Embers of Embers

Chapter 201 Clues
042 gasped violently, and the unknown corpse had fallen down. But looking at the similar but different face, an inexplicable feeling strangled his throat, and trembling mist came from all directions. 042's breathing was slightly paralyzed, infecting his nerves.
"It's not right...it's not right."
Looking at his teammates behind him, they had the same look of fear on their faces. The inexplicable feeling became stronger at this moment, like a heavy hammer, constantly hitting the hearts of the three of them. As time went by, the knocks became heavier.
042 slowly raised his hand and covered his cheek. It was obviously just a simple slash, but after killing this guy, he became more tired. His heart was beating hard, but the blood seemed to be solidified in the blood vessels. Just like in the middle, no matter how hard it is agitated, it cannot flow and becomes stiff.
"There is no feeling of erosion, but it is like erosion..."
011 said slowly, he also noticed the negative emotions that were constantly amplifying, and his thoughts were being suppressed and distorted little by little.
"There is no abnormality...but it is the biggest abnormality."
042 looked at the almost condensed mist, something was disturbing them, but they still didn't know what it was at the moment.
"A hallucination?"
016 suggested.
"Impossible, you should be aware of group hallucinations." 042 turned around and said to 016.
"So what exactly went wrong?" 011 said.
042 didn't answer, he resisted the turbulent emotions in his heart, and maintained his reason with the perseverance of a demon hunter.
He bent down and vigilantly pushed aside the strange corpse.
"He... is human."
Wiping off the blood on his face with his hands, 042 was surprised to find that the features on his facial features were the result of deliberate processing in the later stage. Of course, some of them may be related to the weirdness of this valley.
As those symbols were wiped away, the weird feeling in his heart gradually subsided, and 042 concentrated on analyzing.
"I seem to have a clue."
042 said slowly.
"It's these symbols."
016 cast a doubtful look, but 011 did not look here. He was intermittently using Shang Da's salary to ensure that no monster would suddenly come out of the mist and hit everyone.
All this weirdness seemed to have a glimpse of the truth, Lorenzo said slowly to the audience.
"Do you know the pressure of cognition? Those of you who fight monsters should have been exposed to some of this."
"That kind of information reception?" Joey answered, obviously understanding what Lorenzo was saying.
"The brain receives too much information in a short period of time and produces self-protection measures, but similarly, cognition can be distorted."
"You mean the power of demons?" Joey asked.
Lorenzo shook his head, "No, this kind of thing is not necessarily related to monsters. It is just like psychological suggestion. For example, if you are afraid of fire, in certain stressful environments, the sudden appearance of flames will aggravate your psychological pressure, thus Create fear."
"Similarly, there are things that guide your perception, which is key to the whole uncanny valley mission."
Lorenzo looked at the demon hunters walking into the mist.
"Those symbols seem to be some kind of strange alchemical symbols, which can cause cognitive pressure and fear in the observer, just like the erosion of demons, but you have nowhere to escape from the erosion of demons, and as long as you don't go Just watch.
I thought about it for a long time before I came to this conclusion. After all, demon hunters are fearless. The biggest difference between us and ordinary people is that we can maintain absolute sanity in extremely bad situations. This is to fight against fear. key. "
042 frowned and moved forward. After realizing that the strange fear came from the symbol, he felt a lot more relaxed.
Many times the unknown is a major factor in fear, but now the unknown is no longer unknown.
Despite this, the entire valley town is still shrouded in clouds and fog, and 042 wants to find out what's going on here.
The three-person team advanced for unknown lengths of time. They encountered no enemies along the way. It seemed that the residents here were unable to distinguish their location due to the fog... or perhaps they were all gathered somewhere at the moment, preparing for the final sacrifice.
"How do you feel now?"
042 asked, 042 needs to know the cognitive pressure of team members.
"It's getting heavier and heavier. It does seem like there's something secretly disturbing us... It's not erosion."
016 replied that she is extremely sensitive to this kind of spiritual feeling.
042 nodded, and then a black silhouette appeared in the mist. It was a huge building, but there was no light source in it. When he approached, 042 realized that the door here was open, and the inside was pitch black, with a breeze coming from the darkness There was a strong smell of blood gushing out from it, as if the end of this darkness was leading to the terrifying hell.
"Want to go in?" 016 asked.
042 said directly, "I'll go ahead, 011 remember to give the warning."
011 nodded to 042, and then a white light was released from his pupils, Shang Dafeng's power protected the demon hunters.
The demon hunter has encountered many powerful enemies, but those enemies are all real objects with traces, and this mission in the Uncanny Valley is different. The weird enemy has been hiding in the darkness, peeking at everyone, and spreading information to its heart's content. Fear until the witcher can bear no more.
042 couldn't wait any longer and had no time to wait. Under the protection of his armor, he strode directly into the darkness.
There was darkness inside, and the three demon hunters looked around vigilantly. In the darkness, only the burning pupils released light.
The secret blood has been activated. With its increase, the demon hunter can clearly observe things in the dark. Although the visual distance is shorter, it is already a huge advantage in the dark, not to mention the 011 warning. .
Dust covered every corner, huge paintings hung on the walls, and after the entrance hall, there were spiral staircases on both sides leading to the top floor.
042 breathed slowly, the air was full of dust particles, which made him feel very uncomfortable breathing.
Following the smell of blood, the demon hunters moved forward, stepping on the rotten floor and making a squeaking sound.
After pushing open the wooden door in the darkness, the thick blood energy was completely liberated and poured out.
With the vision of a demon hunter, 042 saw what they were looking for in the space behind the door.
The world behind the door is illuminated by fire, like a cruel slaughter. Countless iron hooks are hung upside down in the house, and a dead body is hung on each iron hook. He was hanging up, all the blood had flowed out, and his whole body looked a little dry.
Dried blood stains were solidified on the ground, and the air in the entire house was disgustingly smelly.
042 stretched out his hand to boo, there are other people in this house.
The man seemed to have lost all his strength. Although he was in pain, he was only moaning weakly. He was also hung upside down on the iron hook, and around him were the kind of guys that 042 encountered before. Their The face was marked with strange symbols, and he was wielding the blade, cutting the person on the other barb...or rather the corpse.
They seemed not to notice the arrival of the witchers, so the witchers launched an offensive at the same time in the darkness.
There was a pale nail sword thrust out from the darkness, and the demon hunter's terrifying physical ability was displayed at this moment. Almost as soon as he was discovered, 042 quickly stepped forward and thrust the nail sword into the man's throat. He even He was killed without even making a sound.
He swung the sword forcefully and tore most of his flesh and blood. The man next to him reacted enough and tried to fight back, but there was a slight but sharp sound in the darkness.
The crossbow arrows cut through the darkness, passed through the complicated iron hooks, and directly hit the man's head. There was more than one, and several crossbow arrows rushed towards them, assassinating 042 when they were in close combat.
The battle ended the moment it started. 042 put away his nail sword, and the bodies of the men were lying on the blood-stained floor. He tried not to look at their faces, lest the strange symbols deepen his pressure.
011 walked out of the darkness, Shang Dafeng predicted the short future.
"Safety."
He said.
After confirming the stability of the scene, 042 set his sights on the man on the other iron hook. He put the dying guy down. He was rugged and had no weird symbols on his body. He looked like a Someone to talk to.
"So...what's going on here?"
042 asked as he looked at the man who was gradually breathing heavily.
(End of this chapter)