Fantasy Game: Infinite City

Chapter 644 The Secret of Bastinburg (3)

Han Zu abruptly stopped, his muscles tensing instinctively, like a cheetah poised to pounce. The little mouse in his arms, which had been peeking out curiously at the sac-like plants hanging on the passageway wall, was also startled by the sudden pause. Its small body shrank slightly, and its paws instinctively gripped Han Zu's chest. Its round black eyes darted around rapidly, and its little nose twitched, trying to catch the unusual signal that had made Han Zu stop—in its limited understanding, this powerful "guardian" never stopped without a reason; something dangerous must have appeared.

Han Zu didn't move immediately, but remained still, his ears twitching slightly as he took in all the sounds around him. Inside the passage, the babbling of the green stream was clearly audible, and occasionally a few drops of green liquid would drip from the sac-like structures of the mushroom-shaped plants, creating tiny ripples in the stream. In the distance, he could faintly hear the soft flapping of the wings of a butterfly-shaped monster, but other than that, there was nothing else unusual. But he was certain that the indistinct "this way" he had just heard was not a hallucination. The sound carried a subtle, penetrating quality, unlike any natural sound produced in the flesh and blood labyrinth; it seemed more like a deliberate guidance from some intelligent being.

The little mouse nestled in Han Zu's arms, tilting its head slightly. It hadn't heard the strange sound, only sensed the cautious aura emanating from Han Zu. It licked its paws and secretly glanced at Han Zu's profile—his sharply defined face was expressionless, only his eyes, sharp as knives, scanned his surroundings. The little mouse felt much more at ease. It remembered the terrifying monsters it had encountered before, no matter how ferocious, they had all been easily dealt with by this "creature that looked human but was absolutely impossible." Since he was so cautious, he must be dealing with some serious situation; it just needed to stay put.

After a brief moment of confirmation, Han Zu no longer hesitated and began to walk in the direction the sound came from. His steps were light, each one landing precisely on the dry ground on either side of the stream, avoiding any unnecessary noise. The green patterns on the passage walls seemed to brighten as he moved, as if guiding him. The little mouse in his arms gradually relaxed and began to peer around again. When it saw a small, lost, green, beetle-like creature crawling past, its eyes lit up instantly, and its little paws couldn't help but reach out, but it stopped just before touching the creature—it remembered that when it tried to touch those strange creatures before, Han Zu would gently press down on its paws, as if reminding it not to easily provoke the unknown.

After walking about fifty meters in the general direction of the sound, the passage suddenly made a sharp turn. Han Zu slowed his pace instinctively after rounding the bend—the scene before him was completely different from the previous green passage. The green patterns that had covered the walls had vanished, replaced by a dark purple, vein-like, protruding structure. These structures slowly writhed within the walls, emitting a faint purple glow that illuminated the passage with an eerie halo. The stream on the ground had also disappeared, replaced by a thick layer of wrinkled, dark purple flesh, which felt like walking on a soft carpet, with a slight elasticity.

The little mouse, noticing the change in its surroundings, shrank back, its nose wrinkling. It seemed to dislike the smell—the air was devoid of the garden's fresh fragrance, replaced by a faint, rusty, metallic odor. It glanced up at Han Zu, who continued forward expressionlessly, then mustered its courage, turning its head to the side to observe the writhing, vein-like structures on the wall. To it, these constantly writhing things were far more terrifying than the still plants, like some kind of monster lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce at any moment.

After advancing another hundred meters or so, Han Zu finally emerged from the dark purple passage, and the sight before him made his pupils shrink slightly. He found himself at a massive crossroads, where at least eight passages in different directions converged. The walls of each passage were a different color and shape—some were covered with a silvery-white keratinous layer, their surfaces shimmering with a metallic sheen; others were riddled with tiny holes, from which white mist constantly seeped; and still others had enormous, tooth-like spikes growing at their entrances, with dark red liquid flowing between them. The green passage he had previously traversed seemed particularly inconspicuous among these passages, clearly indicating that the area he had explored was merely the tip of the iceberg of this vast labyrinth of flesh and blood.

What bothered him even more was that the "this way" he had heard earlier had completely vanished; no matter how hard he focused his senses, he couldn't detect a trace of it. At the same time, he looked back and saw that the green membranes at the entrance to the green passage behind him were rapidly writhing. The once spacious entrance was visibly shrinking, and the green patterns on the walls were gradually fading, eventually blending into the dark purple of the surrounding walls. Clearly, the structure of the flesh labyrinth was silently changing, completely cutting off his escape route.

Han Zu gently stroked the dark purple, vein-like structure on the wall with his fingers, feeling a warm sensation at his fingertips. At the same time, a faint energy fluctuation entered his senses. He could clearly feel that these fleshy tissues contained immense energy. With his abilities, he could easily destroy the surrounding walls and create a new escape route with just a little effort. But he didn't do that. From the moment he entered this labyrinth of flesh, he had discovered that every structure here was interconnected; moving one would affect the whole thing. Randomly destroying it could potentially trigger unpredictable dangers. Moreover, his curiosity about this labyrinth had already been thoroughly piqued.

The little mouse also noticed the disappearance of its escape route. It nervously rubbed its head against Han Zu's chest, a hint of panic in its bright black eyes. But when it saw Han Zu's still steady gait, its panic instantly dissipated. It remembered the enormous monster it had encountered in the dome-shaped space, and the tentacle attack it had faced on the small bridge. No matter how dangerous the situation, this powerful "guardian" could handle it all with ease. It let out a soft chirp, as if to comfort Han Zu, or perhaps to encourage itself, then rested its head against Han Zu's skin, closing its eyes securely, only peeking open a crack when it heard strange noises.

