Chapter 39 Tearing Off False Appearances
Scarlet blood slowly flowed from the wound, and it seemed that no matter what element transformed it into this monster, the essence of its life had not been completely changed.
After continuously using divine abilities, Li Wen’s mana was only 2 points left. Considering that the Shattered Eye of the Transcendent required mana to activate, these two points of mana could absolutely not be used again, after all, the Eye of the Transcendent did not belong to the Glorious Spectrum Series and was not within the effective range of Candlelight Blood.
The reason for facing the attack alone this time was partly because Li Wen wanted to test the power of the Spell-less Arc Light, and the result was pleasing. Even though the monster’s neck had scale-like fleshy growths, it could not stop the arc light for even a moment.
Moria looked up at the ceiling, not seeing the figures of any other monsters. Perhaps the only monster present was the one that attacked Li Wen.
“Its claws are very clean.” Li Wen had noticed this when facing the attack. “It is not the killer of these adventurers.”
“That means there are other monsters hidden in other corners…”
Hearing this, both the Dwarf and the Wild Mages shivered violently. They did not have the strength of Li Wen or Moria. If the target of the previous attack had been them, then they would either have to wait for Moria to successfully rescue them or they would be dead.
“Haha, well… you see that everything here is a mess, so it’s probably not easy to find anything, and there’s still unknown danger. Why don’t we go back and plan again?” Harik rubbed his hands and suggested with a dry laugh.
He had had enough of this damned place and couldn’t wait to leave immediately.
Regarding this issue, Moria shifted his gaze to Li Wen.
“I don’t mind. If you feel uncomfortable, you can leave, but I must be responsible for my companions and I must get the Fallen Shadow Potion.”
Li Wen said this intentionally, emphasizing the non-existent “companions” to morally blackmail Moria, making it difficult for him to make a decision.
After all, Li Wen had lost her combat effectiveness, and if Moria left, who would guarantee her safety?
Moria had a headache. He understood Harik’s feelings, but he couldn’t let them leave alone. It wasn’t that he was afraid of the Wild Mages running away, but he couldn’t guarantee that Harik and the others wouldn’t encounter danger without him. As for Li Wen’s side… he couldn’t leave her alone here.
“How about this, I will summon an angel with the divine descent technique later, and the angel will take you away and ensure your safety. What do you think?”
Harik was overjoyed, but the Dwarf Jotes hesitated:
“N-no, I’ve received the adult’s reward. Besides bringing the adult in, I have to bring the adult out… and I can’t leave.”
Is that really true? Li Wen was the first to disbelieve.
Just then, another non-existent voice echoed.
“I’m not leaving.”
It was Harik’s companion, another Wild Mage, Nasha.
She also refused to leave, and was even more extreme, not even stating her reasons.
Harik was stunned. He winked frantically at his companion. Seeing that Nasha didn’t react, her eyes were hidden under her wide mage hat, and no one could see her expression.
“Then, Harik, you…”
“Ha, haha, then I’ll stay too!” Harik coughed dryly. “I’m a mage after all, maybe I can help if I stay…”
Moria showed a gratified smile. Harik thinking this way was indeed beyond his expectation.
In reality, he was simply a coward. It was fine to have someone accompany him to leave, but to leave alone… he suspected he wouldn’t even have the courage to get out of the dungeon.
Li Wen did not pay attention to the commotion here. She was trying to use the Bone-Corroding Short Sword to cut open the monster’s stomach and head to examine its internal structure.
The examination result was that all the organs inside the other party had dissolved into a black gelatinous substance. These gelatinous substances formed a complex web-like structure within the monster’s body. The monster’s head was even more horrifying, its contents had long been empty, replaced by a fat, crawling worm.
It was about as thick as a human’s forearm, curled up in a ball, covered in fine stone scales, and its head had only a circular mouth with several layers of teeth. It was originally sleeping peacefully in its skull, but now its dwelling had been destroyed by Li Wen. It angrily raised all its scales and let out a harsh roar at Li Wen.
Li Wen directly stabbed it through the head.
“What is this thing?”
Moria frowned directly.
“It looks like some kind of parasite. This monster… or rather, the victim’s brain has been eaten by it. It is likely the culprit controlling the victim to attack me.”
In fact, Li Wen had about seventy to eighty percent certainty, and only the last piece of the puzzle was needed to complete everything that had happened before, and that last piece of the puzzle…
“Don’t you have anything to say, Jotes?” she said.
The Dwarf trembled all over. He scratched his body.
“I, I don’t understand, I don’t know anything!”
Jotes looked to Moria for help, but Moria just looked at him calmly, as if waiting for him to explain.
At this moment, even the slowest person would realize that something was about to happen. Harik quickly moved away from the Dwarf and Li Wen, pulling Nasha behind Moria.
“I don’t understand…” Jotes frantically scratched his face, neck, and body, his skin being torn by his nails, and blood flowing out. “I don’t understand!”
His usually meek voice became loud and harsh.
“Why! Why! How dare you suspect me! You damned, filthy thing that grew from the mud!” he roared as if venting, tearing at his hair and facial skin with his hands, and after a moment, he calmed down, staring with bloodshot eyes. “Humans are so cunning, full of lies and calculations… Speak, when did you start suspecting me.”
“From the beginning,” Li Wen said truthfully.
Upon hearing this answer, Jotes’s expression became very subtle for a moment.
“How is that possible!”
Li Wen shook her head. “You said one thing very correctly, you really don’t understand potions. You might not know that the shelf life of Ghost Solution does not exceed three months. If it is not used after three months, the potion will disappear as a ghost… so your claim that you took the potion from the dungeon was wrong from the very beginning.”
This was also why Li Wen’s first question at the time was to ask the Dwarf if he had refined the potion.
Jotes clearly refused to believe this absurd statement. He roared frantically and cursed in Dwarvish.
“How could that be! How could that be! I got the potion with my own hands! I got it from the dungeon!”
Finally, the Dwarf could no longer bear it. He dug his nails into his forehead and violently tore off the entire face, flesh and blood along with it.
