“There is no mistake!
This presence—it must be Mother!”
The eight tentacles, which had been flailing aggressively just moments ago, were now trembling with nervous excitement.
A frenzy of intense, overwhelming emotions stimulated its brain domain, leaving Him in a daze, frozen in midair.
The flow of time in its dimension was different from here.
Since Mother disappeared, it hadn’t seen her in a very, very long time.
So long, in fact, that it had forgotten Mother’s face and her voice…
It grew increasingly terrified, fearing that one day, it might even forget Mother’s presence.
Eight Evils did not want to wait any longer.
To that end, it hadn’t hesitated to destroy its true form, paying the price of damaging its very origin just to forcefully cross the dimensional boundary and descend upon this world.
Among Mother’s children, only it possessed such an ability.
Sure enough, its decision had been correct.
Mother was truly here.
But at this moment, much like a child who hadn’t been home in ages, a strange and inexplicable sense of apprehension washed over Him—the anxiety of being close to home.
Mother…
Did she still remember Him?
Meanwhile.
Upon discovering that her blood had a strong stimulating effect on these Deceits, Bian Ying immediately took out the Healing Spray and applied it to her wound.
This Healing Spray was a special medicine issued by the Investigation Bureau.
With just a simple spritz, it quickly stopped bleeding and healed wounds.
Once the bleeding stopped, the ravenous Deceits sniffed the fading scent of blood in the air, gradually becoming confused and lost.
“Where is it?”
“Come out quickly…”
In a dark corner, Bian Ying tightened her grip on her Energy Gun, vigilantly monitoring the Deceits’ movements.
She had taken the opportunity to eliminate a few while the Deceits were slaughtering each other, but there were still quite a number of them left in the lair, whereas she was running low on bullets.
Fortunately, these Deceits weren’t exactly bright.
She wondered which Deceit to target next.
Just as she was about to pull the trigger, eight tentacles abruptly appeared!
Black, sharp thorns sprouted from the previously smooth surface of the tentacles, piercing through the air and brazenly displaying their formidable power.
“Ahhhh!”
“Spare us, my Lord!”
All the Deceits in the lair were swept away by the tentacles in a single strike.
Eight Evils’ indignant voice echoed throughout the lair.
“A bunch of ants, daring to covet Mother.”
Bian Ying forcibly halted her movements.
She thought, “How is this tentacled Deceit a mama’s boy?!”
In mere seconds, the situation in the lair had completely changed.
Bian Ying appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly, she was far more terrified than before.
She knew the true master of the lair had finally shown itself.
The eight tentacles suddenly loomed right in front of her.
She swore she hadn’t coveted its mother!
A tentacle poked her forehead.
The Deceit had no concept of being gentle with a lady, and Bian Ying was nearly knocked to the ground.
It found her to be incredibly soft and weak, though a faint trace of warmth lingered within that softness.
Eight Evils’ voice revealed a blunt sense of confusion.
“You’re actually still alive.”
Mother’s presence had faded, nearly dissipating completely from its lair.
Had Mother come, only to leave again?
Why?
Eight Evils couldn’t understand.
It only knew that Mother had left behind this fragile human.
Two tentacles suddenly grabbed Bian Ying’s jaw, as the Deceit’s “gaze” projected down from a high-dimensional space.
It scrutinized Bian Ying’s face.
Was it because they shared similarities?
In its long-blurred memories, Mother also seemed to have smooth, jet-black hair, and her eyes—as dark as the abyss—sparkled with a bright light.
But she was not Mother.
Mother was powerful and mysterious; how could she possibly be trapped in its lair?
Bian Ying could feel a clammy, oppressive gaze sticking to her skin, exuding naked malice.
Unable to grasp the Deceit’s true intentions, she could only let the tentacles pinch and prod her face, as if it were inspecting a new toy.
Bian Ying grimaced in pain but only dared to silently throw a tantrum in her mind.
Seemingly bored of playing, Eight Evils asked out of the blue, “Ant, have you seen my mother?”
