boyutpedia Chapter 194 Aftermath
Chapter 194 Aftermath
The crimson faded, and the moon was once again swallowed by leaden clouds, leaving only a pale, fading glow on the horizon. That malevolent will, like a leech, freezing the soul, vanished without a trace, like a phantom that had never existed, leaving only the howling of the night wind through the empty square, and the lingering, faint, scorching scent of divine fire, mixed with the stench of blood, decay, and… the emptiness of surviving a catastrophe.
Nie Lingfeng stood rooted to the spot, gazing up at the night sky that had returned to "normal." A glint of light flickered deep within his dark golden pupils, as if he were still trying to capture and analyze the almost imperceptible "traces" left from that brief moment of contact. It was no illusion. The other party's level of existence far exceeded his current understanding. Those words, "The game continues" and "We'll meet again," were not mere threats, but rather a declaration, a statement of established facts.
"The seed has been planted..." Nie Lingfeng pondered these words, alarm bells ringing in his mind. The seed? Where was it planted? Was it in this land? Was it in a specific person? Or... in him and Chen Duo? Recalling the wisp of evil energy that had escaped from the depths of Lingyun Cave, and the "external demon's" contamination of the Fire Qilin's remains, an ominous premonition, like a cold, venomous snake, coiled around his heart.
"Nie Lingfeng?" Chen Duo gently tugged at his sleeve, pulling him back to reality from his reverie. Her face was still pale, and her emerald eyes looked tired in the dim light, but clear, carrying a questioning gaze and a hint of barely perceptible dependence. "Are you... worried about that 'very bad guy'?"
Nie Lingfeng lowered his head, meeting her clear gaze, and the gloom in his heart seemed to dissipate somewhat. He reached out and gently ruffled her slightly disheveled hair, brushing away the bits of grass and dust clinging to it, his voice softening: "Yes, a little. But, we'll deal with whatever comes our way. Let's deal with what's in front of us first."
He picked up the communicator again, this time with a stable signal. He briefly and clearly explained the situation in the village to Xiao Yang—the source of evil had been eliminated, hundreds of villagers were unconscious but not in immediate danger (initial assessment), three sorcerers were suspected of being dead, and a large number of medical, logistical, and psychological intervention personnel were needed to enter the village immediately. At the same time, he subtly mentioned "the intervention of a higher level of power," instructing Xiao Yang to immediately report the situation to Chairman Zhao and request emergency support and access to information with higher authority.
After doing all this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, but his mind was still sharp. He walked to the edge of the plaza and first checked on the girls Chen Duo had rescued. The strange red patterns on their chests had faded and disappeared under the burning of the Phoenix True Fire, but they were still unconscious and breathing weakly. They had clearly been deeply eroded by the power of the "Cave God" and had also suffered a shock, requiring professional treatment. Nie Lingfeng used his internal energy to help them regulate their disordered qi and blood, temporarily stabilizing their condition.
Then, he walked towards the three ghost masters lying on the edge of the cave, their fates unknown. Agong, Alu, and Aduo—three once highly respected elders in the village, now puppets of an evil god, their bodies mutated. Their bodies lay contorted, the grotesque, deformed tissue on their skin shriveled and dried, clinging tightly to their bones, displaying an eerie, decaying color. Their life force was so faint as to be almost imperceptible, yet… they still clung to life.
Nie Lingfeng crouched down, placing his fingers on Agong Ghost Master's wrist, which resembled a withered branch. A wisp of pure and gentle internal energy (mixed with the life energy of the Blood Bodhi) slowly probed into it. He wanted to investigate whether these Ghost Masters still retained any connection with the "Cave God" or the "being" behind the scenes, or... whether he could obtain some useful information from their remaining fragments of consciousness.
However, just as his inner force touched the heart meridian of the Ghost Master Agong—
"Hmm..."
The ghost master Agong, who had been like a corpse, suddenly let out a short, whistling gasp! His eyes, which had turned deathly gray, snapped open! But there was no light in his eyes, only an empty stillness, and deep in his pupils, a tiny, barely perceptible, dark red dot, as dark as filthy blood, suddenly lit up!
Then, his withered lips opened and closed rapidly in a clear tone, with a strange rhythm, completely out of character for his current weakened state, uttering a string of indistinct syllables that sent chills down Nie Lingfeng's spine! The language was neither Miao nor any known human language; the syllables were distorted and difficult to pronounce, filled with blasphemy and madness, as if they came from an indescribable abyss!
"...Y' ai'ng'ngah...y-yaah...ephaii...shogg...Nyarlathotep...fhtagn! Iä! Iä!..."
