absurd deduction game.

When the three followed Ivan back to the archbishop's office, they found that the atmosphere had changed.

The muffled sound of thick raindrops pattering against the glass outside the window was clearly audible, and a tense atmosphere, like the impending storm, filled the air. Several high-ranking deacons had already gathered here, their faces showing obvious anxiety.

The archbishop stood by the window, gazing at the unusually dark world outside, shrouded in yellowish-green rain. His expression was more solemn than ever before. He gripped the modified painting tube tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

Upon seeing Yu Xing and the other two enter, the archbishop immediately turned around, his eyes tired yet sharp as an eagle's.

"You saw it?" He didn't even bother with pleasantries, asking directly, his voice slightly hoarse.

“I see it.” Yu Xing nodded. “If I’m not mistaken, it should be ‘Chaotic Rain’.”

Anyway, since the investigators in the ideal country come with a background of knowing all kinds of monsters, no one will doubt their professionalism.

“Chaos Rain, yes…” the archbishop repeated the name, a hint of understanding and a deeper gloom flashing in his eyes. “It is indeed it… There are scattered records in the Church’s ancient records. The last time it appeared in the Yolikef region was eighty years ago. The records are vague, only mentioning that ‘living dark clouds bring foul rain, and where the rain falls, strange things breed and disasters run rampant.’”

He took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress the heaviness in his chest: "It is not a living thing, but more like a phenomenon, a terrifying celestial phenomenon that foreshadows a huge catastrophe. Its appearance means that the pollution concentration on this land has reached a critical point and is about to trigger an unimaginable chain reaction."

His gaze swept over everyone present, finally settling on Yu Xing and the other two: "We don't have time. I originally wanted you to rest a bit and carefully study the action plan after entering the 'City of Terror'... But now, the Chaos Rain has arrived. Every second of delay could push Yolikef Town into a deeper abyss, or it could completely erase the truth from Edgar's side."

He stepped forward and solemnly handed the painting tube to Yu Xing: "'The key' is complete. It will guide you and protect you to some extent. The power of the Mother Goddess's Tears can maintain your sanity for a short time, but remember, do not stay inside for too long."

He then took out the three familiar small silver badges, each engraved with ears of wheat and emitting a soft white light, and distributed them to the three: "These are the 'Sanctuary Badges' that were modified along with the key. You should still wear them close to your body. They can slightly enhance your resistance to pollution and, when you need to return, resonate with the 'key' to guide you on your way home—provided that you can find a relatively stable spatial node."

The archbishop spoke quickly and urgently, with an undeniable sense of urgency: "The appearance of the Chaos Rain means that the town is about to descend into chaos. The Church must act immediately to organize defenses, appease the people, and deal with any strange events that may occur. We can no longer provide you with any more support."

The three of them looked completely understanding.

The archbishop's gaze, heavy as a boulder, pressed down on the three men's shoulders: "Find Edgar, uncover the truth of the City of Terror, find the clues to end all this calamity... We have much to do. Everyone, split up and act. I believe we can break the prophecy of calamity brought by the Chaos Language. We must set off immediately! May the Mother Goddess protect you."

Outside the window, the yellowish-green rain continued to fall slowly, as if setting a somber and ominous prelude to this mission that was about to delve into unknown and terrifying territory.

Therefore, the atmosphere inside the office was extremely tense due to the archbishop's words and the continuous, eerie sound of rain outside the window.

There was no time to hesitate, and no time to be afraid.

Yu Xing took the heavy painting tube, and his fingertips could feel the complex fluctuations within it, a mixture of coldness and holiness, that were bound together.

He pinned the "protection badge" inside his trench coat, close to his chest, and a faint warmth seemed to emanate from it, slightly dispelling the chill brought by the chaotic rain.

Qu Xianqing and the actors also put on their badges.

Qu Xianqing remained expressionless, maintaining her peak condition. The performer held a small pastry she had just brought from the lounge, took a bite with a slight smile, and her emotions were unreadable.

