The Race

"You have been eroded, your Sanity Value is damaged, current Sanity Value is 43/100."

The cold system prompt pulled Zhou You back from the illusion in an instant.

This single voice alone caused Zhou You's Sanity Value to plummet by nearly 30 points!

Yet that was not all; beneath the feet of the Bodhisattva, blood and flesh began to surge, the pus transforming into a foul-smelling, filthy ocean that rushed toward Zhou You's location, carrying with it a pile of wailing souls!

"The player has triggered the final monster: Jixiang Jimiao Guimu Bodhisattva."

"All roads and locations for the night have been opened."

"The player must escape its pursuit and find the core item of this scenario: the Wutao Sacrificial Statue, and destroy it completely."

"Please note, because the player completed the hidden plot of the dungeon in advance, Jixiang Jimiao Guimu Bodhisattva has forcibly broken free from its restraints without completing the full sacrifice; it is currently in an incomplete state and cannot personally pursue the player."

"Please note, because the player has unsealed the 'Guhyapada Vajra Dharma Protector Temple of Sanhuamiao', 'Weituo Zuntian Dharma Protector Temple of Sanhuamiao', and 'Sanzhixiumo Dharma Protector Temple of Sanhuamiao', the abilities of Jixiang Jimiao Guimu Bodhisattva will be significantly weakened."

"The 'Death Curse Sanskrit Sound' of Jixiang Jimiao Guimu Bodhisattva has been sealed."

"The 'Dharma Has No Two Gates' of Jixiang Jimiao Guimu Bodhisattva has been sealed."

"The 'Flesh and Blood Unity' of Jixiang Jimiao Guimu Bodhisattva has been sealed."

"The three strange entities guarding the temples—the 'Skinless Ghost', 'Eyeball Ghost', and 'Pious Ghost'—have lost control and entered a state of indiscriminate attack."

"The player has released all major monsters in this dungeon, and the dungeon difficulty has been significantly reduced."

--After listening to the series of system prompts, Zhou You began to think rapidly.

First, it seemed this Bodhisattva could not personally hunt him down—this was a massive stroke of luck. After all, just one encounter had cost him half his life; if the entity could act personally, there would be no point in playing, and he might as well use a resurrection coin to reset everything and figure out a way to run.

Then there was the second point, which was the most important.

He had to find that sacrificial statue and figure out a way to destroy it.

But the problem was, where was that thing?

Zhou You had never seen what this sacrificial statue looked like, and Liu Shang's diary had never mentioned it. Searching for such an item in such a large district... to put it mildly, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack; to put it bluntly, it was nearly a daydream.

"Normally, there should be clues, but I didn't notice them, or perhaps I ignored them unintentionally. So, where could it be..."

The sea of blood outside was closing in, yet Zhou You remained deep in thought inside the room. Scenes flashed before his eyes, eventually settling on a place that had been ransacked into a mess.

"Damn it, I should have thought of that earlier!"

Zhou You slapped his palm hard. At the same time, a voice filled with malice suddenly echoed from afar.

"I... found..."

At first, the voice was blurry, but in the blink of an eye, it clung to his ears like a festering sore.

"I... found you..."

"You went back on your word... you left me behind and ran away..."

"The Bodhisattva... gave me a chance."

"As long as I kill you, I can be liberated!!!!"

...Wait, why does this sound so familiar?

Zhou You picked up the incense and walked outside.

Sure enough, from the top of that mountain of corpses and sea of blood, he saw a face he knew all too well.

Liu Shang's face.

"Holy crap, you can actually resurrect even after turning into that state? Are you a cockroach or something!" Zhou You felt no remorse; he spat a glob of thick phlegm to the side, then gave himself a cut with his blood-stained knife, locked onto a direction, and turned to run!

A shrill, furious scream followed right behind him.

"No, you can't run!!"

The sea of blood surged forward like a massive wave!

--Can a human outrun a tidal wave?

The answer is no.

The tide crossed a hundred meters in the blink of an eye. At this rate, it would catch up to Zhou You in just a few minutes and mercilessly swallow him whole.

But that was only under normal circumstances.

Just as the sea of blood entered the intersection, three shrill screams rang out simultaneously.

There was madness, despair, and pain in those sounds, but only one emotion was shared among them.

That was pure, unadulterated rage.

The first to pounce onto the sea of blood was a flash of a white dress.

The Skinless Ghost raised its neck, looking at Liu Shang with a terrifying visage, and sighed mournfully.

"Father, I have never disobeyed you anywhere. Why are you so cruel that you had to peel off my favorite face?"

Amidst this lament, Liu Shang's skin rippled as if it were about to be peeled off, but a giant claw immediately reached out from the sea of blood and crushed the white dress without hesitation.

"I raised you all these years, you ate my food and drank my drinks, what's wrong with me taking some interest from you!!!"

But immediately, another ball of pitch-black mist caught up.

A child's immature voice came from within.

"Dad, I've been good, always good, why did you dig out my eyes?"

Liu Shang's eyeball instantly exploded, making his face even more ferocious.

"You are my child, everything you have belongs to me, what's wrong with sacrificing your life for your own father?"

The black mist was instantly swallowed by the sea of blood, and finally, a scrawny old man emerged.

"Liu Shang, I've been diligently accompanying you for over thirty years! I've been helping you since you started, and I've done countless dirty and dark deeds for you over these decades. At the very least, I've been utterly devoted to you, and this is how you repay me, by killing my entire family???"

Liu Shang's mutilated face was instantly severed. Although another face emerged from the sea of blood, its expression was clearly much weaker.

Even so, the sea of blood still crushed the old man with unstoppable force.

"What's wrong with me killing your entire family? Since you're so loyal, repay me with your wife, children, and your own life!"

The final roar swept through the entire block like waves.

Zhou You, who was focused on running, immediately staggered. After barely maintaining his balance, he turned his head to look.

The three Specters only lasted less than three minutes. Time... is still not enough.

Despite saying this, Zhou You showed no sign of panic on his face. He turned and slashed himself again. As blood poured out, his footsteps quickened.

The distance between them continued to shrink bit by bit.

Soon, the viscous sea of blood was once again close to his back.

At this moment, Zhou You was approaching Shan Huai Hutong. However, unlike the silence of the previous day, it was once again filled with a scorched color. The countless faces on the walls saw Zhou You and all revealed grinning expressions.

The dark child reappeared and grabbed Zhou You's sleeve. Just as he was about to maliciously say the words "let's play a game," he suddenly turned his head and looked behind someone.

The innocent smile instantly vanished. He stood in front of the surging sea of blood and said, word by word, in an extremely sinister voice.

"Let's play a game?"

"Liu Shang, you son of a bitch!!!!"