CHAPTER 1066: CHAPTER 499: "BLACK FOG ECHO," "WALKER-HX-S-083"_2

"..."

"...Three days into entering the ’Black Moon Outpost’... The traveler’s body seems to have undergone some irreversible mutations... He has started to hear some summons from time to time, the voice swirling in the wind, like raging winds sweeping up endless snow, and also like an ethereal voice humming some unknown but rhythmic ancient tune..."

"The traveler... Wandering between dream and reality inside the ’Black Moon Outpost’, arrived hazily at a, no, some arches..."

"Those arches... Like twisted roots forming slabs, the pattern of gnarled branches forming the framework of the gate, and thick blood vessels like giant pythons entwining around the door frame..." The figure’s voice quivered slightly, then continued, "Those arches are breathing... As if they are living muscles or something else... The oozing pus coagulating into star-shaped scabs in the void..."

"The traveler tried to push open the arches, but couldn’t..."

"He used a sharp dagger to cut open the hardened shell on the surface of the arches..."

"That shell... Like the carapace of an arthropod, exuding an obsidian-like luster, but once cut open, the rotting purplish-red tissues rolled out..."

"The arch was cut open... A form of trauma beyond the perception of human anatomy—each arch is decaying fascia, and the sticky mist hanging from the lintel is essentially necrotic nerve synapses, enveloping phosphorescent blue-green light... The glow, indistinguishable whether blue or green, or some other color... Flickering like countless fireflies dancing over there..."

"That scene was actually quite beautiful, but in the later days, every time... Huff, huff... Every time the traveler thought of it, he would feel it was both macabre and eerie, like performing some grotesque dance, depicting some indescribably sinister ritual totem..."

"The traveler put on a specially-made observation lens, finally seeing some ferocious marks after filtering out most of the visible spectrum..."

"Those doors... The texture of those doors, like the delicate hair on the body of some bizarre marine creature, with each strand seemingly carrying some sinister breath..."

"The door... That door... No... Oh no..."

"I... No, the traveler was originally gazing at that door... But the screams beside him woke him up..."

"He saw with his own eyes his assistant reach out and touch that door..."

"The assistant touched it bare-handed, damn it, truly damn it! He had no sense of safety—perhaps drew in by the arch, losing his own cognition..."

"After touching that door, the assistant merely let out a scream and lost consciousness. By the time the traveler noticed, the assistant’s pupils had already dilated into an incomprehensible state..."

"Patterns intertwined in those dilated pupils, like branding some secret marks in the eyes..."

"Those doors... Those pitch-black doors... Are shrouded in black mist... From within the door came constant deep and low summons, as if countless creatures were imprisoned..."

"Perhaps due to ignorance, the traveler was entwined by the summoning voices, uncontrollably approaching one of those arches..."

"That arch squirmed... Opened and closed... Numerous fleshy limbs nibbled open slowly, like the mouthparts of a giant worm, little by little... Devouring the traveler..."

The figure’s voice trembled violently, breathing swayed unsteadily, and the candlelight followed with flickering, as if it might extinguish at any moment.

Accompanied by the flickering candlelight, the shadow wavered along, and the breathing sound of the figure grew increasingly heavy.

"I... Huff, huff, huff... I... Traveler..."

"Huff, huff... Tra- traveler..."

He slowly calmed his emotions, finally letting that trembling phantom gradually still, and both the figure and the candlelight stabilized.

"..."

"Huff—those arches..."

"The traveler escaped from the arch..."

"Those arches are not passageways, but cosmic-scale gangrene, each linking to the rock walls corroded by nameless mist..."

"Ah—ah—" The figure suddenly recalled something again, screaming non-humanely, "Quick! Quick to those arches! ’He’ is coming! ’He’ is coming!!"

"The ’Black Moon Outpost’ cannot stop ’Him’... No one can stop ’Him’! No one!!"

"No... No... Perhaps, someone can..."

"I... The traveler... Was meant to die..."

"But just when he himself felt certain of death, several figures appeared at the other end of the arch..."

"There were three... Four... Or maybe five figures..."

"The traveler couldn’t see clearly how many exactly... The black mist obscure his vision... He could only see some cloaked figures..."

"Robes... Phantasmal shadows... Flickering lights within the mist... Resounding of the melodious bell sound..."

"I saw a giant clock suspended deep within the mist, each quivering of the hands seemed to soak in ancient time..."

"Those figures... Became clearer... They stood tall and erect, with firm faces, as if molded from the same cast..."

"Executioners under the throne... Names resonating throughout the abyss echo..."

"They pushed me out from there... Those arches..."

"I escaped... No... Not me... The traveler escaped from there..."

"Do not go back... Don’t..."

"Don’t..."

"I said... Don’t go back!"

The shadow in the blurred phantom suddenly grew strong in tone, growling at Lin Yi, causing the candlelight to sway.

The phantom trembled intensely, the black mist surged, gradually enveloping him, and ultimately withdrew into the abyss.

In the final moments of the black mist retracting, the sound of the figure began to become low and slow.

"I... am the traveler."

"I can no longer leave..."

"The legendary ’Night Watchman’ penetrated the layers of darkness, sending my will out from the abyss filled with black mist..."

"I have already died on that side... Will is a rootless duckweed, and will disintegrate at any moment..."

"In the name of the traveler, I recount the experience as a story and anchor it as a tale..."

"The ’Black Moon Outpost’ should be exiled... It is exile itself... The world should not retain any memory of it..."

"As long as the ’Black Moon Outpost’ remains, ’He’ will certainly come back... The lost souls... Will come back along the way they left..."

"I am the traveler... No... I am not the traveler... The traveler buried me..."

"In the abyss of mist and darkness..."

Saying this, the candlelight extinguished, and the figure was again engulfed by darkness. Only a blurred phantom remained in that hidden corner.

An imperceptible wind blew from nowhere, quietly brushing over the phantom, making it float like a weightless wisp of smoke before it dissipated, leaving behind not a trace that it ever existed...

Lin Yi’s perception returned silently to the present world. He looked down, only to find that the book in his hand had unknowingly turned to the last page.

The words on the page were fragmented and twisted, difficult to understand, yet Lin Yi could vaguely decipher the sentence:

"...Every arch entangled with black mist is ’His’ festering wound, the escaping mist is the fragments of an eternal dream..."

"...The dream builders wove an eternal dream to banish Him... When the dream shatters, He will awaken from the abyss, heralding the doomsday bell..."

"Do not let any object bearing Him appear in the world... Let all units attempting to escape the eternal dream be buried here... Let everything... As to when the black fog echoes..."

"I am the traveler, speaking to you from the eternal dream..."

"—’Abyss Walker (crossed out) Traveler-HX-S-083’"