Was this the thing that assaulted them?
Everyone was silent. They knew the issue.
It was a scoff that broke the silence. Everyone turned to the young master’s handsome face. He looked at the organism on the door and shrugged, “You people don’t really believe this thing exists, right?
“Everything in the mission is based on something that has happened in real life. In other words, everything here can be traced back to something real in real life. None of you are newbies, so you should know whether I’m lying or not.” The young master continued, “Plus, this creature’s physical make-up and its shape are clearly not based in reality. This place…” He looked around, “It should be something like a church or a ritual ground. It’s clearly human-made. I believe the creators are humans who live by the ocean.
“In the history of humankind, people survive based on their geography. For the natives here, the ocean is their source of life.
“When the fishing is good, everyone can survive. When the catch is bad, they will have to starve.
“Over time, they would develop an admiration for the mysterious sea. They would attach the source of the natural tragedy and great waves to the anger of the sea. The sea is given a life and becomes a person with emotions like you and me.
“Because humanity needs something unusually strong to sustain their admiration,” He added, “Or to be a source of their respect and fear!
“The strongest and most ancient emotion of humanity is fear. The strongest fear comes from the unknown. The sea, the deep sea, is one of the few unknowns on Earth.
The young master’s speech was inspiring. His words were like a ray of light, tearing apart the travellers’ fear of the unknown.
First of all, if the enemy were the ghost, they could end the mission by fulfilling their wishes. If the enemy were this unknown creature on the stone wall, what else could they do? This thing should only exist in the minds of novelists.
Slowly, someone spoke. It was the Loli who hadn’t spoken much. “So you mean… this thing is not real, but it’s from the manifestation of the people who had lived here to hold their hope and fear?” When she said that, her eyes wandered over to the aged woman hiding in the dark. She stood there silently like a statue.
“That’s right.” The young master nodded. “For example, you can find cave paintings of natural elements like fire, wind and thunder that humans back then couldn’t control.” He paused. “Also cave paintings like ferocious beasts.”
The young master provided everyone with a new direction. Gazes wandered around the aged woman. Could… the woman have been spinning a yarn for her specific reasons?
At first, her story was harrowing, but once they dissected it further, her story had a lot of loopholes. The setting and characters were unclear. The source was a recording that they hadn’t heard before. Plus, the woman had hidden many details due to confidentiality. Of course, later, she said that she… had forgotten many things.
Perhaps she had been lying all along. She was trying to confuse them! There was no shipwreck, and she was not a secret agent. She was just another traveller trying to survive. After all, they were in the nightmare realm.
When they first met her, she insisted that they leave this place as soon as possible before they even had the chance to explore the place. This was unimaginable in the nightmare realm.
Plus… The woman said she had been there before. In that case, she would have recognised the church and knew that the stone door was a part of it. It was impossible to miss. When they split up for the exploration, she could have mentioned the stone door. However, she didn’t. It was the others who found the stone door.
Some thought that the woman had lost her mind since this was her first time in the nightmare realm. She was just rambling.
A lot of information, both true and false, entered everyone’s mind. They needed to come to a decision as soon as possible.
The young master glanced casually to his side. He noticed Jiang Cheng was whispering to Fatty. Jiang Cheng didn’t look nervous or contemplative. In contrast, Fatty looked like his brain was going into overdrive due to the information Jiang Cheng was feeding him.
The young master didn’t have the time to deal with them because his target was the aged woman. He didn’t need to pressure her. He only needed to plant the seed of suspicion.
”Doctor,” Fatty widened his eyes. “You mean everything this man, who looks prettier than you, has said is fake?!
“He did it to… malign the aged woman in the eyes of the others to force her to reveal everything that she knows?!”
Jiang Cheng glared at Fatty. Clearly, he was annoyed that Fatty said the young master was prettier than him. However, after a while, he still explained, “Yes. However, it’s unrealistic to get her to reveal everything. He’ll get as much as he gets. Probably enough to make the rest stop suspecting her.”
“In other words…” Fatty’s body trembled as his eyes wandered to the stone door, “That thing… is real?!”
Jiang Cheng looked as well. He didn’t answer Fatty but said lightly, “Back then, we still haven’t found this door.”
Fatty was confused. Then, he froze.
The Doctor was right. When the woman shared her story… they hadn’t found this door, much less the mysterious creature on it.
So… How did the woman know about the danger in the sea and come up with the story that they were attacked by unknown creatures that came from the ocean?