Chapter 106: Black Liquid

After the guide produced a "magic wand" and waved it vaguely in the air, nothing happened. Xi Yan glanced around but saw no changes. Still, he trusted that the guide would not deliberately deceive them with such a thing. There had to be some hidden danger they had yet to discover.

“Are you curious about what I just did?” the guide asked with a sly smile, looking at the group.

Dressed in black and illuminated by moonlight, the guide’s pale skin stood out starkly, giving off an eerie aura. Xi Yan hadn’t studied the guide closely before, but now he noticed the man’s finely chiseled features.

For some reason, Xi Yan suddenly felt that this guide wasn’t a native of this place but was, like them, a survivor. Xi Yan had always trusted his instincts and sudden premonitions—they had saved his life countless times.

“Why so silent? Isn’t anyone interested in my question?” the guide repeated.

The three remained on guard, none answering. Then the guide suddenly chuckled darkly and pointed at their feet. “Look at where you stand now. Still not interested in my question?”

Xi Yan immediately looked down and saw thick black liquid oozing from beneath his feet. It looked viscous and sticky. He tried to lift his foot but found it incredibly difficult.

“You’d better not struggle. The more you struggle, the tighter this little treasure will hold you,” the guide whispered like a demon in their ears.

“We can’t stay like this—we’ll die here,” Lin Shuang tried to pull her foot free.

“Don’t move, whatever you do, don’t move!” Xi Yan hurriedly warned her.

Though unsure why Xi Yan was heeding the guide’s words, Lin Shuang trusted him and stopped moving.

Seeing Xi Yan’s compliance, the guide clapped his hands. “Not bad, you’re actually willing to listen.”

“You can’t be that limited. This stuff isn’t impossible to break free from. I’m more curious about what your backup plan is,” Xi Yan said with a narrowed gaze and a faint smile.

“Backup plan, huh?” The guide feigned deep thought, then laughed, “This is the backup plan! Hahaha!”

Before the words had even left his mouth, a tremendous rumbling sound erupted nearby.

Suddenly, three walls rose from the ground, surrounding the three on all sides except the one facing the guide.

The guide paced happily in front of them. “It’s a bit troublesome, but at least solved. Looks like today’s quota will be met.”

“Quota? What quota exactly?” Xi Yan seized on this crucial point. The guide had been mentioning this quota repeatedly. What was it?

“I need to catch people! As long as I catch three survivors a day, that’s enough. Then I can fulfill my quota excellently and leave this place!”

Xi Yan quickly caught an important word there—“catch.” The guide said “catch survivors,” not kill them. Xi Yan didn’t think the guide would make such a basic linguistic error.

“So you’re a survivor too?” Xi Yan asked.

The guide was surprised by the question and paused before replying, “Yes, I’m a survivor just like you. You’ll soon face the same fate as me. Only by catching others can you leave here.”

“Is it really just that simple, catching people?”

“I don’t have time to waste on you. You’re already caught. I’m leaving now. Goodbye!”

He abruptly changed the subject and turned to leave.

At that moment, the last wall rose from the ground, sealing them in completely.

The four walls slowly ascended, growing higher, but the slow pace was a small mercy.

Besides the rising walls, the black liquid beneath their feet began to pull them down gradually, like sinking into a swamp.

“Have you thought of any solution?” Lin Shuang asked Xi Yan.

“No good options. We can only try to climb over these walls,” Xi Yan answered helplessly.

Seeing Xi Yan’s lack of ideas, Lin Shuang sighed and tried to free her foot from the black liquid.

Because the walls rose slowly, she could sit on one and wait for it to lift her above the liquid.

But things were never that simple.

As Lin Shuang sat on the wall, black liquid began to seep from it, identical to that under their feet.

Suddenly, she was trapped, stuck fast to the black wall.

Startled, Lin Shuang called out to Xi Yan, “Xi Yan! Don’t touch the wall!”

“How could this happen...?”

Xi Yan saw her plight and reached out to pull her free, but Lin Shuang stopped him.

“No! Don’t touch me! Something’s wrong—if you touch me, I have a feeling it’ll happen to you too!”

Her words froze Xi Yan’s hand inches from her.

While she spoke, the black liquid on the wall multiplied, rapidly enveloping Lin Shuang.

“Lin Shuang!” Xi Yan shouted in horror.

“I…”

Before she could finish, she was completely swallowed by the black substance. Xi Yan wanted to save her but could barely keep himself safe.

At the same time, the other three walls began to ooze the black liquid, which stretched out like hands toward Xi Yan and A Yuan.

A Yuan was helpless now. She could fight lost creatures, but this unknown black liquid was beyond her capabilities—and Xi Yan’s as well.

“Brother…”

The two were quickly consumed, ending the same way as Lin Shuang—completely engulfed by the black liquid…