“Let’s begin here,” the archbishop said in a deep voice. He gestured for the other deacons to step back slightly, clearing a space in the center of the office. “The effects of the Chaos Rain might interfere with the space, so it would be safer to proceed in the prayer room, but there’s no time. I will stay here to protect you and stabilize the surrounding environment as much as possible.”

Yu Xing nodded without saying anything more, opened the painting tube, and took out the transformed painting, "Starry Sky".

The moment the painting was unfurled, the light in the office seemed to distort.

The original gloom shrouded in chaotic rain formed a strange resonance with the twisted and writhing deep space on the canvas and the eerie stars surrounding the golden door. A cold and crazy aura once again spread, but this time, the aura was firmly restrained by the stable golden door-shaped outline and the soft halo of the "Mother Goddess's Tears," and its direction was extremely clear.

"Concentrate, focus on the door," the archbishop commanded, raising his staff and chanting a prayer to stabilize the space. A faint golden halo spread out from him, barely resisting the spatial disturbances caused by the chaotic rain outside the window.

Yu Xing, Qu Xianqing, and Lingren followed instructions and turned their gaze to the golden door in the center of the canvas.

In an instant——

It was as if all the colors and sounds of the world had been stripped away!

The scene in the office blurred and disintegrated rapidly, like a faded oil painting, leaving only a cold and grand buzzing sound from the depths of the universe.

The golden door rapidly magnified in their perception, no longer a pattern on a canvas, but transforming into an all-consuming vortex entrance. The viscous, tangible polluting power, mixed with a specific frequency restrained by divine power, surged into the depths of their consciousness like a flood bursting its banks, following their gaze!

"Well……"

Even with the warmth emanating from the "Badge of Protection" and the prior protection of the "Tears of the Mother Goddess," the cold and insane will originating from the ancient gods still brought a tremendous impact.

Qu Xianqing let out a muffled groan. Her soul behind her body was slightly affected, and crimson blood burst forth from the depths of her soul, like the strongest dam, forcibly severing and repelling the chaotic thoughts that were trying to erode her reason.

The actor swayed slightly, but a twisted, almost pleasurable smile appeared on his face. Instead of resisting with all his might, he relaxed his mind a little and actively guided some of the corrupting power through his senses, as if savoring the taste of extreme madness.

The strange moss-like ecosystem around him reappeared, subtly interacting and resisting the invading pollution forces, thus eliminating most of its negative effects.

The Ghost Tree enjoys absorbing these filthy things. Even without the Cursing Tongue, the musician is willing to occasionally feed some nutrients to the power belonging to the Abyss Tree within him.

Yu Xing's feelings were the most peculiar.

As the cold, polluted starlight flooded in, the cursed power originating from the Ghostly Sinking Tree within him seemed to be activated, spontaneously becoming active. His hunger surged again, but this time, perhaps because he had already lost his head before this scene, he felt a simultaneous sensation of attraction and repulsion, almost akin to "being from the same source." His eyes blazed with a deep blue light, and countless invisible branches danced wildly in his consciousness, like experienced navigators precisely capturing the "path" marked by divine power amidst the raging torrent of energy, guiding his consciousness along this path towards the golden door.

The emblem of protection emitted an increasingly intense light, diligently performing its function to maintain the three's sanity... As an inanimate object, it was unaware that it was actually somewhat superfluous.

The surrounding scenery had completely changed.

The office, the archbishop, the deacon, the rain outside the window... everything vanished like shattered glass.

Instead, there was an endless, indescribably colorful, distorted void, with only the enormous door in front, outlined by golden light, shining like a beacon in the dark universe, radiating a stable and alluring glow.

Their bodies seemed to lose their substance, transforming into pure consciousness, captured by the powerful suction of the door, and involuntarily thrown into it.

In the instant before her consciousness was completely swallowed by the door, Yu Xing seemed to hear the archbishop's distant and steady command, the deacons' responses, and the dull, continuous patter of yellow-green raindrops striking everything outside the window...

The next moment, complete darkness and a feeling of weightlessness enveloped everything.

