(Chapter 215 has been updated with 2000 words. Thank you for reading. Sending love.)

"Shekh!"

As the memories receded like the tide, Shekh's gaze fell on her wrist. Shi Jinzhe was pulling her and calling out to her.

She raised her hand and touched her face; there were no tears.

"What happened?" Shi Jinzhe cupped her face in his hands and wiped her face, mimicking Shehe's movements. "Is anything bothering you?"

“There’s something wrong with this crystal,” Shekhti said, seemingly unsure of what to say. “Also, I saw your mother again.”

"What did you remember?"

"It's my own petrification that's happening, because I don't want to forget her."

The moment ended in astonishment.

He never imagined that the reason Shekh was petrified was this; the stone sealing was actually done by her own hand.

"So you... would rather seal yourself in stone than forget her, is that right?"

“That’s how I remember it.” Shekh’s gaze fell on the black crystal as he slowly recounted his memories.

"That's all. I didn't see why she was with me in the injured palace; I only know that her injuries were severe."

Sheh lowered his eyes. "Of the life force that Mu Bai gave her, half was used to make earrings for me, and the other half... should have been condensed into willow branches for you."

Bai Weishuang had no extra life force, and Mu Bai inexplicably lost contact with her, which must be the reason.

And when she said something about hiding herself, Sheh immediately understood why Shi Jinzhe and she always delayed entering the game.

The system avoids areas with many players because it wants to prevent her from being discovered by something.

"She also instructed the system not to let you enter the game, and the system agreed, but didn't keep its word."

"The system changed its mind." Shi Jinzhe was still upset about being a cheater. He said, "It made a deal with my mother, so it should recognize me, but it didn't remove my access to the game."

"It is clear that it broke its promise in order to achieve its goal."

“It’s not just about breaking a promise.” Shi Jinzhe stared at the black crystal. “It’s attractive to you. This crystal has played a significant role in bringing back so many memories at once.”

The game was intentional; it might have been a test, against Sheikh, against him.

In the previous world, when Mu Bai, who had no skills, faced the black mist, the vines on the rift were able to be half corroded and half survive. If he had skills, he should have no problem confronting this corrupting power head-on.

There are still 100,000 hidden clues to unlock. This is a test of Shekh. These monsters are not difficult to defeat. Firstly, it can ensure that she will not be injured. Secondly, it is convenient to observe her strength by observing the smaller monsters.

Shi Jinzhe's face was gloomy. Where did the system take Bai Weishuang? In which world did Mu Bai find her? Why didn't the system hand her over to Mu Bai after taking her away?

Even without skills, he would surely have a way to buy time in the face of pollution.

Someone capable of sustaining the life force of an entire world couldn't possibly be unable to help Bai Weishuang hold on for a while.

This bizarre game has absolutely no credibility; wouldn't that be considered taking his mother's life for greed?

Shi Jinzhe moved the hand that was covering her face back a little and flicked Sher's earrings twice.

According to Shekh, the thing that Bai Weishuang knocked off was Shekh's left earring.

An earring imbued with vitality and a statue with a chipped edge.

This was a glimmer of hope that Bai Weishuang had deliberately left behind. If Shekh were truly sealed off, it would be no different from being dead.

With his parents, Shekh, and himself, the game was truly disgusting.

They could have lived a very good life together.

He reached out his arm to take the black crystal.

Shekh stopped him: "Something's not right with this crystal. Don't touch it yet."

“I know you noticed it as soon as you came in. It has a strong attraction for you, and there’s another force in the room that’s working against me, and the source of that force is this black crystal.”

"Then wouldn't we be unable to remove this stone?"

“You can take it.” Shi Jinzhe held his hand above the black crystal. “This crystal is full of negative energy, which can be neutralized with the power of life. It won’t have much of an effect on me; it just attracts you more.”

"It really appeals to me."

Sher looked at the crystal, the blackness inside gradually fading, and the rapidly depleting life force caused Shi Jinzhe's face to turn pale.

However, the purification effect was very good with the skill's enhancement, and that power that had been so attractive to her had disappeared.

Shi Jinzhe's energy was only half of what it used to be, and when she saw Sher, she would dart around and try to find a topic to distract her.

"None of the prerequisites for waking you up can be omitted. I feel like I've gotten a huge advantage." Shi Jinzhe shrugged: "Praise my great parents."

“It’s truly remarkable,” Shekh said frankly. “When she was doing all this, you didn’t even know where you were planting seeds.”

That's called an embryo.