As the blasphemous words were uttered, the already weak aura of the Ghost Master Agong flickered violently like a candle in the wind. The withered, deformed tissue beneath his skin seemed to twitch slightly again, as if in a final burst of life, before completely stiffening. And the dark red dot deep in his pupils vanished abruptly the moment the last syllable fell, as if it had never existed.
With his head tilted to the side, Agong the Ghost Master's last vestige of life was extinguished, and he died completely.
Nie Lingfeng withdrew his hand as if electrocuted, his eyes as cold as knives, staring intently at the corpse of Agong Ghost Master, which was rapidly losing its last warmth and turning completely ashen. Although he couldn't understand the specific meaning of that blasphemous whisper, the insane, chaotic, and irrational evil will it contained was the same as the grand will that had descended during the blood moon! Moreover, those last two syllables—"Nyarlathotep"—he seemed to have vaguely glimpsed a similar transliteration in the fragments of Wugensheng's notes in the Twenty-Four Seasons Valley, or in the margins of some extremely ancient and forbidden documents of the supernatural, usually associated with unsettling terms such as "Outer God," "Messenger," and "Faceless God."
Is this... some kind of "mark"? Or a "curse" before death? Or... conveying some kind of "message"?
The other two demon masters, Aleu and Ador, also convulsed violently at the same time Agong uttered the blasphemous words, before their breaths ceased completely, following in their footsteps. Their deaths seemed more like being "silenced," or the triggering of some pre-programmed "program."
"Nie Lingfeng?" Chen Duo, who had been vigilantly guarding the side, couldn't help but step forward when she saw the sudden strange behavior of the three ghost masters and the abrupt change in Nie Lingfeng's expression. A faint golden flame ignited in her hand once again.
"It's alright, they're already dead." Nie Lingfeng stood up and gestured for Chen Duo to extinguish the flames. He glanced at the three corpses that were rapidly losing their life force with a complex expression. These three old men were both perpetrators and victims. They were seduced, controlled, and distorted by that "Cave God" (or rather, the entity behind it), ultimately becoming pathetic vessels for transmitting blasphemous messages, unable even to find peace in death.
He imprinted the three corpses, especially the strange behavior of the Ghost Master Agon before his death and his blasphemous whisper, firmly in his mind. This was absolutely crucial clue, perhaps one of the keys to uncovering the true face of "that being."
In the distance, faint voices, footsteps, and beams of flashlight beams could be heard. It was Xiao Yang leading the support team from the Guizhou branch, along with medical and rescue personnel mobilized from nearby areas, who had finally arrived. They were clearly shocked by the devastation in the village and the hundreds of people lying haphazardly in the square, but they were well-trained and, under Xiao Yang's command, quickly began to divide the tasks—the medical team examined the wounded and provided emergency treatment; the logistics team set up temporary tents and housed the unconscious villagers; and the reconnaissance team began to carefully explore the cave and the area around the square, collecting any possible evidence and debris.
Xiao Yang rushed to Nie Lingfeng and, seeing that he and Chen Duo, though slightly tired, were unharmed, visibly breathed a sigh of relief. However, upon seeing the three corpses of the Ghost Masters on the ground and the bottomless pit in the distance, emitting a faint smell of burning, his expression turned serious again: "Teacher Nie, Miss Chen Duo, are you alright? Here…"
"We're fine." Nie Lingfeng interrupted him, pointing to the three corpses on the ground. "These three were the village's ghost masters, the main instigators and those they controlled in this incident. They acted strangely before they died, so their bodies need special handling. It's best to cremate them on the spot and bury their ashes deep away from water sources and the village. When handling them, let people with mental fortitude or strong will do it. Ordinary team members should not approach them, and even more so, they should not try to study the corpses."
He then pointed to the unconscious girls and the unconscious villagers in the distance: "Most of the villagers have only been corrupted and controlled by evil forces, suffering mental trauma and physical weakness, and need rest and professional psychological counseling. The girls are special cases; they were marked as sacrifices, and the corruption is deeper, so they need special care. The things in the cave have been cleaned up, but it's best to seal the entrance temporarily until headquarters sends experts for further investigation."
Xiao Yang nodded repeatedly, quickly taking notes in his notebook while relaying Nie Lingfeng's instructions via walkie-talkie. His gaze towards Nie Lingfeng had shifted from purely businesslike to one of genuine awe. To resolve such a bizarre and dangerous incident in such a short time, with just the two of them (in his eyes, Chen Duo was still a young girl in need of protection), and to arrange the aftermath so meticulously—this was something no ordinary "company expert" could accomplish.