Chapter 1721: The Fear Apocalypse
Translator: La0o9
The bolt of lightning was too fast.
Like a blurry string, it drew a blue arc across the ground.
All of a sudden.
A resounding voice echoed:
「 I give up! I surrender! 」
After this declaration, the bolt of lightning finally disappeared.
Gu Qing Shan continued to take a few more steps due to the inertia before slowly stopping in the snow.
He was still wearing the mask from before——
The mask with a stupefied face.
“Are you really giving up?”
His voice sounded from behind the mask.
「 Hah… hah… yes, I surrender 」the humanoid snake breathed heavily and said.
Its body was riddled with countless tiny wounds that were continuously bleeding, simply terrifying to look at.
Gu Qing Shan had been continuously attacking it while using [Lightning Wraith].
The humanoid snake was being restrained by several lengths of black chains, so it was unable to dodge at all and was now completely unable to retaliate.
“Very well, then tell me, what is in the palace array up ahead?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
The humanoid snake carefully observed him while breathing heavily and tried asking: 「 You aren’t afraid that I’ll deceive you? 」
Gu Qing Shan casually waved he blade in his hand and answered: “You’re going to give me the most accurate possible information in exchange for your life—— your powers seemed to have been sealed and you can’t stop my blade, so I suggest that you make the right decision”
In the snowy wind, the snake monster fell into silence.
——this brat’s forte is running away. If he doesn’t die and comes back here for revenge, I’ll really be in danger.
「 I don’t remember much, but I’m confident that the palace array in the distance was called the Palace of Fear 」the snake monster answered.
“Palace of Fear… why does it sound like some sort of Apocalypse?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
「 You’re right, every individual who enters this world will face an Apocalypse—– this is part of the Samsara’s trial 」the snake monster explained.
“The Samsara’s trial? Why would there be a trial?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
「 I don’t know either. When I woke up, I’d already forgotten everything. I was also heavily wounded, trapped within this snowstorm; almost every fellow who’s a survivor in this place is the same as me 」the snake monster said.
Gu Qing Shan was still hesitant.
—-how did this snake monster end up the same way I did, heavily wounded with no memories at all? Although it’s a good thing that I’ve regained my memories.
“So you’ve forgotten everything else, but still remember the Palace of Fear” Gu Qing Shan tried confirming.
「 That’s right, that was the only thing I remembered clearly 」the snake monster answered.
“Tell me about it in detail” Gu Qing Shan said.
The snake monster answered in a harrowing tone: 「 It is a unique Apocalypse. Everyone who enters the palace will face billions of terrifying matters, and as soon as a single bit of ‘fear’ emerges in their heart, they will be stripped of their capabilities one by one. Once they lose even their ability to speak and walk, unable to retaliate in any way, shape, or form, true terror would then begin—— 」
“What’s that?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
「 The entire palace array will begin to consume your soul and body at an extremely slow pace. The entire process will take an extremely long time without you being able to do anything to resist, having no other choice but to feel yourself being consumed bit by bit 」the humanoid snake explained.
Gu Qing Shan was wearing a mask, so his expression couldn’t be discerned at all.
He was standing completely still as if he was deep in thought.
A few moments later.
Gu Qing Shan finally asked: “You said that every individual who enters this place will have to face an Apocalypse?”
「 Correct. Your greatest fortune was the fact that you decided to head in this direction 」the humanoid snake coldly scoffed.
“Why do you say that?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
「 ——because you did not run into the kind of Apocalypse that instantly consumed your life 」the humanoid snake answered.
Gu Qing Shan nodded: “If that’s the case, I really am fortunate”
He sheathed his blade and started walking past the humanoid snake.
He was going further and further away.
The humanoid snake shouted from behind: 「 Are you really not going to kill me? 」
Gu Qing Shan didn’t turn around and answered: “I said I wanted information in exchange for your life——- if you were lying, it wouldn’t be too late for me to come back and kill you”
His figure disappeared into the snowy wind. … A minute later.
Gu Qing Shan was now standing in front of a large palace array.
So this is the Palace of Fear? I’ve never faced such a strange Apocalypse before.
While he was thinking that, a small door suddenly appeared on the bright red palace wall.
The door was tightly shut.
In the snowy wind, countless moans and cries for forgiveness could be faintly heard.
Gu Qing Shan didn’t proceed forward right away.
He stood outside and shouted: “Excuse me, what is this place?”
Instantly, all the moans and cries vanished.
[Ahahahahahahahaha!]
Numerous sounds of laughter resounded instead.
This laughter contained a sort of malice that could not be described by words.
Normal people would feel utter dread just by hearing this laughter.
Suddenly, lines of bloody red text appeared in the void of space:
[Attention, you’ve entered the vicinity of the Palace of Fear] [This is the beginning of the Elements War] [From this point onwards, you cannot hold any sort of emotion that encompasses ‘fear’, otherwise, you will fall into an irreconcilable position] [Attention:] [Nothing can harm a brave individual]
Gu Qing Shan skimmed through the message and appeared surprised.
—–I haven’t even entered the palace and it’s already begun?
He suddenly turned towards the door on the palace wall.
A skeleton had just jumped over the wall and landed in front of the door.
The skeleton had a dry layer of skin on the outside, its ‘skin’ was full of cracks and holes that exuded a sensation of rot.
Countless human heads emerged from the ground for the skeleton to step on.