"You're not human, you don't need to call me that."

"Okay, you're right..."

The conversation caused Sher to stop wiping away non-existent tears, and the black crystal that had been purified by the passage of time had unknowingly turned gray.

Shi Jinzhe: "Does this level of situation still have any impact on you?"

"That's fine, that's enough." Shekh told him to take the crystal down.

Shi Jin folded the crystal and the two walked outside together. "It was easier than I expected..."

"Shut your mouth."

She couldn't stand hearing Shi Jinzhe say such things, and even if he had accumulated lucky items before coming, she wouldn't trust him.

Upon seeing the two of them come out, Jiang, who had nothing to do, straightened up from his leaning against the wall.

Shi Jinzhe walked away last, turned around and closed the door.

Thick wooden planks blocked the view and light, and in the quiet room, a wisp of black mist, barely perceptible to the naked eye, drifted out from a corner that no one paid attention to.

The four people who came out of the basement did not notice anything unusual and returned safely to the surface.

Just as I stepped out of the church, a massive, earth-shaking collapse swept in.

A wave of scorching heat burst out of the church, and the four people quickly moved away.

Standing firmly in the open space in front of the church, Shi Jin turned around and looked back. A man wearing a burgundy shirt was standing on the edge of the tall building behind the church, holding a detonator in his hand.

The man was extremely thin; his clothes hung loosely on his body, and when the wind blew, his ribs protruding from his chest were clearly visible.

Long, messy hair covered her forehead, a scar appeared above one eye, and both eyes were an unusual grayish-white.

He looked down at the three of them, his gaze sweeping over each of them. When he saw Shekh, the corners of his mouth twitched up, as if he were just trying to smile for the sake of smiling, and his whole face was very stiff.

Jiang Yu pursed her lips: "Although he's a man, he reminds me of a doll named Annabelle. He made me laugh so hard I had the uncanny valley effect."

“He’s a veteran player who’s still around.” Shi Jinzhe stepped forward to block Shekh. “He planted explosives in the church.”

Besides the sonic device, this person made other preparations. There should be something in the church that they haven't discovered yet, which could be a device or something else, but in short, something that would let this veteran player know that someone has entered the church. Otherwise, he wouldn't have detonated the explosives directly outside.

"So delicious."

The thin man's gray-white eyes darted around as he looked at Shekh with a mixture of admiration and intense greed.

Of the four, her attack stat is incredibly high. If I can devour her, I should be able to leave this place.

This thought made the man's smile widen, the corners of his mouth turning up sharply, creating two arcs on the muscles he raised.

"I can leave this place, I can become stronger, I can eat delicious meat..."

He muttered to himself, then suddenly bent over and pressed his hand to his chest in excitement, his nails digging into his flesh. The pain brought a kind of pleasure to his face that was hard for ordinary people to understand.

"We'll be able to leave here soon..."

"Does he have masochistic tendencies? Does he get more excited the more it hurts?"

Jiang is not afraid of murderers; she is afraid of eccentric people who do things unpredictably, as these are the most difficult to deal with.

The adrenaline rush made the man tremble. He couldn't help but pace back and forth on the edge of the high-rise building, and every step he took made it seem like he was about to fall.

The man excitedly hopped down the steps, muttering, "My name is Shen Shu, hello everyone."

"Oh no, you almost killed me."

Jiang carried the rocket launcher and decisively fired it.

Amidst the exploding sparks, a hexagonal honeycomb barrier appeared in front of Shen Shu.

A skill card appeared out of thin air in his hand, dangling between his fingers. "Luckily, I killed someone with top-tier defense on the way back, which allowed me to switch skills in time."

After saying this, Shen Shu magically produced a second card from his fingertips, dodged the second shell, and a rocket launcher identical to the one in Jiang Yi's hand appeared on his shoulder.

When the cannon is aimed, it breaks completely. After firing one shell, he copies a second one, saving the time of disassembling and reassembling ammunition.

The man blocking the way has an incredibly high health bar with no upper limit; he's extremely conspicuous.

Alternating between defense and offense, Shen Shu is very skilled at quickly switching cards and changing skills. During the gaps when no skills are available, he uses items to distract the opponent.

Once he had fully landed, he put away the copied skill cards, leaving only the defense skill.

As the smoke from the two shells cleared, he saw, unsurprised, the still-unharmed Shi Jinzhe and his companions.

On the rotating golden array, Shi Jinzhe tapped the ground with his foot: "A defense that can be broken down cannot be called a top-tier defense."

