socalfunplaces Chapter 229 The Land Where Shadows Lurk
Chapter 229 The Land Where Shadows Lurk
Chapter 229 The Land Where Shadows Lurk
Guided by the hyacinth, Tang Zijun finally arrived at the 'exit'.
But this exit was very different from what Tang Zijun had imagined.
Although the whole world was pitch black, with the help of the hyacinth, Tang Zijun was still able to see some of her surroundings, although the visibility was a little low.
Tang Zijun stopped at the edge of the building's rooftop and peered down, only to be met with endless darkness, like an abyss.
"Hyacinth, are you sure the exit is here?"
Tang Zijun's tone was a little unnatural.
"Let me make this clear first, I'm not afraid of heights, and it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that in the inverted world there's a mirror serving as a door," isn't this exit a bit too strange?
"It's here, but closer to the ground," Hyacinth explained. "From the moment this dimension was opened up, the location of the entrance and exit has never changed; I can confirm that."
Looking at Hyacinth's confident demeanor, Tang Zijun opened her mouth, but in the end, she could only shake her head helplessly.
"Alright."
"Hurry up!"
With one step, Tang Zijun spread her arms and leaped directly from the top of the building.
A strong feeling of falling came instantly, but strangely, Tang Zijun felt light as a feather, as if the gravity here was completely different from that in the real world.
Every second felt like an eternity. Tang Zijun couldn't determine his distance from the ground; he could only sense the surrounding darkness, with the only light source above his head, its distance indistinguishable.
After an unknown amount of time, Tang Zijun suddenly felt her falling speed increase dramatically.
This feeling is hard to describe; it's like an invisible hand suddenly reaching out from a dark abyss, grabbing your body and accelerating your descent.
Tang Zijun reacted quickly at that moment; gravity had returned, and she was back in the real world.
Without time to think, Tang Zijun could only raise her hands to protect herself, and then—
boom!
With a heavy thud, Tang Zijun fell to her knees, her knees cracking the hard ground.
Slowly raising her head, Tang Zijun looked around. Although the environment was still dim, it was at least not pitch black anymore, and she could barely make out the outlines of some objects.
Gradually, her night vision returned, and Tang Zijun was able to see things more and more clearly.
The familiar floor and familiar furnishings—this was the warehouse at the dock from before.
With a slight movement of her eyes, Tang Zijun suddenly looked up at the ceiling above her. A shadow was slowly wriggling on the ceiling, its shape irregular and its form indiscernible.
Just as Tang Zijun was observing carefully, the shadow seemed to be stimulated by something and began to shrink rapidly. The next moment, Hyacinth's figure rolled out of the shadow.
"Heave-ho~"
After flying around in the air like a headless fly, the hyacinth managed to regain control of itself just before it crashed into the wall.
Looking at the familiar surroundings, Hyacinth happily raised her hand.
"You're back!"
"Tang Zijun, did you see that? I'm pretty amazing, aren't I?"
"Let's see if you still believe me next time, hmph!"
Excitedly fluttering about, the hyacinth gradually quieted down after a while, seeing that Tang Zijun did not respond.
Flying to Tang Zijun's side, Hyacinth noticed that he was silently staring at a corner.
"What's wrong? Are you unhappy?"
Following Tang Zijun's gaze, Hyacinth quickly spotted Jia Gang slumped in the corner of the warehouse, but he was now a corpse.
Jia Gang's eyes closed slightly, a twisted smile on his face. His stomach had been cut open, and his internal organs were scattered all over the ground like a hot pot of red oil.
"The window...it's disgusting..." Hyacinth stuck out her tongue.
At this moment, Tang Zijun finally made a move.
He turned his head slightly and looked towards the window.
"They're here."
"You're here?"
The hyacinth turned its head.
"Who's here?"
Tang Zijun didn't speak, but simply stepped aside slightly.
Then I heard a whooshing sound of wind outside the window. The wind grew stronger and stronger, and even the windows were rattling.
Sensing that incredibly intimate magic, the hyacinth's eyes lit up.
"The Shadow Clan!"
With a sharp shout, the warehouse window shattered instantly.
Then a figure in cyan flashed past, landing steadily on the ground, the amethyst dagger in its hand gleaming with a faint, cold light.
Her cool, pretty face was filled with fighting spirit.
"Prepare to die! You bunch of idiots!"
Who else could have rushed in but Qin Nan?
Her original post was near the dock, and after noticing bursts of shadow energy emanating from the area, she immediately rushed over with Little Grey.
What she didn't expect was that the people who appeared here were not enemies, but Tang Zijun and Hyacinth.
"Tang Zijun?" Qin Nan's expression was blank. "What are you doing here?!"
