Deep in the Living
Chapter 179 - 173: Deep in the Cave

Chapter 179: Chapter 173: Deep in the Cave

The interior of the cave was artificially modified into a cement tunnel, making the ground smoother and easier to traverse, yet it also made the entire space more claustrophobic.

The tunnel turned out to be longer and deeper than anyone had imagined.

Moreover, as they ventured deeper, the passageway became increasingly narrow. Initially allowing for two people to pass side by side, it soon narrowed to a point where only one person could squeeze through, and even then, it required them to sidle their bodies slowly.

The cold walls pressed against their bodies, intensifying the feeling of suffocation.

When the width reached a minimal point, and everyone had to shuffle forward side by side, a light finally appeared ahead.

Shea, leading the way, called out: "Hurry in! It seems to be a buffer zone here."

The last tiny narrow gap was even restrictive in size; if one of the five hundred sisters were here, they probably would have to use special abilities.

Class leader, transformed into Isabella with a more substantial upper body, got utterly stuck, and it took several people pulling hard for a while before she finally managed to squeeze through.

The most effortless was undoubtedly Eye Sister; as long as she turned sideways, she was almost as thin as a chopping board.

Luo Di, who was covering the rear, caught a glimpse of light as he squeezed through the crevice.

After a long time in the dark, narrow pathway, the sudden openness and brightness relaxed his entire being, and his nerves, long under pressure, eased.

The area they entered was circular, roughly twenty square meters in width.

Surprisingly, the top was artificially created as an opening that went straight to the summit, allowing the dazzling stardust to descend, illuminating the current area, and giving those who ventured deep into the cave a chance to breathe.

Three forks appeared before them, each covered by even denser darkness, seemingly capable of drowning out all light.

It was impossible for them to split up now; the team needed to choose one direction.

Hua Yuan feigned a scared expression and approached Eye Sister, "Mu Mu, your instincts are always good, you choose, shall we?"

The latter’s slender arm quickly rose, pointing towards the middle pathway.

"The middle one, then."

Luo Di followed Eye Sister’s direction and looked down the middle path, vaguely seeing some sort of light. This feeling was very similar to what they encountered during the worship ceremony, and he echoed:

"Middle, perhaps it’s the right way."

Hua Yuan, putting on an effort to overcome his fear, adjusted the photography mode on his bracelet, disguising himself as a self-media blogger.

"Then let’s continue on, delve deeper to see what’s inside, hopefully, capture something supernatural, posting it online will surely gain a lot of followers."

The middle pathway was also narrow, only allowing for one person to pass through.

The team moved forward in the same order as before, with Luo Di still at the end of the line.

As he followed closely behind the class leader, stepping into this utterly dark passage.

Buzz!

A ringing noise and dazzle of light struck simultaneously, causing Luo Di to freeze in place, violently shaking his head. By the time he gradually recovered from this state, there was nobody in front of him.

He stood alone in this oppressively narrow passage, almost strangling him.

Turning his head.

He had clearly only taken one step forward, and behind him should still be the buffer area scattered with the light of stars, but in reality, there was no buffer area and no starlight descended.

Behind him, was an identical dark passage.

It seemed that from the beginning to the end, there was only one cave passage, absolutely no forks.

Had he gotten separated from the sisters, or had it been just Luo Di alone the entire time?

When exactly had he entered the cave?

Was it after the worship ceremony, quietly following the sisters up the mountain? Or had he already walked into the cave alone at the scene of the worship ceremony?

Was this primitive journey undertaken with the sisters, or had Luo Di signed up to participate alone?

Is this place actually an island? Or somewhere else?

Confusion flooded in like a tide, as if a floodgate had been torn open in his brain, unstoppable, making Luo Di increasingly confused, his consciousness increasingly blurred.

Even his solid reasoning was uprooted by this mad flood and swept into the current.

When confusion filled his entire brain,

The seed buried deep by someone, named "Fear," began to be nourished, starting to take root and sprout.

Fear began to dominate his nerves,

Urging the vision-blurred and brain-heavy Luo Di, to move like a walking corpse, trying to escape the constricting cave, longing for the fresh air of the outside world.

Click!

Even the usually effective tongue clicking sound, which could resolve most mental issues, became fuzzy at this moment, unable to clear the confusion stuffed in his brain, unable to cut off the soaring fear.

But it still had some effect.

The clicking sound brought a brief moment of clarity,

making Luo Di realize the dire state he was in, aware that his brain was being invaded by some mysterious power, and also filled with strange things.

