Invasion - Chapter 92

Chapter 92

The seven-armed Deviant was a little afraid of Teng Lu. He looked at the pot of uneaten stew reluctantly, shrinking his neck, and slowly retreated into the darkness.

Ni Ji still sat by the fire, his elbows on his knees, a faint smile playing on his lips, as he looked up towards Teng Lu.

“Seven Arms” inexplicably felt the surrounding temperature drop a few degrees, and subconsciously retreated further into the darkness.

He had fought this sentinel a few days ago, he knew this was a madman not to be trifled with.

Even though he looked soft and gentle by “that one’s” side, he was a fierce fighter, a desperate one in battle.

It was very dark here, the bonfire the only source of light.

The burning flames illuminated the side of the sentinel’s face, and also faintly outlined Teng Lu’s figure standing in the distance.

Teng Lu was very beautiful, young, thin, in a white dress.

She looked timid and fragile, like a weak and helpless human girl, enough to evoke pity in any strong man's heart.

When she was human, she had been weak, often bullied.

Her older brothers and father, the drunken neighbor, the stingy boss… everyone liked to bully and abuse her.

She had been the weakest, as if anyone could bully and abuse her at will.

After entering the Land of No Eyes, after gaining the power of God, she became a strong person, stronger than most.

This place, dark and cold, damp and dim, Teng Lu liked it here. She fell in love with the feeling of controlling other people’s lives.

Luring, manipulating, torturing, playing with living sentinels in her palm. Watching them covered in blood, watching them wailing in pain at her feet.

At first, she had been a little afraid, then she gradually found it exhilarating.

She hadn't known before, the feeling of holding power, of bullying others, was so good.

Teng Lu stared at Ni Ji sitting by the campfire, hatred for this sentinel in her heart.

His appearance had ruined everything.

Especially last night, she didn't know what he had done, but Teng Lu had been horrified to feel God’s power rapidly draining, weakening. She panicked and couldn’t take it anymore, coming here while Lin Yuan was away.

She had to get rid of this sentinel.

Otherwise, they would lose the god of this world, and she would completely lose her power.

The blank-faced puppet sentinels slowly emerged from behind her, surrounding Ni Ji.

Ni Ji sat by the campfire, flipping a small white dagger in his hand, a faint purple light gradually appearing in his eyes.

He wouldn't forget who had drugged him, making him pathetically collapse in battle, lose his Guide.

For him, this was a grudge, and it had to be avenged.

The battle began in an instant.

The first to strike was Ni Ji, alone by the bonfire.

His eyes burning with fluorescent light, his expression as cold as ice,

Like a beast that had found its prey, he struck, as fast as lightning.

Ignoring all the other blade lights around him, he charged straight towards Teng Lu, who was protected by numerous sentinels.

A long, red light materialized, his blood splattering in mid-air.

Still as a mountain one moment, a raging demon the next.

Layer after layer of sentinels could barely stop this crazed warrior.

He only had eyes for Teng Lu, almost completely ignoring the attacks around him.

Before Ni Ji was stopped, the sharp blade reached Teng Lu.

Almost cutting her in half.

Teng Lu's face turned deathly pale, she clutched the gushing wound on her shoulder, desperately retreating.

At the same time, she commanded all the puppets, surrounding the ferocious sentinel at all costs.

"Has Teng Lu become weaker? A single human injured her?" In a dark corner, a Deviant with a broken wing quietly landed, huddling together with "Seven Arms" to watch the bustling battle.

"It's not that Teng Lu is becoming weaker. God's power is disappearing," Seven Arms replied. "Haven't you noticed? Its power has been weakening these past few days. Teng Lu was originally weak; it's because she borrowed God's power that she became so strong, with God's power weakening, she naturally becomes weaker."

Seeing that Teng Lu wasn’t as terrifying as before, "Seven Arms" quietly crawled out from the corner, grabbed the pot of still-warm stew, and quietly retreated back to the corner.

"What’s this?" One Wing leaned closer, twitching its nose.

"Want some? Made by that human."

“One Wing” extended its tongue, taking a piece, and smacked its lips, “Pretty good.”

"Delicious, right? That’s a good sentinel. I hope he doesn’t die. He said he’ll make other things for me to eat.”

A third Deviant quietly squeezed over. "Mumble, mumble?"

This one couldn't speak yet.

Seven Arms generously moved the pot closer.

---

The orca’s call echoed in the dark underground.

Several Deviants quietly climbed down from the building above, huddled together, enjoying a pot of stew while watching the puppet master versus the deep-sea slippery fellow.

"Is that sentinel stronger now?" A certain Deviant scratched its head. "I don't remember him being this powerful."

"Nourished by ‘that adult’, of course he’s stronger now.”

"Really?" The monster who asked had six fingers, and extended its smallest one, waving it in the darkness. “They’ve… done it?”

“Have you lost your hearing? Didn’t you hear those cries and moans last night? They were so loud.”

"I'm envious. If I could also be nourished, I could probably become a little stronger too."

"Don’t be envious, can an ordinary person even endure that? That fish is huge.”

The whispering voices in the darkness suddenly stopped.

“Stop talking, ‘that one’ is back.”

Lin Yuan hadn't even arrived yet, her cold mental power, like the descending moon, permeated the entire place.

Teng Lu screamed, clutching her head, a terrified look on her face, wriggling her single tentacle, quickly escaping towards the depths of the lair.

When Ni Ji fought his way out from the encirclement of puppets, he only saw the last bit of her shadow disappear at the interconnected tunnel entrance in the depths of the lair.

It was connected to the temple there, the path complex, a maze-like terrain, not suitable for a rash pursuit.

The sentinel, consumed by bloodlust, wiped the blood from his face, and spat on the ground, seemingly very unwilling.