"You're late~" Hyacinth chuckled and flew onto Qin Nan's head. She preferred Qin Nan's helmet to Tang Zijun's hard one.
With a flash of silver light, Tang Zijun removed his armor, revealing his slightly solemn face. "Hyacinth brought me here. The Flower Fairy Clan can sense the energy of the Shadow Clan with even greater accuracy than spirit beasts."
Upon hearing this, Qin Nan was somewhat surprised. "Does the Flower Fairy Clan possess such an ability?"
"Yeah, how about that? I'm pretty good, right?" Hyacinth puffed out her chest, and Tang Zijun nodded slightly. "I just found out about that myself."
"So, what exactly happened here?" Little Gray's voice was somewhat deep as he landed on a nearby shelf. "Why do I sense an energy fluctuation from the surface world?"
"The surface world?" Tang Zijun frowned.
"Yes, at first Little Gray sensed intense fluctuations in shadow energy, and we thought the Shadow Clan had appeared, so we rushed over as soon as possible. But when we got close to this factory, we sensed the presence of the surface world," Qin Nan said earnestly.
This wasn't the first time Tang Zijun had heard this name in the world of "The World of the Outer World".
Not long after Tangcao became a magical girl, she and Su Siyao accidentally entered a surface world, and she personally went to meet them.
Hearing that name from Xiao Hui again now, Tang Zijun couldn't help but frown slightly.
First the shadow energy, then the surface world...
Tang Zijun gently pushed up her glasses and turned to look at the slightly shrinking shadow on the ceiling.
"...Hyacinth, I think I know now what dimension we were in just now."
Noticing Tang Zijun's actions, Qin Nan and Xiao Hui also discovered the peculiar shadow hovering on the ceiling. It was an incredibly eerie shadow, so dark that it seemed to suck in even one's gaze.
"This is."
This is the entrance to the world of the surface—1
"It was created by the power of shadows." Tang Zijun answered the question posed by the man and the bird. "If I'm not mistaken, there should have originally been a surface world here."
"What is the surface world?" Hyacinth asked curiously.
"We were ambushed and pulled into a very strange world. Hyacinth told me that the space wasn't very big, and it looked like it was occupied by the Shadow Clan. Now that I think about it, it must be the surface world."
What is the world of the watch?
"But isn't the surface world the domain of the rulers? How could the Shadow Clan have the ability to break into and occupy that dimension?" Qin Nan frowned.
"That...the world of the surface..."
"It should be possible. After all, I entered the surface world once before through mirror reflection. Since the surface world couldn't stop me, it naturally can't stop the shadow race either."
"Don't ignore me, hey!" Hyacinth was a little agitated.
"In short, although we can't be sure of those guys' intentions yet, this trap should be aimed at magical girls. I was only pulled into it after I used the power of a magical girl."
"That surface world, dominated by the power of shadow, is constantly diluting magic and can even rob you of your sight, even you and Little Grey..."
If you're not careful, you could easily fall in and capsize.
Listening quietly to Tang Zijun's story, Qin Nan and Xiao Hui exchanged a glance, both seeing the seriousness in each other's eyes.
"But you don't need to worry too much. With the help of the Flower Fairy, it's not like you can't fight in that world," Tang Zijun said, glancing at Hyacinth. "The only ones you need to be careful of are the Shadow Clan."
"The Shadows, can they pose a threat to us?"
"Don't underestimate these grunts. In the extreme darkness, even I can't pinpoint their exact location. And they're practically inexhaustible; as long as the power of shadow remains, they can respawn indefinitely."
Upon hearing this, Little Grey cautiously stared at the shadowy mass, fearing that several Shadow Creatures might crawl out and suddenly attack them.
Sensing Xiao Hui's gaze, Tang Zijun spoke up. "I've already killed that shadowy monster. Without the supply of negative energy, this place will dissipate soon."
"The Shadow Man, is it the Shadow Woman?" Qin Nan asked.
"No," Tang Zijun said. "It's a monster created by the Shadow Woman using human shadows. The person's corpse is behind the shelf. I suggest you don't get any curiosity and let Zhang Wei send someone to deal with it."
Qin Nan nodded slowly upon hearing this. If Tang Zijun had given such a reminder, it could only mean that the person's death was extremely tragic.
After a moment of silence, Qin Nan suddenly thought of something.
"By the way, now that you've defeated that shadow monster, have you found the magical girl and the spirit beast?"
Tang Zijun shook her head slightly and said, "I didn't find it, but that strange person did indeed have traces of magical girl magic on them."
"So that means..." Qin Nan took two steps forward.
Tang Zijun paused for a moment, then raised her head.
"Hmm... there's very likely more than one surface world within the Ice City area."