Da, da, da——

In this dark world, only the clear sound of the counter can be heard.

At times like this, this sound has become a source of reassurance for everyone.

Of course, it would be better if the counter frequency was lower.

Now the sound was ringing in an orderly manner at a frequency of about once every two seconds. Lu Ban looked around. The flashlight illuminated very far, but beyond the light, it was still dark.

The ground under their feet was also pitch black, without any texture or outline of the land, like a piece of pure black glass. The light from the flashlight did not reflect on the ground but was swallowed up by it. This resulted in no obvious dividing line being seen where their feet stepped on it, as if they were stepping on a dark cloud.

The flashlight swept around, and Lu Ban's vision moved along the beam of light. There was no information around him, only the remnant of nothingness.

Lu Ban originally thought that there should be countless monsters or a large amount of pollution in this deep well, or at least endless whispers, but there is nothing here.

Empty and barren, just like a world that has already disappeared.

"Is this the deep well?"

Xia couldn't help but sigh.

Her voice was also absorbed by the darkness and could not travel far.

"This area is relatively safe because it is still the outermost part of the ever-expanding space."

Old Song explained.

He casually took out a small gadget from his pocket and threw it forward. Soon, the thing was far away from them before it was engulfed by the darkness, as if it was pushed away by something.

“The further you go, the faster it stretches.”

He said something.

Xia originally thought that the deep well was a space extending outward with the outer god as the center, but now it seems that it is just the opposite. This is a space that starts from the edge of the deep well and continuously extends toward the center.

When space extends toward the center of the circle, they are bound to collide with each other.

As space distorts, in the presence of the Outer Gods, the distortion will create a depression, causing the Outer Gods and their pollution to fall into it, and, with infinite extension, this depression will become deeper and deeper.

This is the deep well.

Xia suddenly felt that this name was very vivid and appropriate.

"The deep well can be divided into three areas. We are now in the escape zone. In this area, as long as you master certain skills and have a certain amount of strength, you can escape from the deep well. This is why it is so quiet here and there is nothing."

Old Song illuminated the surroundings with a flashlight and said.

"Before that is the buffer zone. Once you enter the buffer zone, the pollution becomes more severe. Unless you have special powers, you cannot leave the buffer zone and return to the escape zone. The buffer zone is also the largest area, and further inside the buffer zone is the bottom of the well."

There was no need for Lao Song to explain, Lu Ban and Xiaya knew what that meant.

The core of the seal, where the Outer Gods and the Old Ones are bound, is the absolute source of pollution.

"Even if we enter the well, we will never be able to leave. If we accidentally fall into the well, the best option is to end our lives immediately and completely annihilate our souls. This way, at least we won't be tortured too cruelly."

Old Song said this and continued walking forward.

As the group moved forward, the sound of the counter intensified.

Soon, the flashlight illuminated an even darker wall.

The wall was infinitely high and infinitely wide, absorbing all the light like a turbid black fog.

Da da da——

The frequency of the counter is close to once a second. According to Lao Song, the current pollution concentration is ten times higher than before.

"Before that is the buffer zone. Our protective clothing can resist contamination for about thirty minutes. This does not mean that you will not be contaminated as long as you wear this clothing within thirty minutes, but that contamination within thirty minutes can be recovered. After that, every second that passes will cause more irreparable damage."

Old Song took out the stick that had been used to disperse the silt. The stick vibrated slightly, as if it had some kind of resonance with the thick black fog in front of it. The originally unchanging fog suddenly became agitated, and obvious ripples appeared.

Continuing forward, a spherical barrier formed around Lao Song, blocking the fog.

The barrier was very large and covered a group of people.

Lu Ban glanced forward.

Suddenly, a lot of whispers echoed in his ears.

Most of these mutterings were in languages ​​that Lu Ban could not understand. The few that he could understand were also telling some of the darkest, weirdest and twisted stories.

In the darkness, a face suddenly emerged.

Lu Ban saw that the face looked like Du Danping when he was young, and he was persuading Lu Ban in a low voice.

Next to Du Danping, the faces of various people that Lu Ban had seen before who had died in foreign lands gradually emerged. Their voices overlapped and filled Lu Ban's mind.

He saw complex and gorgeous patterns spreading on those faces, and these patterns followed the void and came to Lu Ban's eyes.

In his eyes, those dazzling patterns gradually occupied the pupils and quickly spread around.

Lu Ban's face was soon covered with the same pattern, and he could feel his face melting, accompanied by an extreme itchy sensation.

The mere act of "seeing" can lead to the spread of pollution.

Xia simply closed her eyes, seeing nothing and hearing nothing, to prevent herself from being contaminated.

"These are just ordinary pollution, um, probably at the concentration of [alienation]."

Giants like Lao Song were not affected by the pollution. They had been exposed to too many foreign lands and had already become sufficiently alienated. This level of pollution would not affect them.

"Don't worry, the alienation so far can be reversed."

Old Song shook the stick in his hand, and Lu Ban immediately felt the patterns on his body begin to fade, and his breathing became smooth again.

And the whispers lingering in my ears also lessened a lot.

Lu Ban was able to see the surrounding environment clearly.

The ground in the buffer zone appeared uneven, like the land of the original island, but it was all black, like an inkstone. In the sky, there was a red sun, emitting a dim glow, illuminating the entire space. Looking directly at the sunlight made the whispering sounds in Lu Ban's ears a lot larger. In addition, there were some wriggling monsters made of flesh and blood suspended in the sky. They swam in the air like octopuses, and some were close to the ground, gnawing at the few remaining trees on the ground.

And those trees were also made up of the limbs of humans and beasts. The skin shattered into leaves, the bones became branches, and the flesh and blood became fruits. The fruits looked like human heads, emitting eerie laughter. Every pair of eyes shed tears of blood, accusing the world of injustice.

"That's the deep well."

Old Song pointed to the red sun.

Lu Ban saw red pus dripping from the sun, solidifying, twisting, and flowing in mid-air, and transformed into a huge snake. The snake was winding and its body was made of rotten yellow-green flesh. It soon discovered the location of Lu Ban and others. The heads in the woods swayed, and all looked over here in an instant.

Puff——

The crimson blood formed a huge wave, and the flat ground suddenly rose and rushed towards this side.

With the entry of the giants, this buffer zone seemed to have undergone tremendous changes.