Chapter 98 - 96: Hallucinating Again

Chapter 98: Chapter 96: Hallucinating Again

Li Qing had said that genetic evolution could create miracles, but not myths.

The Fox Demon had been thoroughly dead just a moment ago, so why was it alive again?

This was the exact same situation as the Horse-faced Monster.

"Could it be that all the creatures in this Maze can come back from the dead?" Pei Xianjue’s heart pounded.

’If every Monster could be resurrected, how were they supposed to kill them?’

Frowning, Feng Ling raised her axe and hacked off the four Fox Demons’ heads with a series of sharp CRACKS. She dragged one of the headless corpses up by its collar and said to Pei Xianjue, "Burn it all."

Pei Xianjue nodded and used her ability to set the Fox Demon corpses in the courtyard ablaze.

The fire grew stronger and stronger, gradually spreading to the surrounding tables and chairs, the wooden doors and windows, the pillars and beams...

They retreated outside the courtyard, silently watching the entire house become an inferno.

Feng Ling threw the corpse she was holding to the ground.

She waited for a moment, deliberately observing the body for any changes, but it showed no sign of resurrecting.

"Looks like resurrection requires certain conditions," Feng Ling mused. "A body can’t be resurrected if it’s missing a head, or if it’s too heavily damaged."

Hearing this, Pei Xianjue nodded. "So we should aim for the neck whenever possible, or give the bodies a secondary treatment by burning them."

"And we still need to figure out *why* they resurrect," Feng Ling added.

Pei Xianjue faltered. "Why? ... Isn’t it just part of the Maze’s design?"

Feng Ling mulled it over, slowly shaking her head. "Even if it is the Maze’s design, something feels off. Let’s assume coming back from the dead is an ability all Maze Creatures have. Where do they get the energy for it? There are so many Fox Demons in this village; resurrecting all of them would consume a huge amount of energy. There has to be a way for them to acquire that energy, otherwise it doesn’t make sense."

Feng Ling drew this inspiration from her own experience.

Her Nest Card’s recovery was so formidable that, to an outsider, it seemed like she could resurrect infinitely.

Only she knew that this ability was heavily dependent on energy. That was why she had to eat far more than anyone else at every meal and took every opportunity to accumulate energy—she was worried she wouldn’t have enough if an emergency struck.

’The Fox Demons’ resurrection must also depend on energy.’

’I have to figure this out. It’ll be a real problem if we run into the Maze Master and it keeps resurrecting too.’

Not far away, a black shadow was rapidly approaching. Huangfu Miaomiao was back.

She popped her head out from her Ghost Shadow, her face a mask of frustration and annoyance.

"Those foxes came back to life! And I stabbed them so many times!" Huangfu Miaomiao exclaimed, fuming.

"Did you make sure they were dead?" Feng Ling asked.

Huangfu Miaomiao said, aggrieved, "I tried, but there were too many of them! I couldn’t get to them all, and they ran away."

Feng Ling sighed. "I guess taking shortcuts was a bad idea. Well, no other choice. Let’s go hunt them down, house by house."

She hoisted her axe onto her shoulder and, mustering her patience, set off to find the foxes.

The four of them began to circle through the village again.

Whether it was a dilapidated, single-courtyard shack or a grand mansion, they went inside to check every building they came across.

But without fail, they didn’t find a single Fox Demon.

Sigh.

"Do you think the explosion from before was too loud and scared them off?" Pei Xianjue asked.

"Where could they have run? They didn’t leave the village, did they?" Huangfu Miaomiao asked, worried.

Feng Ling lowered her axe and put a hand to her forehead.

"...Ugh, this is so frustrating."

’I really hate doing things so inefficiently.’

Pei Xianjue felt just as frustrated. ’This village is too unsettling, and these foxes are just as bizarre.’

Li Qing, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. "It’s getting dark."

Pei Xianjue was taken aback. She quickly checked the time on her phone. The sky had been overcast all day, so she hadn’t noticed, but her phone couldn’t be wrong—it was already almost 6 p.m.

"We’ve been in this village for this long...?" It was a frightening thought for Pei Xianjue. "Will the hallucinations get worse?"

Feng Ling thought for a moment before saying, "Living things aren’t perpetual motion machines. These Fox Demons will have to get hungry and tired. They’ll let their guard down eventually. They can’t hide forever. Let’s find a place to camp for the night and see what happens then."

’Actually, you’re just too lazy to keep looking, aren’t you?’

The air grew cold and damp, and the fog thickened.

Past 6 p.m., the sky darkened rapidly.

The four of them wandered through the village until they once again found themselves back at the old willow tree with the Divine Statue.

Feng Ling still remembered how she felt when she first saw this smiling stone statue—a mix of surprise and delight. But looking at that smiling face now, all she felt was the displeasure of being mocked and made a fool of.

Huangfu Miaomiao took out a camping tent.

Pei Xianjue dragged over a pile of firewood from a nearby ruined house and started a fire.

Feng Ling walked over to the stone statue. She patted its round, smiling face, then knocked on the stone tabletop. After that, she gripped one of the table legs and tried to lift it with all her might.

Li Qing finally couldn’t take it anymore and asked, "What do you think you’re doing?"

Feng Ling was silent for two seconds before replying, "I’m seeing if I can move it."

Li Qing’s eye twitched. "...That’s a massive rock. What’s showing above ground is only part of it. The entire sculpture must weigh at least a thousand pounds."

"Should’ve said so earlier," Feng Ling pursed her lips.

Warming herself by the fire, Pei Xianjue sighed. "Actually, I was just wondering the same thing—if we could move it. If we could get the statue out of the Maze, we could cure all the Inspectors with high Pollution Values."

Then she muttered under her breath, "I wonder where Hero is now... If we could find him, we could lower his Pollution Value..."

Just then, the sound of a man’s hearty laughter echoed from the distance, as if he were shouting something out.

Pei Xianjue sighed sadly. "Ugh, I shouldn’t have thought about him. The hallucinations are back. I’m hearing Hero’s voice again."

Feng Ling paused. "I heard it too."

The two of them exchanged a look, then immediately turned to Li Qing.

Li Qing frowned, peering into the distance. Faint Ghost Fires drifted in the night fog, and laughter echoed intermittently from the direction of the light. But he couldn’t be certain if the voice belonged to Liang Zhou.

"Are you going to investigate?" Li Qing asked with a frown. "I must remind you, some Monsters are skilled at mimicking human speech. The voice you’re hearing could be him, but it might not be."

No sooner had he spoken than the laughter grew louder, accompanied by the sound of things smashing. The noises were exceptionally clear in the quiet night.

Huangfu Miaomiao said warily, "It’s been quiet all day. Making such a racket now... could it be a trap?"

But Feng Ling’s interest was piqued. "You and the Daoist stay here. Deputy Pei and I will go check it out."

She grabbed her axe and ran straight toward the laughter. ’Finally, something interesting,’ she thought.

Pei Xianjue hurried to catch up.

She didn’t have Feng Ling’s night-vision ability, so she couldn’t move too quickly. Just as she was hesitating whether to light a flame for illumination, the path ahead suddenly lit up.

She looked up and saw a string of lanterns hanging from the trees.

’So they weren’t Ghost Fires, but lanterns.’

The string of lights illuminated a hidden path winding through the tangled woods. They followed it deep into the forest, where they saw a man raising a cup and drinking merrily with a pack of foxes.

Who else could it be but Liang Zhou?

Pei Xianjue murmured, "Is this a hallucination...?"

"No," Feng Ling said, stopping in her tracks. Her voice was firm. "It’s him."