Lin Yuan, just having returned, didn’t know what had happened, only sensing the lingering killing intent in the air.

The sentinel was standing there, his eyes full of murderous intent, his aura fierce.

"Who were you fighting with just now?" She asked Ni Ji. "Are you hurt again?”

The tentacles wriggled, carrying countless backpacks, large and small.

Lin Yuan had run up many levels, finding lots of luggage left behind by explorers from different eras.

She didn't know which ones had usable medicine, which ones had things Ni Ji liked, so she simply had the tentacles bring them all back for the sentinel to choose from.

Ni Ji told her it was Teng Lu, and even showed Lin Yuan the cut on his arm from the demon blade.

"So deep? Does it hurt?" Lin Yuan tossed the dozens of backpacks to the ground, rummaged through them, found some medicine, sat down, and moved closer to bandage him.

Ni Ji avoided Lin Yuan's gaze, and only hummed softly.

There was a nearly festering laceration on his lower back, when Lin Yuan treated it, she asked if it hurt.

He only hummed softly again, his tone as indifferent as if the almost body-splitting wound was just a scratch from a cat.

His abdomen had been bitten, almost pierced through, the wound torn open, still bleeding.

Lin Yuan’s fingers, wrapping the bandage around his waist, her breath brushing against his scarred skin.

She now knew that to break through so many levels and come down here to find her, this sentinel had almost destroyed himself.

So she couldn't help but gently touch those wounds, the muscles there instantly tensing.

Those tense muscles were as hard as iron, tinged with the color of honey in the firelight.

There were obvious bruises and swelling in some areas, Lin Yuan knew who had caused them, adding to his injuries.

Feeling guilty, she changed to a different ointment, carefully applying it with her fingers.

Until Ni Ji suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist.

Lin Yuan: "?"

"Don't... touch it anymore," the sentinel's voice was very soft, like water. His back to her throughout, he didn’t turn around to look at her.

Such a fickle guy. It was impossible to understand what he was thinking.

He had been so proactive yesterday, actively turning into a fish and squeezing beside her, reaching out to grab her tentacles, even stroking them.

Today, he had become distant, not even looking at her after dawn.

A sentinel’s heart, like a needle in the deep sea, impossible to find. Being a Guide was too hard.

The Deviants hiding in the darkness nudged each other, gossiping.

"My God, such a drama queen, he was so fierce just now.”

"Those were wounds he caused himself, and now he’s saying it hurts."

"He has ‘that adult’ completely wrapped around his finger.”

"Cooking one moment, acting spoiled the next.”

"So cunning, humans are so sly."

"The more beautiful they are, the more deceitful."

"We must be careful."

"Mm, mm, be careful."

"Mumble, mumble…"

The Deviants here had excellent hearing; they could hear sounds from very far away.

Sentinels, of course, were the same.

He heard everything clearly.

The firelight was red, no one noticed that the sentinel they were talking about, his ears, were red.

Lin Yuan rummaged through the backpacks scattered all over the ground, finding two bottles of medicine, then a few cans of food, occasionally coming across some personal items left behind by the previous explorers.

Some were stained with dried, years-old blood.

Noticing that Lin Yuan hadn’t made any noise for a long time, Ni Ji turned around.

And saw the Guide holding a plastic keychain, staring at it by the fire, lost in thought.

The keychain was small, covered with dust, it looked very old, and a photo of a family was inside.

It must be a personal belonging left behind by a sentinel who had been here before.

Lin Yuan held the old keychain, by the fire, staring at the person in the photo, motionless for a long time.

The firelight reflected on her fair porcelain face, her eyes dark, her expression blank.

She seemed a little… off.

Ni Ji followed her gaze. In the photo, there was a tall, female sentinel.

Long legs, a high ponytail, a bright smile.

Holding a small baby in her arms.

The baby girl had fair skin, and eyes as dark as paint, she was very cute, reaching out her tiny hand to grab her mother’s hair.

"What’s wrong? Someone you know?" Ni Ji asked.

"Ni Ji," Lin Yuan looked up at him, her face pale, her expression blank,

Her dark eyes looking at Ni Ji, almost exactly like those of the female sentinel in the photo.

Ni Ji's heart inexplicably tightened.

He was surprised that Lin Yuan had just called his name.

This was the first time since they had met down here that she had called his name.

She remembered his name!

"You remembered? Didn’t you, Lin Yuan?" A surge of joy welled up in Ni Ji’s heart.

"Ni Ji, yes, you’re Ni Ji," Lin Yuan murmured, slowly standing up, "I’m a Guide, I’m Lin Yuan, yes, I seem to… remember everything.”

She stood up by the fire and clutched her head.

Her head, at this moment, felt like it was being split in half. Countless images from the past flooded her mind, the sharp pain making Lin Yuan double over.

The fire from her childhood, her father swallowed by the flames, her mother dying beside her…

Yuan Yuan, Yuan Yuan, go find the secrets of our origins.

Protect yourself.

Be very careful.

Lin Yuan held that photo, it was her mother, her mother had also been here.

Countless images and fragmented voices mixed together, churning in her mind.

The swaying blue gem, the silent shipwreck on the seabed, the singing Golden Tree, the eyeless eye.

The huge, decaying monster, trying to devour her, its powerful will, the blood-stained altar…

In all those countless images, there was always the face of a Sentinel. Gentle, blood-covered, concerned, smiling…

Lin Yuan's memories had all returned.

Suddenly remembering everything, an overload of information.

Intense pain tore at her head, the world spinning, her feet unable to find purchase, her body unsupported.

At this moment, a pair of strong, warm arms held her.

"Lin Yuan, Lin Yuan?"

She heard a familiar voice.

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