The skeleton stood on top of the heads and wiggled its finger towards Gu Qing Shan.
[You want to come in? You need to move past me first!] it spoke in a low tone.
Gu Qing Shan stood still without moving.
The skeleton laughed: [Scared already? Mortal?]
Gu Qing Shan sternly answered: “Not at all—– you still haven’t told me what exactly is this place”
The skeleton picked up a head from the ground, ignored the head’s plea for mercy and began to eat it a little bit at a time.
When it had eaten over half, the head was still crying for forgiveness.
The snowy wind finally came to a stop at this point.
Heaven and earth itself was silent.
Only the sound of the skeleton crunching and eating the head could still be heard, which would easily strike dread into a human’s mind.
After the skeleton finished eating the entire head, it spoke at a stable pace: [This is the garden of the Infinite Worlds Demon Kings. The great palace of all living beings’ fears, where the malicious and wicked come to grow infinitely stronger, would you like to come in and try?]
“Alright” Gu Qing Shan answered.
The skeleton suddenly picked up another head from the ground and threw it.
The head spun several times in the air as it flew towards Gu Qing Shan.
Gu Qing Shan was wearing a mask so his expression wasn’t revealed and simply asked: “What are you doing?”
[These heads taste quite fine, so I’m giving you one of them to eat] the skeleton laughed.
Gu Qing Shan took a few steps back, then suddenly drew his bow as the head approached him.
Puu—–
An arrow was let loose and squarely struck the head, pinning it on the wall of the palace.
The head continued to scream and cry in agony before it eventually disappeared into the wall of the palace.
Clak!
The arrow was thrown back out of the wall and fell on the ground with a chiming noise.
[What? You can’t even eat a human head? Afraid of something?] the skeleton chuckled in a low tone.
Gu Qing Shan calmly replied: “You piece of garbage, how dare you give me something you’ve stepped on to eat. Your legs are so slimy it’s impossible to tell when you last took a shower—– is this how you treat guests? You think I don’t have the courage to kill you?”
The skeleton was surprised.
Gu Qing Shan drew an arrow and nocked it onto his bow, instantly letting loose.
Bam!
The door of the palace was struck open by the arrow, revealing the profound and stifling darkness inside.
The skeleton had already disappeared without a trace.
As Gu Qing Shan entered through the door, his entire body was swallowed by the darkness and vanished as well.
As for the door——
It was also nowhere to be seen as if the wall of the palace had always been seamless without any sort of opening.
Gu Qing Shan continued to move through the darkness.
His surroundings were currently narrow and gloomy, constantly exuding a sense of indescribable chill almost as if it was an underground tunnel, and not any sort of palace.
As he proceeded forward, the sound of crying echoed into his ears.
This crying was sometimes in front of him, sometimes behind him, which made it impossible to discern where it was actually originating from.
Gu Qing Shan stood still and shouted out loud: “Who is it? What’s the matter?”
The crying grew even more harrowing.
Gu Qing Shan hung his bow and drew his blade, carefully proceeding forward.
After he went forward for a while, the crying became increasingly louder and more erratic.
The silhouette of a woman could be seen just a bit further away.
She had her back towards Gu Qing Shan, sitting crouched on the ground while crying sorrowfully.
Seeing that, Gu Qing Shan quickly approached the woman and asked: “What’s the matter?”
The woman suddenly turned to him, revealing that her eyes and nose had long been dug away, leaving empty holes that continuously shed blood.
Her torso was also bloody as all of her innards were nowhere to be seen, even her ribs were missing.
What remained of her bloody insides were writhing intensely, exuding a sort of distinct malice.
[I died so horribly——]
Before the woman even finished talking, she noticed that she was now wearing an extra layer of clothing.
Gu Qing Shan had taken off his coat and carefully covered the woman with it.
“You’re a woman, so why are you not wearing any clothes and sitting here crying for everyone to see?”
He scolded her.
The woman’s eyes bleed out and continued to speak: [I died so horribly——]
Before she could finish, she was already pulled over to a corner of the path by Gu Qing Shan.
“Listen” Gu Qing Shan sternly told her: “Running around on the streets without wearing clothes is called streaking, which is a crime. Seeing how you’ve clearly been in some sort of car accident, I won’t call the police to take you in, but——” His voice became even more stern: “If you do it again, I won’t give you my clothes again. Be careful of the ones bearing ill will, they’re always ready to take candid pictures” “Take care of yourself now!”
Gu Qing Shan patted the woman’s shoulder and turned around to leave.
The woman was stunned, then suddenly realized.
She grabbed Gu Qing Shan’s hand and howled in a harrowing voice: [I am a ghost! The most ferocious kind of revenant!]
Sure enough, Gu Qing Shan stopped.
He crouched back down and asked sternly: “Which realm do you belong to? The Huang Quan realm? Or the Wraith realm?”
The woman’s entire body exuded a bloody red glow with a terrible expression as she shouted: [I am from the Hell of Maggots, the most ferocious among the 18 layers——]
“I’ll give you some advice” Gu Qing Shan cut her off and casually said: “No matter which layer of hell you came from, going outside means you’re a representative of Hell as a whole. I won’t allow it if you’re doing things that harm Hell’s image and reputation—-” “I won’t forgive you next time, keep that in mind”
After saying that, he seemed to have lost interest in asking and pried the woman’s hand off, quickly making his way deeper into the darkness.