Han Zu chose a passage covered with a silvery-white keratinous layer and stepped inside. The passage was more spacious inside than outside. The keratinous layer on the walls was arranged in regular hexagonal patterns, like a honeycomb, reflecting a cold luster under the faint purple light. The ground lacked the soft feel of flesh and blood, instead covered with a thin, scale-like substance that made a slight "rustling" sound when stepped on. After walking about several dozen meters, Han Zu stopped again, because he saw some "creatures" ahead.

These creatures were small, only about half a meter tall, and silvery-white in color. Their bodies were woven from numerous tiny skeletal structures, forming a spider-like shape, but with eight slender, barbed legs. At the center of their bodies was a mass of dark red flesh, from which many tiny tentacles extended, constantly touching the cuticled layer on the walls, seemingly sensing something. These spider-like creatures moved rapidly along the tunnel walls, their movements exhibiting a peculiar regularity. They maintained a fixed distance from each other, never colliding or deviating from their paths.

Han Zu stood still, quietly observing the creatures. He noticed that when he and the little mouse in his arms appeared in the passage, these spider-like creatures showed no reaction. They neither displayed aggression nor tried to avoid him, continuing to move along their fixed paths as if he and the little mouse didn't exist. The little mouse stared curiously at these moving "spiders," its tiny paws waving gently in the air, as if trying to grab one. It wondered: these strange-looking things didn't seem fierce. They kept climbing up and down the wall; were they looking for something? If it jumped down, would its legs get caught?

Continuing forward, the passage gradually narrowed, and the silvery-white keratinous layer on the walls began to crack, revealing dark purple flesh beneath. In the damaged area, Han Zu saw another completely different kind of creature. These creatures were large, about two meters tall, with cylindrical bodies composed of thick, skeletal-like tissue forming the main trunk. Numerous tree-like branches extended from the main trunk, the ends of which connected to enormous, leaf-like fleshy tissue. These "leaves" were dark green, their surfaces covered with fine pores, constantly absorbing the purple mist from the air and then transporting it through the branches to the main trunk, whose base was deeply rooted in the fleshy tissue beneath the ground, like a plant.

These plant-like creatures also ignored Han Zu's presence, standing silently on both sides of the passage, their "leaves" swaying slightly with the airflow. When the little mouse saw these tall creatures, it instinctively shrank back, a little afraid—these things were so tall; what if they suddenly fell over and crushed it and Han Zu underneath? But when it saw Han Zu walk past them without a care, its fear gradually disappeared. It secretly examined the holes in the "leaves," wondering what they were for—to breathe? Or for eating?

At the end of the passage was a vast circular space, larger than the garden they had encountered earlier, with a diameter of at least several hundred meters. The ceiling of this space lacked any luminous sources; instead, it was covered with countless tiny, star-like points of light, emitting a faint blue glow that illuminated the entire space in a hazy, dreamlike state. In the center of the space stood a colossal tower composed of skeletal tissue, reaching all the way to the top. The tower was covered in spiraling patterns, within which flowed a silvery-white liquid, like the tower's blood.

Within this circular space, a vast number of creatures of various shapes and sizes were scattered. In addition to the "spider-like" and "plant-like" creatures encountered earlier, there were many other species never seen before: some resembled giant snails, carrying heavy shells made of skeletal tissue, slowly crawling on the ground, their shells covered with luminous patterns; others resembled floating jellyfish, their bodies composed of translucent flesh and blood tissue, enclosing a luminous core, moving slowly through the space by contracting and expanding their bodies; still others resembled centipedes, with dozens of slender legs, their bodies covered with a layer of hard keratin, rapidly traversing between the tower's sections.

Although these creatures were numerous and moved in various ways, they all followed some unseen rules, moving within their respective areas without any overlap or conflict. Han Zu, carrying the little mouse, slowly walked among these creatures. He noticed that they all seemed to be moving around the central tower; their tentacles, leaves, or parts of their bodies would occasionally point towards the tower, as if receiving some kind of signal.

The little mouse was no longer afraid. Sitting in Han Zu's lap, it excitedly waved its little paws, pointing at the "jellyfish" floating in the distance and staring at the "snails" crawling on the ground. Its little nose twitched constantly, as if it were trying to distinguish the scents of these creatures. When it saw a centipede-like creature quickly crawl across the tower, its eyes lit up. Its little head followed the centipede's movements, filled with curiosity: This thing with so many legs runs so fast, is it looking for something delicious on the tower?

Han Zu walked to the base of the tower and gently touched the skeletal structure within it. The cold, hard texture was completely different from the warm flesh he had encountered before. The silvery-white liquid flowing through the spiral patterns on the tower seemed to quicken, and a faint energy fluctuation emanated from the tower and entered his body. He could sense that this tower was the core of the entire circular space, and the activities of all living beings around it were intimately connected to the energy fluctuations emanating from it.

Just then, the little mouse suddenly crawled out of Han Zu's arms, quickly climbed up his arm to his shoulder, then up his neck to the top of his head, finally sitting on his hair, looking down at the entire space. Its little paws gripped Han Zu's hair tightly, its body sitting upright, like a king surveying his territory. In its mind, Han Zu was the most powerful being; with Han Zu by its side, it had nothing to fear, no matter what strange creatures it encountered. Moreover, sitting on Han Zu's head offered the best view, allowing it to see everything interesting.