Chapter 42

The Gobi night wind whipped up grains of sand, whipping them against his face with a subtle sting. Chen Mengzhou kept walking, leaving behind the aftermath of the devastating explosion at Black Rock Mountain and its unsolved mysteries. The West, only the West. The words "Weeping Wall" and "We'll meet again" in Chu Li's dream were like a single beacon, guiding the way through the endless desolation and fog.

Her injuries slowly healed thanks to her spatial abilities and her strong physique, but the mental fatigue and tension remained lingering. Adrian's frantic mumblings, the strange fragments flashing through the Dreamweaver's vortex, the surveillance footage of Chu Li's disappearance, and the black compass that had saved her but only added to the mystery... everything weighed heavily on her mind.

The Foundation, the Scavengers, Kronos, the unknown "other side"... a huge and dangerous net seems to be slowly closing in.

She had to be faster.

After several days of trekking, the landscape began to quietly shift. The pale Gobi Desert gradually gave way to a deep brown, broken rock formation, as if repeatedly soaked in tears and then dried by the wind. The air grew drier, and weathered boulders stood in various twisted positions, like countless silent tombstones. A faint, almost imperceptible whimpering sound began to fill the air. It wasn't the sound of wind, but rather the low humming of some kind of energy field, a vibration that directly affected the mind.

The Weeping Wall...is it coming soon?

This strange environment made her more alert, and her spatial perception was always kept outward, like invisible tentacle, scanning every inch of suspicious land.

However, this time, what preceded her perception of the warning was an unexpected and extremely violent mental storm!

Buzz——!!!

It was as if an invisible hammer had struck her soul! Her vision instantly went black, and all that remained in her ears was the piercing, almost piercing mental noise that sounded like the simultaneous wailing of billions of souls! Her mind was nearly ripped apart, and control of her body instantly lost. She slumped to her knees, clutching her head tightly with both hands, curling up in agony!

This attack...isn't aimed at the physical body, but directly crushes the spiritual level! It's even more brutal and deadly than the "Dream Weaver"'s suction!

A mouthful of blood gushed out uncontrollably, and his consciousness was like a candle in the wind, flickering and about to go out.

Just when she was about to lose consciousness completely——

Close to the body, the black compass that had been silent all this time suddenly became scorching hot!

A cold, ancient energy with a certain sense of absolute order spontaneously surged out from the compass. It was not injected into her body, but formed an extremely thin but extremely tough invisible shield, which barely withstood the most direct impact of the terrifying mental storm!

Just like dropping ice water into boiling oil, the violent mental noise suddenly weakened a little!

Chen Mengzhou took a deep breath and forced his scattered consciousness to concentrate!

You can't fall down! Falling down means death!

She frantically squeezed out every bit of strength in her body. She no longer used her spatial ability for perception or movement, but instead used it all to retreat back to defense, guarding the core of her consciousness that was about to collapse!

The shield provided by the compass and her mental strength were combined with great difficulty, like a small boat in the stormy waves, which could capsize at any time but stubbornly held on.

The mental storm continues to rage, seemingly without end.

Every second feels like a century.

Just as she was about to reach her limit, the storm...without warning...stopped.

As abruptly as it appeared.

The world returned to dead silence. Only the faint, background-like sobbing remained.

Chen Mengzhou collapsed to the ground, his entire body drenched in cold sweat, as if he had just been pulled out of the water. Every muscle was trembling uncontrollably. His brain felt like it had been churned through a meat grinder, and waves of excruciating pain washed over him.

She gasped violently, and after a long time, she raised her head with difficulty.

Ahead, the scene has changed drastically.

It was no longer a broken rock formation, but an extremely vast, twisted dark energy barrier that seemed to reach the end of the world!

This barrier wasn't upright, but rather, in a manner that defied the laws of physics, twisting, folding, and spiraling, stretching upwards to heights unattainable by sight, spreading to either side until it vanished into the horizon. Its surface wasn't smooth, but rather constantly flowing and undulating, like solidified black waves, or perhaps... an immense wall connecting heaven and earth, flowing with black tears!

