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

Wait, how can I feel in my legs?

Realizing this, Shen Qinyin looked around. The swallowed-up city buildings, rooftops of houses, and Tang Miao and Xiaoxiang all disappeared without a trace.

What's going on...

Is this a dream again?

Shen Qinyin stood up and walked forward slowly.

It seemed as if a stairway to hell appeared before her eyes. As she went deeper, the sea water gradually submerged her body.

The cold touch tightly surrounded every inch of her skin, and the dark blue sea water gurgled.

Strangely, she didn't feel suffocated.

She walked slowly forward and gradually came to the streets of a sunken city. All she could see were the fragments of sunken buildings, steel bars swaying like waterweed, and cement blocks covered with dark substances.

In the dark water in the distance, there was a shadow as big as a mountain moving. Shen Qiyin swam towards that direction uncontrollably, as if a current was pulling at her waist.

what is that?

Is He calling me?

Chapter 99 "Old Days"

After walking for a while, she found herself in a square.

A dozen dark figures stood quietly around the center of the square. The bonfire in front of them was burning strangely under the sea, but no matter how bright the fire was, it could not illuminate the faces of these figures.

They seemed to be hiding themselves under their wet hoods, making it impossible to see their appearance clearly or even to determine whether they were human.

They did nothing, didn't move, didn't speak, just stood there stupidly.

Shen Qiyin lowered her head and saw that she was also wearing a wet black robe, with water dripping down the fabric against her skin.

"She" folded her hands in front of her chest, her body moving forward uncontrollably, step by step towards the crowd.

As "she" approached, the crowd, frozen like stone statues, began to move aside, making way for "her".

Their movements were mechanical and stiff, and the soles of their boots rubbed against the sand and gravel on the seabed, making a teeth-grinding sound.

Shen Qinyin came to the center of the square. In front of her was an antique wooden table. Due to years of disrepair, it seemed like it would collapse at any time.

Shen Qinyin looked around, and all those people turned to look at "her". Their eyeballs were gone, and two black holes were filled with wriggling fleshy tendrils.

“Offer sacrifice, praise, and welcome.”

These words came to her mind.

Then "she" took out a dagger and cut her left hand.

Bright red blood flowed out, but there was no pain at all.

The blood flowed into the crack of the table as if being pulled. She took out the raven tail feather pen from her waist. As soon as the tip of the pen was dipped in blood, the parchment unfolded automatically.

One after another, obscure symbols "gave birth" from the tip of the feather pen. Shen Qiyin tried her best to understand the meaning of these symbols, but in the end, she only "understood" two words -

【Old Days】

As the last symbol was completed, the parchment in front of him suddenly grew crimson flesh and blood. The symbols rose and fell on the flesh, and then a large number of seaweed-like tentacles grew out.

The believers around raised their hands, knelt on the ground, and shouted to the sky with great reverence and piety—

"Iaaaaa! Iaaaaa! Cccc▇▇▇hu▇▇▇uuu..."

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

"Eeexxul, Fh▇▇▇nnn, veni, protege!!"

Shen Qiyin listened to such obscure language and looked at the symbols on the parchment that came to life, and felt her skin starting to get hot.

"She" lowered her head and found that her legs were no longer there.

Flesh-colored tentacles grew out from beneath her black robe, sticking to the seabed in a suction-like motion.

Listening to the almost crazy shouts of those "believers", Shen Qinyin suddenly remembered the words she seemed to have heard them shout before.

It was the time when he took Tang Miao into the basement to test whether she was qualified.

But those languages ​​were like the symbols on the parchment, and just looking at them made me dizzy, let alone understanding the meaning behind them.

Suddenly, Shen Qinyin felt as if her vision had traveled through several universes.

A thunder-like vibration came from the deepest part of the sea, and the sea water suddenly stratified, with the upper layer glowing green and the lower layer as black as ink.

She looked into the distance and saw the huge shadow as big as a mountain that she had seen before was still moving in the dark deep sea.

The giant shadow was so huge that even if it just moved slightly or turned its head, the vortex it stirred up could roll the city buildings sunk in the deep sea into pieces.

The believers hidden under the black robes began to tear their own skin, and the madly twisting tentacles drilled out from the wounds, then turned into sharp knives, piercing through their "heads" and bodies.

Shen Qiyin watched helplessly as "herself" cut her arm with a knife. What spurted out of the broken arm was not blood, but sticky and disgusting black plasma.

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in her brain, as if hundreds of needles were piercing her head at the same time, making her feel like she was dying.

She looked at the huge mountain-like shadow and suddenly had an urge to poke her own eyes out.

The sea water flowed back into her mouth, nose and abdomen, and the salty smell of rust was mixed with a disgusting and rotten smell.

The believers tore off their tentacles and let out sharp and piercing screams that seemed to be able to puncture the eardrums.

Shen Qiyin felt that she had reached her limit. She couldn't stand those sounds, couldn't stand the scenes she saw -

She longed to poke out her eyes! She longed to poke out her ears!

She felt that her consciousness was on the verge of collapse!

And then, the next second...

Shen Qinyin suddenly opened her eyes!

At this moment, she felt as if her vision had gone back several light years at the speed of light, and she suddenly returned from the unknown sea in the depths of the universe to the balcony of a private house.

