Who says a sickly daughter can’t break through the weirdness?

"Unlike the real entity, this voice is more like that of a grievance-filled earthbound spirit. I don't sense any hostility at the moment."

As soon as he finished speaking, the rock wall suddenly cracked with a "crack".

A blood-stained hand stretched out from the crack, and its fingers scratched the rock wall convulsively.

Please, don't kill me...

[I don't want to be a sacrifice, I still want to live. ]

Daddy's illness hasn't healed yet. If I die, there'll be no one to take care of him...

A hoarse female voice with a crying tone came from inside.

Immediately afterwards, the owner of the bloody hand floated out from the rock.

Her body was twisted at a strange angle, her hair covered her entire cheeks, blood kept dripping down her legs, and she disappeared in front of Shen Qinyin and the others.

"It really is an earthbound spirit..." Shen Qiyin murmured, her lips moving, "Could the folklore be true?"

"Perhaps it's the influence of the apocalypse that has materialized those idealistic 'resentments'."

"What you said is possible."

Shen Qinyin frowned and turned her gaze back to the rock formation from which the earthbound spirit came out.

At some point, a hole appeared in the rock layer that was large enough for two people to pass through.

There is actually space in here.

The rock formations outside seemed to be a decoy set up by someone to conceal the truth.

Was it done by a qualified person?

With such doubts in mind, Shen Qinyin walked into the cave.

It was quite narrow, only three or four square meters in size, smaller than an average private bathroom, and could barely accommodate her and Kana.

Inside the cave was a faded mahogany altar with three long-extinguished oil lamps on it.

In the middle of the altar stood a pitch-black urn, with densely packed talismans painted on it with dark red cinnabar.

The entrance of the altar was sealed with a yellowed talisman paper, on which were written four words in blood: "Dedicated to the Gods."

In addition, there was another very important item that caught Shen Qiyin's attention——

A piece of parchment.

It has the same aura as the parchment he once got to open the "resting room"!

Old days...

Could it be that this is also part of the "Guidelines of the Old Days"?

Chapter 161 The Fool's Arcana Form

Shen Qinyin gently picked up the yellowed parchment, her fingers trembling slightly.

The paper felt cold, as if touching a piece of ice. Complex drawings and text were drawn on it in dark brown ink, and there were traces of dried blood in the corners.

The strange thing is that these drawings and words are clearly on the parchment, but the more you look at them, the less clear they become, and it seems like there is a blank space on it.

If Shen Qinyin tried to use her third eye to gain insight and see the content clearly, her brain would feel uncontrollable dizziness, forcing her to give up.

The parchment that was originally obtained became the key to open the "resting room", so what role will this parchment play?

While she was thinking about this, a low whispering sound, as if coming from an endless abyss, entered her ears.

The sound was like countless cold snakes crawling and hissing on the glass. Every word and every whisper was filled with temptation and danger.

Her vision began to blur, and the obscure drawings and words on the parchment seemed to come alive, wriggling as if they had life.

Some lines on the parchment were like twisting tentacles, gradually stretching and spreading, and the words were like groups of black insects, gathering, dispersing, and then recombining.

The mumbling became louder and louder, echoing in her mind, as if countless voices were telling something at the same time.

Shen Qiyin wanted to hear it clearly, but the more she thought about it, the harder it became to understand the meaning.

She could only sense a kind of guidance from it, a forced pull that seemed to come from the depths of her soul, grabbing her coldly and irresistibly, dragging her into an unknown, indescribable abyss.

"Iaaaaa! Iaaaaa! Ccc▇▇▇ttt▇▇▇▇huuu..."

There were whispers, as if countless mouths were opening and closing right next to her ears.

At this moment, her sight traveled through countless spaces. She saw twisted spires piercing the blood moon, the wriggling earth opening its huge mouth, the endless deep sea burying the sunken city, and some existence so huge that it was beyond cognition, watching her from under the sea.

Her thoughts were being polluted by some ancient existence, and a biting coldness climbed up her arms from her fingertips, trying to invade her body.

No, I can't sink...

If this continues it will be dangerous, I must calm down as soon as possible.

The brief clarity of mind allowed Shen Qinyin to quickly regain some sanity from the distorted scene.

She closed her eyes tightly, and in her heart, she fought desperately against the evil contamination from the parchment. With her last bit of strength, she bit the tip of her tongue.

The sharp pain spread throughout the body like lightning, and the taste of blood filled the mouth. It seemed that the consciousness that was about to be stripped away returned to the brain at this moment.

She staggered back a few steps, cold sweat soaking her back, her chest heaving violently and rapidly as she continuously inhaled the thin oxygen from the underground mine into her lungs.

"Qiyin, what happened to you just now?"

Kana on the side noticed something was wrong. She had just clearly felt an extremely terrifying force erupting from the parchment.

Although this force was not directed at her, it still sent a chill down her spine.

"fine."

Shen Qinyin wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and quickly put the parchment into the independent space provided by Mona.

Almost at the same time, the notebook in my mind actually opened a new page at this moment——

Arcana: The Fool

[Level: 3 stars → 4 stars]

Obtain Desire Stone: 500

[Current Desire Stone: 10850]

You are the beginning of everything and the end of everything.

The enlightenment and determination you gain will sustain you to the end.