Bian Ying was rendered speechless.
With so many Deceits in the lair, how would she know which one was its mother?
Besides, He was the one who had gone on a killing spree and cleared out the rest of them!
While cursing inwardly, Bian Ying was secretly shocked.
Wouldn’t the mother of a high-risk Deceit be a super high-risk entity?
She pursed her lips in silence, not saying a word.
Seeing this, Eight Evils lost interest.
“Heh, perhaps Mother was simply having a moment of kindness.
A mere ant isn’t worth Mother’s attention.” It scoffed coldly.
Mother was the kindest; she had always ignored ants.
Perhaps that was how this fragile human had managed to escape death.
At this moment, it could never have imagined that the Mother He missed day and night was standing right in front of Him, being repeatedly belittled as an “ant.”
Just then, the sturdy lair suddenly swayed violently.
“Hmm?!” Eight Evils’ tone rose slightly, the interest it had lost in Bian Ying reigniting.
“It seems there’s a formidable one among your kind.”
As its voice fell, a golden blade of light pierced through the darkness.
“Bian Ying!
Seizing the opportunity, Bian Ying fired a shot at Eight Evils.
BANG!
Eight Evils hadn’t taken this fragile human seriously at all.
To its surprise, its very contempt resulted in a gaping hole oozing ominous black smoke on one of its tentacles.
Deceits didn’t bleed, but injuries would cause their power to drain.
“Heh.” Though the tentacles writhed in fury, Eight Evils’ voice remained composed, albeit with a trace more malice than before.
“For Mother’s sake, run while you can, ant.”
The next time it caught her, it would personally tear her apart and swallow her whole.
Treating its threat as though she hadn’t heard it, Bian Ying crawled out through the gap without looking back.
PHEW!
She tumbled onto the ground, panting heavily, relieved to have survived.
Zhou Haizhi hadn’t expected Bian Ying to actually be inside the Deceit’s lair.
His eyes nearly popped out of his head in shock, especially when he realized that aside from looking a bit disheveled, she hadn’t suffered any real injuries.
“Y-y-you…
You’re okay?!”
Aside from Tan Linyan, the others also had faces full of sheer astonishment.
They had been separated after entering the dormitory building, and had only managed to regroup by forcefully hacking a bloody path through the Deceits.
Yet, they hadn’t been able to find Bian Ying anywhere.
At first, they all assumed Bian Ying had sacrificed herself.
That was until Yu Chi detected a Deceit lair hidden on the dormitory rooftop, prompting Tan Linyan to expend more than half of his strength to pry open the lair’s entrance.
And then, Bian Ying appeared.
Furthermore, she seemed to be in much better shape than they were.
“I’m fine,” Bian Ying shook her head.
She cast a suspicious backward glance at the vanishing lair entrance.
She mused that the mama’s boy Deceit had actually let her leave.
Honestly, it was quite obedient to its mom.
Bian Ying thanked Tan Linyan and then gave a brief explanation of what had happened after she entered the dorms.
Hearing her completely logical yet somewhat absurd actions, the crowd wore expressions of both bewilderment and admiration.
After all, who would pull off something like that in a peril-ridden Deceit Domain!
At this moment, besides the Investigation Bureau members on the rooftop, there were also many students they had rescued along the way, including Xu Xinrong and her roommates.
Seeing Bian Ying return safely, Xu Xinrong breathed a sigh of relief.
They had heard the commotion outside from their dorm room and assumed Bian Ying had been killed.
Because of this, when the First Squad found them, they stepped out of the dorm without any hesitation.
Just as Tan Linyan was about to ask more about the situation inside the lair, the thick, stagnant black clouds enshrouding the sky above the dormitory building abruptly dispersed by a significant margin.
The sky remained gloomy and murky, but it was nowhere near as terrifying as before.
Xiao Zhibing widened her eyes and pointed down at the woodland avenue that had reappeared in the lush forest below.
“Captain, the road has appeared again!”