With not much time left for clarity,

Luo Di quickly searched for a solution,

He placed his right hand slightly below his abdomen, activated the pituitary on the back of his hand making his middle finger become hard and elongated, and jabbed deep.

Aiming at a spot that could trigger whole-body pain, he inflicted the maximum suffering upon himself.

Ahh!!

Heart-wrenching screams echoed through the corridors,

this extreme pain erased all impurities in the brain, even Luo Di’s own thoughts were wiped out, giving a sense of rebooting the brain.

As the pain subsided, Luo Di’s vision also became clear, and all his thoughts returned to normal.

He faintly felt something that was about to grow from deep within the brain disappear along with the pain.

The mad scramble dominated by fear made him advance a long distance within the cave.

"Is this the calamitous influence brought by the Monster Avatar? It actually made me sink so low that if it weren’t for the Suffering ability I learned from Mr. Hook, I would probably be completely dominated by the other party.

The Monster Avatar hidden on this island seems to be specifically targeting me? Why?

Wait ... is there something up ahead?"

Luo Di’s thoughts were interrupted by a surge of color luster gushing out of the darkness.

During the unconscious escape, the flashlight was lost, and Luo Di could only activate the lighting function built into his bracelet.

This kind of lighting was naturally inferior to a strong flashlight, providing only basic environmental illumination so the eyes could see the surroundings.

Initially wanting to activate Hell Mode, Luo Di quickly dismissed this action.

Currently, the opponent’s main body has not yet been seen, and revealing his trump cards this early would lower the odds of success in the subsequent confrontation.

The illumination provided by the bracelet was worse than expected, rather than dispelling darkness, it seemed it was resisting the darkness. The maximum illuminated area just reached the end of the corridor.

"Have I reached the deepest part of the cave?"

The corridor in front became slightly wider, about the width of two and a half people. Less than thirty meters ahead was the end, where a podium and a strange deity statue were placed.

This might be the Mountain God worshipped by the villagers.

But this deity statue wore no robes, had no Magic Artifact or staff.

It was naked, even some organs were sculpted out.

The statue was not sitting dignified, nor standing solemn.

Instead, with four stone tentacles growing from its back connecting to both sides of the corridor, the entire deity statue hangs in the air, displaying a peculiar form.

Its face was covered with a skin,

a skin Luo Di had seen before,

the dried wrinkled Skin stored in a metal box during the worshiping ceremony, perfectly covering the face of the deity, obscuring the facial features.

Furthermore,

the corridor floor was littered with various animal and insect remains, legs, fur, or skulls.

It seems that the offerings were dragged here and eaten.

"Could this deity statue be directly related to the Monster Avatar..."

Just as he was about to reach into his backpack to take out the pig’s head.

Buzz!

An invisible wave emanated from inside the deity statue, bringing back tinnitus and glare! The mental impurities just cleaned out by the pain began to pour inward again.

Moreover, this time it wasn’t just mental interference,

As Luo Di focused on countering the mental invasion, the stone tentacles structure behind the deity statue began to shed its skin, transforming into four soft, smooth, and starlit tentacles that suddenly attacked.

With high speed, they aimed directly at the brain.

The tongue fiercely colliding inside the mouth signaled the imminent mortal threat; touching this thing would have unimaginable consequences.

Luo Di had already decided not to disguise any longer, and he could hear the buzzing sound coming from deep within the spine.

Of course, he also maintained his rationality, evaluating his current situation.

"I cannot handle the Monster Avatar alone, I will first try to escape this predicament and then retreat from the cave as quickly as possible to regroup with my sisters."

Just as Luo Di gave birth to this thought,

and just as he thought of the keyword "sisters,"

his brain, filled and stuffed with various mental impurities, forcibly popped up a [Memory Image] related to his sisters.

It was an image of them in a hotel suite.

However, the image was somewhat blurry,

everyone’s faces became indistinct due to Luo Di’s current state, he even couldn’t remember the class leader’s face clearly.

The only clear image was of Hua Yuan stepping in black leather shoes, wearing white socks and a school uniform, as if it was a separately extracted high-definition image.

Not only that,

this static memory image even blinked and moved slightly.

Following that,

a familiar voice resonated in the brain,

"Mr. Di... did you miss me?"

As soon as the voice dropped,

those Color Tentacles attacking Luo Di’s brain were abruptly teared apart by something, the severed tentacles dropped to the ground and were trampled into pulp.