One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Chapter 151 Obsession Illusion

"We can't wait any longer." Wang sighed. "And these obsessions, in the unique environment of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Valley, have been solidified, distorted, and materialized, forming this ever-changing labyrinth. Every step we take may trigger someone's obsession, and then we'll be dragged into their 'memories' or 'nightmares.' At best, we'll lose our way; at worst... we'll be trapped inside forever, becoming part of the labyrinth."

Zhang Chulan emerged from the crack, brushing the dust off his clothes as he added, "We've fallen for this before. Old Qing got caught up in the obsession of a Ming Dynasty scholar and almost wrote himself to death in the exam hall. You wouldn't believe what it was like—Old Qing was sitting at a broken desk, a mountain of exam papers in front of him, a brush in his hand, writing incessantly until his face turned green. We called him, but he couldn't hear us; we tried to pull him away, but we couldn't. In the end, it was Bao'er who chopped up that desk before he woke up."

Zhuge Qing emerged from the crack, his face still pale. "Don't even mention it. That scholar was too obsessed. He failed the provincial examination eight times and died in the examination hall. His obsession was 'to pass the examination.' When I was dragged in, I felt like I really became him, really writing those eight-legged essays. That kind of despair... I don't want to experience it a second time."

Zhang Lingyu followed closely behind, his Daoist robe still spotless, but a trace of blood lingered at the corner of his mouth. He spoke softly, "I was dragged into the obsession of a general who died in battle. He led three thousand surviving soldiers, defending a lonely city against a hundred thousand enemy troops. I held out there for three days and three nights, watching the soldiers around me fall one after another, watching the enemy outside the city gather in ever greater numbers, watching the food supplies inside the city dwindle... When the city finally fell, the sense of powerlessness and guilt almost drove me mad."

"Sister Bao'er is the most outrageous," Zhang Chulan continued, with a hint of envy in his tone. "She went into a chef's obsession and cooked there for three months. When she came out, she was still craving more, saying that the chef's braised pork was really delicious."

Feng Baobao poked her head out of the crack, looked around, and then crawled out completely. She patted the dirt off her clothes and nodded seriously: "It really is delicious. It's just that the meat was a bit tough, overcooked. The caramelized sugar the cook used wasn't shiny enough either; the heat must have been too high when he was making the sugar."

Everyone: "..."

Baron and Xia Liuqing were the last to emerge. Old Xia, pipe in mouth, had just begun to smoke when a gust of wind swept it away, scattering it into the distorted colors. He squinted at his surroundings, exhaling a smoke ring: "This place is eerie."

Baron gripped his dagger tightly, warily surveying his surroundings: "Where will those monsters come from?"

"I don't know." Wang Ye shook his head. "They could come from anywhere. Or they might not even need to 'appear,' they were already 'here' before."

Before he finished speaking, a strange "cacaca" laugh came from afar.

The laughter was sharp and piercing, like the cawing of countless crows at the same time, or the scraping sound of a rusty iron door being pushed open. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that on the roof of the ruined palace, there were now more than a dozen…things.

They have human-like shapes, but no human features.

Some wore ancient official robes, but their heads were pig heads, drooling from their mouths. Others wore monk robes, but the prayer beads around their necks were actually human finger bones, which made a "crackling" sound with each step. Some looked like soldiers, wearing uniforms from different eras—Qing Dynasty uniforms, Republic of China gray cloth uniforms, Japanese yellow woolen overcoats, and People's Liberation Army green uniforms—a chaotic jumble, like monsters pieced together by some mad tailor from the clothes of the dead.

Their eyes were all fixed on the crowd.

"This is..." Zhang Chulan swallowed.

"A mixture of obsessions from those who entered." Zhuge Qing flipped through the ancient book, quickly consulting it. "When these people were alive, their obsessions clashed with each other, and after death, they became entangled together, forming this... monster. They have no reason, only instinct—to devour more obsessions and grow stronger."

"Are they strong?" Nie Lingfeng asked.

"It depends on the numbers." Zhuge Qing closed the book. "They're not strong individually, but they live in groups, and..." He paused, his expression grave, "They don't truly die. If you scatter them, their fragments of obsession will recombine and form new monsters. Unless you can purify those obsessions, they will be reborn indefinitely."

"Then don't give them a chance to be reborn."

Nie Lingfeng stepped forward and placed his hand on the hilt of the Snow Drinking Blade.

As if receiving a signal, the monsters on the roof let out piercing screams and pounced down from the roof!

Their speed was astonishing. The monsters, dressed in military uniforms from different eras, left afterimages as they ran. Every step they took left a brief footprint in the void, from which a dark red liquid seeped out, like blood or rust.

The monster in the pig-headed official robes was the slowest, but it began to spew black smoke from its mouth. Wherever the smoke passed, the air hissed and corroded, and even the distorted colors were stained even blacker.

"Scatter!" Wang Ye shouted.

The crowd scattered instantly.

Nie Lingfeng didn't dodge. He charged straight at the monsters!

"Clang!"

The Snow Drinking Blade was drawn from its sheath, its blade gleaming like snow!

The "Republic of China soldier" charging at the front was cleaved in two with a single stroke! The monster's upper body flew off, while its lower body took two steps forward before collapsing. But the moment it fell, both halves began to writhe, countless buds of flesh sprouting from the severed ends, attempting to reconnect.

A golden light flashed in Nie Lingfeng's eyes—

"Qilin Fire!"

"boom!"

Golden-red flames erupted from his hands, instantly engulfing the two severed corpses. A piercing scream came from within the flames as the monster struggled desperately, but the Qilin Fire clung to it like a poisonous weed, impossible to shake off. A few seconds later, the screams ceased, the corpses turned to ashes, and were scattered by the wind.

But from the ashes, a few wisps of black smoke drifted out, trying to burrow into the other monsters.

"Chen Duo!"

Without him even having to call out, Chen Duo had already moved.

She formed a hand seal in front of her chest, and the phoenix phantom behind her cried out to the sky. Emerald light surged forth like a tide, enveloping the wisps of black mist. The black mist struggled violently within the green light, emitting even more piercing screams, but gradually, those screams turned into whispers—

"Mother...I'm cold..."

"Hungry...I want to eat...I want a hot meal..."

"Don't go...don't leave me..."

Then, the whispers vanished. The black mist transformed into specks of golden light within the green glow, slowly dissipating like fireflies on a summer night, carrying a warm and liberating feeling.

"Phoenix True Fire... can purify obsessions." Zhuge Qing's eyes flashed with surprise. "Miss Chen Duo's bloodline is practically a natural enemy here."

What followed turned into a massacre.

Nie Lingfeng charged ahead, his Qilin Fire shattering the monsters' forms. Chen Duo followed closely behind, her Phoenix True Fire purifying the escaped fragments of obsession. The two coordinated flawlessly; the monsters, imbued with the obsessions of countless people, fell like paper before them, batch after batch, purified.

A dozen minutes later, the last monster turned into a golden speck of light and disappeared into the air.

The battle is over.

Nie Lingfeng sheathed his sword and turned to look at Chen Duo. Chen Duo's face was somewhat pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, but her eyes were clear, and there was even a very faint smile on her lips.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes." Chen Duo nodded, "They...don't hurt anymore."

"Does it stop hurting?"

"Those obsessions," Chen Duo said, looking in the direction where the golden specks of light were scattering, "They were in pain, constantly crying out in agony. Now, the pain is gone."

Nie Lingfeng was silent for a while, then reached out and ruffled her hair.

"You did a great job."