The Weeping Wall!

There was no need for any confirmation, Chen Mengzhou knew that this was the place Chu Li was talking about!

Just by gazing at it, one can feel a deep-seated sadness, despair, and... rejection. It's as if the entire world is rejecting its existence.

Was that terrifying mental storm just the aftermath of the energy naturally released from this "wall"?!

How terrifying would the real core area be?

Chu Li… asked her to come here? To meet here?

For the first time, Chen Mengzhou felt a strong sense of uncertainty and a chill in his heart. This place was not a restricted area for humans to approach!

But... there is no way out.

She struggled to stand up, wiped the blood and sweat from her face, and stared at the huge barrier that swallowed the light.

Must find an entrance, or... a weak point.

She endured the mental pain and weakness, and carefully extended her spatial perception again, tentatively touching the "wall".

The moment the senses touched the barrier, they were violently repelled like an electric shock! The only information fed back was a chaotic, violent, and malicious energy turbulence, its structure impossible to analyze!

This "wall" is itself a huge, chaotic singularity of space and time?! Or... a seal?

She tried to move forward.

The closer they got, the greater the invisible repulsive force and mental pressure grew. The air grew thicker, and every step forward required immense effort. The deep, whimpering sound grew clearer, as if ringing right next to their ears, unsettling them.

After walking less than a hundred meters, she had to stop again, her face pale.

At this rate, it will be impossible to get through this wall!

what to do?

She subconsciously tightened the black compass in her hand.

This thing just activated on its own and blocked the mental storm... Does it also have an effect on this "wall"?

She tried to inject a trace of weak spatial energy into the compass.

The compass vibrated slightly, and the distorted symbols on the surface glowed again. The pointer began to spin wildly and irregularly, and finally... it pointed to herself again!

Same as last time!

But this time, Shen Mengzhou did not hesitate.

She gritted her teeth and poured more energy into it!

The light of the compass grew brighter and brighter, and the needle pointing towards her trembled so much that it almost fell off the dial!

Buzz!!!

A micro black hole singularity that is clearer and more stable than last time is generated above the compass!

The irresistible devouring force appears again!

But this time, the target of devouring is no longer the surrounding space, but... the barrier of the Weeping Wall right in front!

As if sensing a provocation, the massive black barrier suddenly began to waver! Even more terrifying repulsive force and mental pressure surged forward like a tsunami!

The singularity generated by the compass fiercely collides with the huge barrier!

Chichichi--!

Like a red-hot iron dipped into ice water, the piercing noise tore at one's eardrums! Where the singularity met the barrier, space violently distorted and annihilated!

A tunnel barely wide enough for one person, extremely unstable, was torn open by the compass through the barrier! The tunnel's interior was filled with bizarre light, shattered space fragments, and raging energy currents!

Now is the time!

Chen Mengzhou could feel that the compass was madly consuming her energy and she couldn't hold on for much longer!

Without any hesitation, she used up her last bit of strength and rushed into the dangerous tunnel!

The moment her body entered, it felt like she was thrown into a high-speed washing machine! Countless space fragments sliced ​​through her body, and excruciating pain emanated from all directions! Her spirit felt like it was being torn apart by countless hands, nearly collapsing completely!

She could only cling to the last bit of clarity in her consciousness, using all her strength to defend herself, allowing this violent force to push her to the unknown end!

It seemed like a long time had passed, yet it seemed like only a moment.

Bang!

She was violently "spitted out" again and fell heavily onto the hard, cold ground.

My whole body ached, my bones felt like they were falling apart, and the mental trauma was even more severe, with black spots appearing in front of my eyes.

She raised her head with difficulty.

What is before my eyes...is no longer the Gobi Desert, nor is it the black energy barrier.

It is a space that is...indescribable and absolutely abnormal.

The sky was a fluid, oil-painted purple-red, devoid of sun, moon, or stars. The earth was a dark purple, pulsing, crystalline structure that seemed to possess life. In the distance, strange, twisted, geometrically nonsensical buildings rose, emitting an unsettling aura. A thick, energy-filled mist hung in the air, obstructing vision. But the ever-present, low, whimpering sound vanished here, replaced by a dead, suffocating silence.

