Door

Door

Zhang Heng moved his face a little closer to the ferns, but the strange smell nearby did not grow any stronger.

It seemed that the smell was not released by the ferns. Still, their presence did make the air more humid, and mixed with that odor, it became even more unpleasant.

Zhang Heng scraped off a small sample with the Small Knife, placed it in a sealed bag, and continued downward.

After descending another ten or so steps, a door appeared before him.

If the ferns had merely felt cold and unsettling, then the things on the door were downright ugly. They resembled vines, yet each segment was covered in tiny fleshy nodules, with octopus-like suckers at their base. They tangled around one another before clinging tightly to the door itself.

On closer inspection, the branches even seemed to be slowly writhing.

It was the first time Zhang Heng had ever seen such an eerie sight.

He felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, except she had wandered through Wonderland, while he seemed to have entered an abyss filled with endless terror.

The door alone was already this horrifying. It was impossible to imagine what might be hidden beyond it.

An ordinary person would probably have turned back by now. Yet Zhang Heng only felt slightly uncomfortable because of the strange smell. He had always been calmer than most, and with his emotions continuously fading away in the dungeon, he could barely even feel fear anymore.

Zhang Heng walked straight up to the door, and his Calico Cat-brand detector came in handy again.

Ignoring the cat's struggles and resistance, Zhang Heng grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and brought her close to the moving branches. Sure enough, as the Calico Cat approached, the branches began to