[A fool never throws the dice; the dice only pretend to be thrown—in fact, they have already chosen the outcome.]

[Unlocked: Fool·Trickster]

[Trickster: Basic Arcana form of the "Fool" consumes mental energy to gain various ability upgrades, and is a prerequisite for the "Advanced Arcana Form".]

That's it again!

When the Fool picked up the first piece of parchment, he had reached a new stage of development.

In addition, when he encountered the Black Tide clone not long ago, his willpower rose, causing the Fool to upgrade again.

For now, there seem to be only two ways to upgrade the Fool.

When the protagonist encounters a crisis, his will suddenly "wakes up" and then he experiences a burst of upgrades. This is a classic routine in fictional works.

This routine can be explained as the test of life and death leading to an upgrade in determination.

But parchment...

If reality is compared to a game, then parchment is an important key plot prop.

The question is, where did this parchment come from? Why did it become the key item that guided me to attain the level of [Fool]?

"Qiyin, look at this."

Kana walked to the altar and picked up a few pieces of draft paper placed next to it.

These pieces of draft paper have turned yellow and oxidized, and have varying degrees of damage, obviously having been stored down there for a long time.

There were some names written on it with a brush. Judging from the environment, it was not difficult for the two to judge that the names on it were the so-called "sacrifices".

However, what is most noteworthy is the date cutoff at the end of these lists: July 1970.

"1970..." Shen Qiyin chewed on the number and murmured, "It has been nearly sixty years since then..."

"So, the first sacrifice took place in 1970?"

Kana flipped through the manuscript paper and her eyes fell on the end of the last page: "Well, the time of this one is 2012..."

"That was more than ten years ago."

Shen Qiyin stared at the urn on the altar. Although she didn't detect any strange aura from it, the chilling feeling that seemed like resentment made her frown.

At this moment, she suddenly noticed that there was a special symbol drawn in blood on the talisman paper used to "seal" the urn.

This symbol consists of two concentric circles of different sizes. The inner circle is an inverted triangle, and in the center of the triangle is an open eye.

"Wait, this..." Shen Qiyin's pupils trembled, and she immediately remembered something, "This is the symbol of the Doomsday Cult!"

"Doomsday faction?" Kana tilted her head.

"Yes, a cult that arose after the apocalypse. It worships death and believes that the destruction of humanity is the will of the 'gods.' They are dedicated to 'helping the gods' destroy humanity so that the dead can ascend to the heavenly kingdom where the 'gods' reside."

"Oh, what an idiot."

"They're more than just idiots. They're pure lunatics, and some of them are beasts who are taking advantage of the situation to commit murder, looting, and other crimes."

Shen Qiyin held her cheek, her brows almost twisted together. "But why are there symbols of the Doomsday sect here? That evil cult was clearly formed after the Doomsday...

Could it be that my previous speculation was true? This cult probably existed under another name long before the apocalypse, which is why it was able to develop into a nationwide cult in such a short time after the apocalypse?

Kana stared straight at the special symbol, her purple eyes trembling slightly, and some bizarre images kept flashing in her mind like a kaleidoscope.

She rubbed her temples, calmed herself, and said softly, "I seem to have seen this symbol somewhere before."

"As I said, the Doomsday Cult has deep roots and extensive influence. It's normal for you to have seen this symbol."

"No, I mean, I saw it a long time ago."

"Ok?"

Shen Qiyin suddenly looked at Kana, her eyes showing some nervousness: "You mean... before the end of the world?"

"should be."

"Where did you see it?"

"I can't remember." Kana shook her head, a hint of coldness on her face. "My memory is fragmented. If I hadn't seen this symbol here, I'm afraid I would never have remembered this memory in my life."

"It has something to do with your past..." Shen Qinyin stroked her cheeks and fell into thought.

After a while, she sighed and said with a relaxed tone, "Forget it, if you can't remember it, then don't think about it. By the way, are you some 'saint' of the Doomsday Sect?

In movies and TV shows, there's often that kind of setting where a little girl is trained to become a cult 'saint', using her body as a container to seal some kind of power or something..."

"It's a reasonable guess, but it shouldn't be~" Kana winked playfully, "Although my memory is vague, those fragments don't seem to be related to the cult."

"What kind of place is that?"

"Hmm, yeah, which one...it's just a little bit off..."

Kana's eyes dimmed and she looked a little lost.

Seeing this, Shen Qiyin comforted him, "It's okay, I'll remember it slowly. Anyway, let's go out first. I already have what I need, and my sisters are still waiting outside."

"Well, let's go."

Kana regained her calm smile.

After leaving the mine, Shen Qinyin buried the urn she brought with her in a relatively beautiful place.

Originally, she didn't believe in these heretical teachings about ghosts and gods, but now that the end of the world has come, nothing is impossible.

It is also a good deed to let these souls who were persecuted by feudal superstition as sacrifices rest in peace.

On the way back, Shen Qinyin kept thinking about the parchment and the Doomsday Sect.

If the doomsday faction really existed before the end of the world, then many historical myths of this world would probably have to be rewritten.

The tradition of soul-worshipping rituals in Jiuyin Mountain may not be feudal superstition, but rather the use of living people to worship some evil creature.

Doomsday Party...