BXBX NOVEL Chapter 789: Man-eating Staircase
“A Man-eating Staircase…”
After a brief moment of thought, Ling Mo walked toward it decisively.
“Isn’t there the gecko option?” Black Silk reminded him.
“Don’t randomly give me names! If you must, change it to something like superhero!”
“Why bother with such details…”
“Isn’t it part of a pet’s duty?”
As Ling Mo lifted his foot, he explained, “It’s not that I wouldn’t use it, but that method is already useless. The moment I opened the door, the opponent was aware of me… In that case, it’s better to just walk up openly.”
“You certainly have a way with words for an infiltrator,” Black Silk said, clicking its tongue.“I’m dying to know what your purpose on Earth is…”
While speaking, Ling Mo’s foot firmly stepped down.
Through the shared vision from Ling Mo, Black Silk clearly saw the entire scene.
As soon as the hiking boot stepped onto the staircase, the flesh below quickly sank, engulfing his entire foot. Simultaneously, several bloody vine-like objects shot out from the flesh, coiling around Ling Mo’s calf like venomous snakes. One of these “vines” reared up, exposing its serrated mouthparts right in front of Ling Mo’s eyes.
Although the thing didn’t emit any horrifying screams, its mere appearance and the blood continuously dripping from it were enough to give anyone goosebumps.
Not to mention it always looked ready to pounce, imposing a significant psychological impact.
“Didn’t expect it to be this well-designed…”
Suddenly restrained, Ling Mo still maintained a calm expression, as if his leg wasn’t even bound. He completely ignored the “vine.” “Anyone trying to pass through here will fall into this flesh swamp. Then, the vines will kill and dismember the restrained person. The severed limbs will be chewed into pieces by the sharp teeth and eventually assimilate into the flesh, becoming part of the staircase… It should be something like that.”
“Are you analyzing your own fate?” Black Silk suddenly snapped back to attention, saying.
However, there wasn’t much worry in its tone since Ling Mo’s psychic fluctuation remained steady.
It’s just that Black Silk couldn’t quite comprehend Ling Mo’s explanation.
“How could it be…” Ling Mo’s other foot stepped up, and reaching out, he grabbed the “vine” in his hand. “This is merely the outcome envisioned by the opponent; it doesn’t mean it will become a reality.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Ling Mo’s fist clenched tightly.
The “vine” immediately started to twitch, with its mouthparts repeatedly attacking Ling Mo’s arm. But within a few seconds, when Ling Mo opened his hand, it had already turned to dust. Looking at Ling Mo’s arm and palm, there wasn’t even a scratch, not to mention any blood.
Black Silk was stunned for a moment: “Wait, it’s a hallucination?”
“That’s right. From the corridor to here, it’s all just an illusion. In reality, as long as you control yourself not to pay attention…”
As he spoke, Ling Mo had already taken several steps up, with the leg that had been bound completely unharmed.
“…you can easily pass through. The other key point is not to accept this setting. Once you believe that all this is real, the sensations such as pain will manifest themselves on your body. However, this illusion, whose very existence is dubious, can only deceive mutation creatures like you. In my view, the scare factor here outweighs its practicality.”
Ling Mo was intentionally imparting this knowledge to Black Silk; its illusion projection, in some sense, could be considered a type of hallucination-based superpower.
Its potential for further development might be low, but at the very least, it should move beyond the realm of simple doodles!
“How exactly does one control themselves not to pay attention? That’s the most important part and it’s almost impossible!” Black Silk grumbled.
“This was simple because the purpose of creating this place wasn’t to stop me, but rather to hinder those two from earlier. Making the scene so exaggerated is to make them retreat in fear.” As he spoke, Ling Mo couldn’t help but touch his chin. “No wonder that woman was furious. Didn’t she say this was her territory? This is like being bullied in her own home…”
“Of all people, you have no right to say that. But how do you know they’re not targeting you? Didn’t you say they already noticed you?” Black Silk asked curiously.
“If they were targeting me, they would definitely use some lethal hallucination tactics, right? Like turning the downward staircase into flat ground, making me step into thin air, or phasing out the wall so I crash into it… These are fairly straightforward methods.”
“Because it wouldn’t have much practical effect…”
“Remember when I closed the door once? That was because I realized I was encountering an illusion and wanted to verify if they would immediately change it based on the situation. As it turned out, after noticing me, they did consider changing the Illusion but at best, it was only to the extent of causing a stomach cramp… Most of the Illusion remained the same, so it was thrilling but safe on the fourth floor,” Ling Mo said confidently.
“A stomach cramp… So, they’re distracted and powerless?”
Black Silk quickly responded, “If Xu Shuhan really is upstairs, she should still be safe now since these humans haven’t caught her yet!”
“Exactly… However, the fact that they’d rather let me go in while focusing all their attention on the Fifth Floor makes me uneasy… It’s possible they want me to walk into their trap, preparing to catch us all at once…”
Ling Mo quickly ran up the stairs, his expression growing more serious.
This Illusion, while easy to see through, is just the fringes of what they’ve constructed. Judging their power based on this would be a grave mistake.
Moreover, he had to deal not only with this mental ability superhuman but also with others hidden within the Illusion.
“However, since the Illusion works by affecting the senses, it’s not entirely hopeless…” Ling Mo pondered for a moment and then said to Black Silk, “You guys get nearby first. If you see that man and woman coming back early, try to stall them for a bit.”
“Is that all? What a waste…” Black Silk said with some dissatisfaction.
“I’ll scout the situation first. If something’s off, you come in as backup. It’s better than both of us walking into a trap.” Ling Mo explained.
As he ascended the “Man-eating Staircase,” it grew increasingly withered. The flesh on the ground and walls seemed to be decaying and shriveling, and the “vines” had turned into dry, twisted ropes hanging haphazardly around.
While talking, he reached the staircase leading to the Fifth Floor, standing at the edge and looking into the Corridor.
The Fifth Floor appeared pitch black, and a stronger, pungent scent of disinfectant pungent filled the air.
The long Corridor was littered with shriveled flesh, and the doors on either side were wide open, with sticky substances clinging to the doorjambs.
There were traces of black liquid running down the walls, and it seemed like there was something extra beneath his feet…
However, these details were not the most important…
What truly made Ling Mo feel eerie were the corpses hanging from the Ceiling…
“Dressed in white coats or patient’s gowns… This person’s Illusion is really detailed… grotesque.”
Ling Mo stood in place, thinking, “To break the Illusion, the best way would be to directly attack the mental ability superhuman responsible for it… But since they noticed me first, they’ll probably come for me first…”
Operating within the opponent’s Illusion certainly posed risks. But considering that most of their attention was likely on the first “intruder,” they would probably just try to stall him. Still, Ling Mo wasn’t planning to stake his life on this assumption; he had another plan…
“After all, I’m half a mental ability user myself…”
As he stepped into the Corridor, Ling Mo’s psychic tentacles reached out.