Shekh gripped Shi Jinzhe's folded hand: "Something's not right with him, just like that crystal."

She was in a state of madness, her breathing chaotic, every molecule in the air was tempting, and she desperately wanted to absorb that power.

Shi Jinzhe leaned closer and whispered in his ear: "He's been corrupted; he might even have that stuff in his body."

Spending so many years with black crystals must have had a subtle influence, not to mention living in such a place for so many years, you'd go crazy without crystals.

Shekh listened, glanced at Shijin, and had a different idea.

At this moment, Jiang Yinxue, who had been hiding after leaving the church, reappeared and landed within the range of the golden array.

"He has a lot of skill cards, all of which are the number two. It's obvious that he has forcibly taken a lot of people's skills. Also, there is a dark power about him. I can't get too close, or I will get hurt."

"That's enough." Jiang looked him over but found no wounds.

"So there's a fourth one." Shen Shu stared intently at Jiang Yinxue, then burst into excited laughter, "A humanoid prop?"

He stepped forward and said, "Are you a ghost? A ghost that's been around for hundreds of years... You're very powerful. Do you want to come with me? I'm even more powerful than this woman."

He desperately needed the humanoid prop to replace himself. If his humanoid prop hadn't died when he used the [Sacrifice] skill, he wouldn't have needed to sacrifice his own eyes.

A ghost that's been around for hundreds of years, enough to be sacrificed many times over; he needs this ghost.

"Go with you?" Jiang Ziya's anger flared up: "It's a miracle that you haven't been turned into a toilet here, you god! You have such a compassionate heart!"

"You want him to go with you? Are you trying to take over a centuries-old ghost and make him your ancestor? Even though everyone's surname contains the water element, you're so delirious from staying here that you can't just randomly claim ancestors in your daydreams. Even demons and monsters aren't on the family tree. Why would he follow some beast of a beast like you?"

Jiang Yinxue held her sword horizontally in front of her, saying, "If you were truly powerful, you wouldn't be trapped here."

The defensive shield blocked the attack. Shen Shu raised his hand and gestured in front of the group: "It's alright. Once I devour this woman, she'll be mine."

He wasn't angry at all at Jiang's curses. He hadn't heard anyone speak in so long that he loved listening to whatever the other person said.

Staring at Shehe, Shen Shu copied a golden vine and played with it in his hand as if showing off, then created an array with the same pattern under his feet.

"An impenetrable defense, that's great, I have one too!"

"It's just a fake."

Shekh bypassed the shield and, under Shen Shu's watchful gaze, suddenly accelerated, slamming his fist into the protective barrier.

The shield flickered a few times, like a pudding being blown by a strong wind; it trembled violently but did not break.

Shen Shu pressed his face against the protective shield: "Two-word defense, plus the formation I copied, you can't break it."

"Yeah?"

Shekh threw another punch, the power granted by the golden thread on his hand doubling. If one punch wasn't enough, he kept adding more until he could break through.

In these repeated collisions, the energy of the protective shield and the replication array was neutralized. With no remaining life force stored, Shen Shu was unable to supply energy, and the golden array beneath his feet quickly began to dissipate.

Shehe kept moving, deliberately getting so close to Shen Shu in order to see if she could find some more memories.

The concentration of that black crystal was too high, which inevitably led to uncontrollable accidents. However, the degree of contamination on Shen Shu was just right, so even if the image was disjointed, it still had some use.

Seeing that the shield was about to break, she deliberately slowed down her attack speed to buy time.

Click—

Upon discovering white cracks in the protective shield, Shen Shu calmed down somewhat from her distorted excitement, but within two seconds, the tension turned into even greater fervor.

"I didn't expect you to actually break it; I knew I wasn't wrong..."

He pressed his entire face tightly against the transparent shield, and every time Sher was hit, it felt like it was hitting his face with perfect accuracy.

Despite his abnormally masochistic behavior, he kept his hand hidden at his side, ready to switch cards and change skills at any time.

The instant Shekh's fist shattered the protective shield, Shen Shu immediately retreated and leaped into the air.

However, the next second, a powerful suction force arose from beneath his feet, and he was violently pulled back.

The snake's tail brought with it a domineering gale, which struck Shen Shu's body with a devastating blow.

Shekh entered the replication array, grabbed his neck, and with a "crack," dislocated Shen Shu's jaw.

She raised her hand and aimed the black-gold corrosive liquid at Shen Shu's unable-to-close mouth, continuously applying force until she forced out the wisp of mist from his body.