This... is the other side of the "wall"?

Chu Li... is here?

Chen Mengzhou struggled to stand up and looked at this completely unfamiliar world with extreme vigilance, as if it came from the depths of a nightmare.

Her spatial perception was suppressed unprecedentedly here, almost compressed to a one-meter range around her body, and the information fed back was chaotic and distorted, making it difficult to distinguish.

All the physical laws here seem to be completely different from those on Earth.

She had to be extremely careful.

After confirming the direction, she chose to walk towards the outline of those strange buildings. That was the only place in this dead space where "something" might exist.

The footsteps stepped on the pulsating crystal ground, making a slight sound that was as if the bones were broken.

Not long after walking, a figure vaguely appeared in the fog ahead.

With his back to her, he stood beneath a constantly shifting crystal prism, a slender figure in familiar, ill-fitting gray clothes.

Bare feet.

Chu Li!

Chen Mengzhou's heart suddenly sank, he stopped in his tracks, and clenched the bayonet and compass in his hands.

As if hearing her footsteps, the figure slowly... turned around.

It was indeed Chu Li’s face.

But those eyes...

No longer glassy clear or icy irony, but a complete, empty void, devoid of any emotion, without any focus, like two bottomless wells.

There was no expression on her face, her skin was so pale that it was almost transparent, and one could even see the blood vessels beneath her skin, an ominous blue color.

She just "looked" at Chen Mengzhou like that, without saying a word or making any movements, like a puppet whose soul had been drained away.

A chill deeper than the one he felt when facing the Weeping Wall instantly gripped Chen Mengzhou.

There is something wrong with the Chu Li in front of me!

Something is totally wrong!

"Chu Li?" Chen Mengzhou asked tentatively, his voice hoarse from dryness and nervousness.

Chu Li's hollow eyes seemed to waver, but they remained expressionless. Her lips opened and closed slightly, and an extremely faint voice, as if coming from a distant void, floated in intermittently:

“…coming…”

“…wait… for a long time…”

"...gift...do you like it..."

Her voice was terribly flat, without any intonation.

A gift? This strange place? Or something else?

Chen Mengzhou slowly took a step forward, his muscles tense. "Where is this place? What's wrong with you?"

Chu Li didn't answer. She slowly raised a hand and pointed behind Chen Mengzhou.

Chen Mengzhou turned around suddenly!

I saw countless figures appear silently in the purple-red mist behind me at some point!

They were so densely packed that they filled every corner of the view!

They have outlines similar to those of humans, but their bodies are distorted and the details are blurred, as if they were condensed from the surrounding energy mist, and their faces are also empty and void!

They just stood there quietly, silently, "watching" Chen Mengzhou with countless pairs of empty eyes.

It was like a silent, dead forest.

Chen Mengzhou's scalp exploded instantly! Cold sweat soaked his back!

When did these things... appear?! She hadn't even noticed!

They... were attracted by Chu Li? !

She turned her head suddenly and looked at Chu Li.

The corners of Chu Li's hollow face were pulled upwards very slowly and very stiffly.

It formed an extremely strange and terrifying...

"Smile".

"……welcome……"

"……come……"

"…My…'domain'…"

Her voice was still flat, but it held a chilling chill.

Chen Mengzhou understood instantly.

She fell into the trap.

Or rather... from the beginning, this was a trap carefully prepared for her.

The Chu Li in front of her was no longer the complicated and contradictory girl she knew.

The "Weeping Wall" here is by no means a simple meeting place.

It's more like a...cage.

A cage specially prepared for her as an "anchor".

Chen Mengzhou slowly retreated, his back against the crystal prism that kept changing shape, the bayonet across his body, the compass tightly gripped in his hand.

His cold eyes swept across the countless silent "gazes" around him, and finally fixed on the "Chu Li" who was showing a strange smile.

"What on earth are you?"

Her voice was chillingly clear in the dead silence of the abnormal space.