Xia Chuhe patted Li Qiusheng and Mo Yun on the shoulder, mouthed "run," and immediately ran towards the bronze chime bells.
Li Qiusheng and Xia Chuhe had a perfect understanding and immediately followed closely behind Xia Chuhe.
Mo Yun was somewhat dumbfounded, not understanding Xia Chuhe's meaning. However, seeing that the other three were all near the chime bells while she was left alone, she felt uneasy and ran towards the chime bells with some doubt.
Midway through, Da Shan rang the bell incorrectly again, and this time the person chosen was Li Qiusheng once more.
Li Qiusheng moved his lips, cursing silently. He paused in his steps toward the bronze chime bells, as if he wanted to turn back to the repentance wall to dispel the contamination of the sound grooves.
Xia Chuhe, however, held onto Li Qiusheng tightly, pressed her head down and pushed her under the chime bells, then threw a dagger and cut the ropes on the chime bells.
The bronze chime bells fell, and the pressure from them forced the bound spirit that was tightly gripping Li Qiusheng to loosen its grip and take a step back in fear.
"Thump—"
The bronze chime bells completely enveloped Li Qiusheng.
However, those spirits of the bound tongues still probed near the chime bells, swaying and jumping repeatedly like a roly-poly toy. Occasionally, a spirit of the bound tongues would collide with the bronze chime bells, producing a muffled "clang, clang, clang" sound, which surprisingly matched the rhythm of the music.
The harmonious music indicated the correctness of the choice, and Xia Chuhe felt reassured. He quickly flicked a small flame above the largest chime bell and, before the rope completely burned through, pulled Dashan and him under the chime bell.
Mo Yun followed suit, but he managed to squeeze in just before the bells completely fell by holding the bell in one hand and wielding a throwing knife in the other.
All four hid inside the chime bells, and no one struck the bells according to the musical score. Immediately, the sound grooves all turned red.
The bound spirits outside realized that the chime bells would not threaten their safety, so they went mad and started crashing into the bells. Once they started crashing, they became ferocious, lost in their passion, and risked their lives!
A hundred or so ghosts with collars and chains around their necks, like a hundred or so flags constantly being blown by a gale, dance wildly outside the chime bells.
The tolling of the bells was even more intense than the sudden rain, ringing out incessantly, making Xia Chuhe and the others feel dizzy and nauseous.
Xia Chuhe covered his ears tightly and stood face to face with the mountain.
For some reason, she suddenly remembered the confession that Da Shan had written on the wall—
I killed my sister.
A sudden, intense heart palpitation struck.
Xia Chuhe subconsciously lowered his hands from his ears, covered his heart with one hand, and touched Dashan's arm with the other.
Fortunately, Dashan was also covering his ears and did not do anything that would have an offensive effect.
The moment Xia Chuhe touched the mountain, she felt as if there was an extra layer on her hands and body. She had experienced this feeling in the dungeon before; it was a shield that the mountain had given her.
Xia Chuhe was relieved.
This shield could even block out some of the bell's sound, making Xia Chuhe's ears and head feel a little better.
The unbearable noise torture stretched out the time for a very long time, until suddenly it became quiet outside.
The echoing tolling of the bell still lingered in Xia Chuhe's mind...
She wanted to pry open the bell with her dagger to get a glimpse of what was happening outside. However, with two people hiding inside the bell, it was still too cramped; even crouching down was difficult.
Bronze chimes are too heavy, and lifting them upwards is not an easy task.
"Are you feeling better?" Xia Chuhe asked Dashan softly, though she could barely hear her own voice.
Da Shan's lips moved, but Xia Chuhe heard no sound.
Xia Chuhe was about to use lip reading to communicate with Dashan and ask her to help lift the chime bells when the bells were lifted from the outside, revealing Li Qiusheng's bruised and smiling face.
The figure of the Wraith of the Bound Words completely disappeared, and the outside world almost turned into a normal church. The voiceprint gauges above the four people's heads also disappeared without them noticing.
Li Qiusheng gave Xia Chuhe a thumbs up, but the quick movement aggravated the wound on her arm, making her wince in pain.
When Xia Chuhe and Dashan emerged completely from the chime bells, the scene gradually faded away, and they returned to the cave once more.
The difference is that the first barrier has disappeared, and there are now several more confessions written by people on the confession wall.
Xia Chuhe took out some wound medicine from the farm and distributed it to everyone. The medicine produced by Five Star Company was extremely effective. After a short rest, the wounds were basically healed and would not affect everyone's movement.
Mo Yun's face was serious. He had never been through the second checkpoint before and could not offer any better advice.
However, it might be better not to offer any advice, at least it wouldn't limit people's imagination.
Xia Chuhe asked in a breathy voice, "Enter?"
The three nodded and entered the second checkpoint with Xia Chuhe.
Upon entering the checkpoint, Xia Chuhe found himself staring at several versions of himself.
The second level is filled with mirrors. Countless quadrilateral mirrors are pieced together to form a long corridor that seems to have no end. Each mirror has a seven-colored groove on it, and each color block has a word written on it: "joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire".
The floor and ceiling were covered with countless tiny holes, which gave people goosebumps.
Mo Yun couldn't help but shift her feet, making a soft, rustling sound—
The sound of footsteps and friction against the ground, amplified countless times, emanated continuously from the densely packed small holes, creating a series of irregular reverberations.
Mo Yun was so frightened that she froze on the spot.
New level rules quickly appeared above the mirror corridor:
1. Do not stare into the eyes of the person in the mirror, or you will be responsible for the consequences;
2. Mirrors and confessional walls have the same effect;
3. Please follow the prompts in the emotion block.
Da Shan said softly, "It's too late, I think I've been punished by the mirror..."
"I've been punished by the mirror..."
"Sanctions have been imposed..."
"Okay..."
The sound of the mountains echoed repeatedly in the mirrored corridor, eerily strange.
Da Shan shut up, holding up his wristwatch for Xia Chuhe and the others to see: [My superpower is unusable.]
It seems this is the first rule: the consequences of staring in the mirror.
Xia Chuhe lowered her eyes, and a spark ignited in her palm; there was no problem with her supernatural ability.
Li Qiusheng and Mo Yun also said there was no problem.
Xia Chuhe mouthed, "Let's move forward first."
The four walked into the corridor of mirrors, where their reflections were mirrored on several mirrors, so clear it was almost frightening.
Xia Chuhe kept his head down, occasionally catching glimpses of feet moving incessantly in the mirror—one pair of feet, two pairs of feet, three pairs of feet, four pairs of feet, five pairs of feet, six pairs of feet…
No, wait, there are six pairs of feet?!
Xia Chuhe rubbed his eyes and looked closely.
Thankfully, there were only four different pairs of feet. The extra feet seemed to be because there were too many mirrors, reflecting too many images and making it dizzying to look at.
As they walked, a pair of feet stopped in front of Xia Chuhe, toe to toe.
Xia Chuhe quickly raised her head, only to find a mirror blocking her path.
The others weren't in much better shape; the four of them were surrounded by mirrors.
The emotional blocks on the mirror moved about, with the black representing "fear" slowly wriggling and protruding from the mirror surface. A demand appeared on the mirror:
Write down the scenario you are most afraid of.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
