he twisted the Rubik’s Cube, it was extremely difficult.
Only one last face remained to be restored, but he had reached his limit.
He couldn’t hold on.
There was no other way; Chen had to put the Rubik’s Cube away, and the strong pressure instantly vanished.
Chen gasped for air.
Good fellow, this Level 14 wants to boil the frog in warm water and trap me here to death!
(PS: The Consequential Cube can only be restored once per level, and it automatically randomizes after being put away. Chen cannot use it again at this time.)
Since things had reached this point, let’s eat first.
Looking at the meal that had just appeared, Chen began to eat quickly.
After a whirlwind of eating, Chen’s mood improved a little, but only a little.
His gaze returned to the waterfall; it seemed the way to break the situation was still there.
The waterfall flew down from the mountain, and the foot of the mountain was a red maple forest.
This was the current situation of the Blood-Stained Maple Forest.
Walking up along the mountain road, the path was littered with various scattered items—some clothing, almond water bottles, and miscellaneous things could be seen everywhere, but their owners had disappeared.
Chen speculated that these might belong to the Wanderers or Explorers who had come here before.
This is bad; I’m afraid this mountain range isn’t a friendly place either.
But Chen had no other path to take now; he only had to head up the mountain.
The higher he went, the fewer items there were.
At first, Chen could still see footprints and items, but slowly, there was nothing left.
This mountain was also covered in maple trees, and the ground was densely covered with a layer of scarlet wild grass.
Damn it, is this also a maple forest?
Chen was speechless because he felt the familiar buzzing sound and the subtle mental contamination again.
For the first time, Chen felt he had no tricks left; he was going to lose his Resurrection Armor again.
Giving up, he continued to advance up the mountain.
Every 500 meters, he would feel the mental control slightly worsen, at which point he would drink a bottle of almond water, but it seemed to be of no use.
When he drank the fifth bottle of almond water, there seemed to be a slight turn for the better.
There was no ghostly blue mist here, and at the end of his line of sight, he saw a dilapidated Hospital standing alone there.
It was very abrupt, but also very logical.
Could this be?