They crossed a certain boundary and officially stepped into that unknown territory, known as the "City of Horror," built of fear and imagination.

The complete darkness and weightlessness did not last long, as if we had only passed through a very short tunnel.

When Yu Xing's senses returned to normal, he found himself standing on solid... ground.

It felt cold and hard to the touch, like some kind of polished stone, yet it exuded an unnatural chill.

He quickly looked around, and Qu Xianqing and the actor appeared almost simultaneously not far from his side, casting their gazes around.

The sight before them caused even those who were mentally prepared to widen their eyes slightly.

This is indeed a "city," or rather, an extremely distorted, bizarre, and terrifying reflection of the town of Yolikev.

The sky was no longer blue, nor was it the gloomy sky they left behind. Instead, it was a constantly writhing and shifting "membrane" of dark purple and eerie green, as if the entire sky were the abdominal wall of some enormous creature.

There was no sun, no moon, only some eerie "stars" that resembled broken eyeballs, emitting a pale or yellowish light, embedded in the fleshy membrane, coldly gazing at everything below.

The air was filled with a strong, nauseating stench, a mixture of rust, decay, and a certain sweet, fishy smell.

They were standing on a wide "street".

The stone slabs underfoot were a dark red, like dried blood, and between the cracks in the slabs, a viscous, asphalt-like black substance was slowly wriggling and flowing.

The buildings on both sides of the street vaguely resemble the style of Yolikev, but they are all distorted and deformed—the walls are irregularly raised and sunken like melting wax figures, the windows are empty black holes with jagged cracks around the edges, and the doors are like the gaping mouths of some kind of monster, silently open.

Even more disturbing is that the surface of these buildings is not made of brick or stone, but has a texture similar to leather or some kind of biological skin, covered with twisted blood vessels and cysts that swell and contract from time to time. On the exterior walls of some buildings, there are even strange vines that "grow" like tentacles, or hanging some indescribable decorations that seem to be pieced together from internal organs and bones.

The entire city was eerily silent. Apart from the faint breathing and heartbeats of the three of them, there were no other sounds that belonged to a normal city—no traffic, no human voices, no wind.

Only a very low, deep sound, as if from the depths of the earth, like the beating of a giant heart, echoed regularly in the air, making people's chests feel stuffy.

"This is... the City of Terror?" Qu Xianqing's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible curiosity. She gripped the blood sword in her hand, noticing that the crimson blade of [Evil Grace] seemed perfectly suited to this insane world.

The actor took a deep breath and commented, "The environment is terrible."

He surveyed the distorted buildings and the writhing sky around him, a strange light gleaming in his eyes: "However, it's quite a sight. To twist a familiar scene to such an extent, this malice and madness is rather delicious, don't you think, young master?"

Yu Xing did not comment; his senses spread outwards rapidly like a spider web.

However, similar to his experience in the Forgotten Forest, his senses were more severely suppressed here, with the range compressed to less than fifty meters, unless he extended the branches to withstand potential attacks from the unknown.

Within this limited space, he "saw" even more chilling details.

Beneath the dark red streets, beneath the solid earth, lies a massive, slowly writhing, pulsating "flesh and blood" foundation.

The black, viscous substance flowing through the cracks exudes a strong corrosive and mental pollution. In the shadowy corners of some buildings, there are some translucent, human-shaped shadows huddled together. They have no specific faces, but constantly emanate emotional fluctuations of despair and fear.

And they don't seem to have found him yet.

But we're about to discover it.

"Let's hide first," Yu Xing whispered.

He had a premonition that, upon entering this terrifying city and before understanding its inner workings, it was best not to expose himself to the eyes of those seemingly chaotic "natives."

The performer glanced at him, raised his hand and tossed a small doll. The moment the doll landed, Yu Xing felt his own presence, as well as the presence of the two living people next to him, being temporarily erased, and the seemingly indistinct, chaotic gazes that had been sweeping over him also moved away.

"I don't like to be constantly hiding and running around in a sorry state," the performer smiled. "Leave the task of concealing your presence... to me." (End of Chapter)