She was gasping for breath, and beads of cold sweat oozed from her forehead and slid down her cheeks.

Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, as if it was about to jump out of her chest, and her blood seemed to be boiling, making her feel like she was thrown into a boiling oil pan.

"Qiyin, are you okay?"

Tang Miao's concerned voice rang in his ears.

She turned her head and stared at the other person in a daze.

The latter was so frightened by her appearance that his face turned pale and he even stuttered unconsciously. "Could it be cognitive pollution? But, isn't there no threat around here anymore?"

"..."

Shen Qinyin's fingers dug into her palms tightly, using the pain to force herself to calm down.

After a while, she took a deep breath and maintained the utmost restraint in her voice: "I...I'm fine."

"Well, that's good," Tang Miao breathed a sigh of relief, her expression a bit complicated. "Just now, just like when we arrived at the villa complex, you suddenly stopped talking and didn't move. I thought I made you angry and you didn't want to pay attention to me..."

"So, was I dreaming just now?"

"It looks... quite similar. It's definitely not a good dream."

"really."

Shen Qinyin's smile was a little bitter. She calmed down and began to think about the "dream" she had just had.

To be honest, rather than saying that the experience just now was a dream, it would be better to say that she "received a calling."

Something, somewhere, was calling her.

What exactly is that thing? And how is it related to the Lurker?

Also, what is a lurker?

Although Shen Qiyin didn't know the true identity of the lurker, she was certain that it was definitely more than just a physical entity...

It must be a higher level of existence than the entity.

Shen Qiyin looked at the place where the villa was. It was empty, with only a huge pit left.

The basement no longer exists along with the villa, and the door that symbolizes the lurker has also disappeared without a trace.

Does this count as losing a "bodyguard"?

I feel quite sad...

Shen Qiyin sighed and reached out to smooth her hair.

At this moment, she suddenly noticed that her right hand seemed to be holding something.

Her expression froze, and she brought the thing in front of her and slowly spread it out.

Dark beige, with jagged edges, as if eaten by insects, and the surface is covered with fine cracks.

This is actually an old parchment!

Chapter 100 Soul Resonance: Magician

Is this the parchment I just saw in my "dream"?!

Shen Qinyin's eyes widened, and her hands holding the parchment trembled slightly.

What was going on? Was I not dreaming just now, but "seeing" the memory of a believer who believed in that thing?

That being said...

Shen Qiyin quickly turned the parchment over and looked at it carefully, but the back of the parchment was the same as the front, blank, with nothing on it.

What about symbols? What about handwriting?

Why did it disappear?

"Huh? Qiyin, is this parchment?" Tang Miao leaned over and looked at the parchment in Shen Qiyin's hand curiously. "There's nothing on it... Where did you find this?"

"I, I don't know either..."

Shen Qiyin frowned and was silent for a few seconds before she sighed helplessly, "Alas, there are more and more puzzles. This thing is very complicated to explain, and I still don't understand it."

"Then just keep it for now. According to the tropes in movies and novels, items that suddenly appear in the protagonist's hands usually play a key role in the plot!"

Tang Miao patted his chest and said this with a firm tone.

Seeing her like this, Shen Qiyin couldn't help but smile: "That's right, although reality is not a novel."

She tucked the parchment close to her body and patted her pocket to make sure it wouldn't fall out.

After she finished all this, Xiaoxiang, who was lying beside her, seemed to have finally completed his self-repair and opened his eyes.

"Beep, beep—"

"The current battery level is less than 5%. I'm requesting a recharge."

Hearing this familiar robotic girl's voice, Shen Qiyin couldn't help but laugh out loud. She gently patted Xiaoxiang's forehead and said coquettishly:

"You artificial idiot, eat, sleep, sleep, eat, what else can you do besides this?"

"I know a lot," Xiaoxiang retorted seriously. "According to the database, I can complete at least 114514 tasks and operations that humans are unable to perform."

"I'm not here to discuss data with you, so, shh ...

Shen Qinyin raised her index finger to her lips and made a gesture to shut up.

Then, she stretched out her right hand, pulled Xiaoxiang's chest through the air, and took out the energy core.

As a series of blue electric lights visible to the naked eye emerged from Shen Qinyin's palm and were quickly absorbed by the energy core, the originally almost dim core finally began to glow slightly again.

After the fourth flash of lightning was completely absorbed, Shen Qinyin finally put down the core with a tired look on her face.

"That's all..." Her face was pale, and she looked quite exhausted from the excessive mental exertion. "I've already consumed enough tonight. If you continue to squeeze me, I won't be able to move."

The energy core returned to Xiaoxiang's chest, and the latter's dim golden eyes lit up again.

"Confirmed status, current battery level: 24%. Assessment: Capable of handling most daily tasks and emergencies. If performing high-intensity combat missions, it is recommended that you keep the battery level above 50%."

"It probably won't be necessary tonight."

Shen Qiyin exhaled lightly, urged her telekinesis, and slowly floated up: "Tang Miao, Xiaoxiang, come with me downstairs. I want to check if there is anything where the lurker disappeared."

"Let's go now without further ado. Oh, by the way." Tang Miao clasped his hands together, and the power of blessing slowly flowed out, moistening Shen Qiyin's whole body like a warm current. "This should make you feel more relaxed."