Survival in the game world begins with Biochemical 2

Chapter 558: Horned Man, Witch

The ancient ruins of Laufu, located in the north of the entire Shadow Land, are an ancient ruin located on a plateau.

Its area and scale are astonishing, and the remaining ancient buildings and land bear many marks of ancient times.

——These are what Li You heard from Ampah. After deciphering the ritual scroll and confirming that he was on the same front as Li You and his team, Ampah immediately took action, investigated the information of the Laufer ancient ruins in the species collection, and shared it with Li You.

"But unfortunately, I didn't find any records about the location of the Sealed Tree. I can only go to the ancient ruins and slowly explore it."

In the small room on the first floor of the species collection, Ampah, who had just met up with Li You, stroked his beard and said.

"But at least, I have determined the route to the ancient ruins. We can start from here."

There was indeed a small elevator in a corner of the first floor of the species collection, but Li You had not had time to explore the Shadow City area properly before, so he did not go there.

"I have one last thing to take care of here, please leave first."

Ampah pointed out the way for Li You: "After going down there, please look for the bridge leading to the ancient ruins. Ms. Leida and the others are still trying to challenge Mr. Messermo, but this should be the last time. They will catch up soon, so you all need to hurry up."

At this point, he added meaningfully: "No matter what you see on the road, please stay calm and prioritize the most important things."

Li You: "Oh?"

An Pah had no intention of explaining, so Li You did not ask any more questions. With the character of this veteran, he would not riddle people with things that could be said, and the rest were things that he was not comfortable talking about.

"Are you okay?" Li You asked, and An Pah said, "My men are on their way here, so you don't have to worry."

In this case, Li You did not waste any time and set off with his reassembled companions.

Take the elevator down to the bottom and then go forward along the corridor. There are no enemies along this section of the road.

Li You was still a little strange, but when he turned the corner of the corridor and came to the platform on the side, an extremely uncomfortable scene appeared in front of him.

On the first floor below was a church hall, open and square, which was supposed to be used for worship. But at this moment, it was filled with large and small pottery pots and beds lined up on both sides.

On those beds, and throughout the hall, were scattered bodies, with only barely any human form left.

The corpses were all flesh-red in color, and the main body could still be seen as human, but there was a large mass of swollen flesh on the torso, like a hyperplastic tumor.

Most of these corpses had already decayed and smelled bad, and as a result, the hall was filled with carrion flies circling around, making a constant buzzing sound.

"What's this?"

Aggie and V beside Li You were obviously irritated and looked very unhappy. Not to mention them, Li You also felt a little uncomfortable. Only Youzi didn't react much.

"Li You...what's going on here? And what are those things walking around?" V subconsciously covered his mouth and asked.

She pointed at some strange creatures wandering in the hall below. Those creatures had pot bodies but had hands and feet that could move freely.

Li You recognized these small pots with stone hands and feet. They were called living pots. They were essentially magical creatures and one of the characteristics of the border area.

The bodies of the living pots are filled with human flesh and blood, and they are born from this, but they are kind by nature, have their own villages, and do not fight with the world.

Among the living pots, there are also huge "warrior pots" that can become the contents of a warrior pot after death, and are even pursued by some people.

"It should have been like this, but..."

Li You briefly explained the magical creature called the Living Pot, but the scene before him made it difficult for his companions to believe his words.

"Also, I've never seen a creature with a big pot on its head but a pair of fleshy legs."

Li You had never heard of this strange creature. It should be a new enemy in the DLC.

However, when talking about them, Li You noticed that the mark left by Melina on his wrist faintly fluctuated, but did not appear.

Li You was still wondering when he suddenly heard a strange scream. It turned out that in front of the corridor, an unknown enemy he had just mentioned had discovered them and rushed towards them with bloody legs!

"Although I don't know where they came from, let's get rid of them first!"

Li You naturally would not be polite. He took action immediately. The spiral sword turned into a spear and stabbed out, directly smashing the big pot on the creature's head. What was exposed immediately was the bloody humanoid creature they had seen before in the hall below!

It was clearer at this distance. This creature looked like a monster created by peeling off the skin of a living woman, kneading all kinds of flesh and blood into a ball, and forcibly attaching it to her body. You could even vaguely see the face of the woman.

The woman in the pot opened her mouth as wide as she could, screaming and reaching out to grab Li You!

"call out--"

Li You reacted quickly, and with a flash of his knife, he cut the body of the Hu girl in two. He acted swiftly and directly cut off the head of the Hu girl, causing her to die almost without pain.

Looking at the bloody corpse lying in front of him, Li You frowned.

Edge and V also looked at it, and Edge couldn't help asking, "Could it be that these pot girls are... experimental subjects of the Messermo Army?" It's not surprising that Edge is so suspicious, after all, the Messermo Army once carried out a brutal massacre of the Horned People, almost to the point of extinction. If you follow this line of thought, then maybe these pot girls are the Horned Women they captured, and then used as some kind of experimental material, and finally became this miserable appearance.

V seemed to agree with Edge's guess, but Li You returned to the second-floor platform and looked down at the hall. He said, "It doesn't look like it. Rather than a laboratory, this place is more like... the church is trying to cure these people."

Edge and V were both stunned: "Healed?"

Li You nodded, and what came to his mind was the Healing Church in Bloodborne.

"Of course, I can't be sure, but I just don't think so. Maybe it's just as you guessed..."

"no."

Surprisingly, it was Yuzu who spoke first.

Being stared at by Li You and the other two in surprise, Youzi looked at the hall below and said, "This is not a laboratory, it's a ward."

"How did you..." V started unconsciously, but then he realized what was happening and swallowed the rest of his words. Yuzu said, "The taste is completely different from the lab."

"...Is that so." Li You looked down again, "Since you said so, then it should be correct. But if it is to heal them, how did these people become like this..."

"——Let me explain."

Another voice sounded, and this time it was Melina's figure that appeared beside everyone.

"Meimei? Do you know where these people came from?"

Melina seemed to have given up correcting Li You's address to her, and said directly: "These people are not Horned People, but...Witches."

She squatted down and stretched out her hand, as if she wanted to touch the bodies on the ground: "They are our mother... they are the same race as Queen Marika."

Li You: “!!!”

Queen Marika's clan! ?
"This... happened a long time ago." Melina slowly stood up and looked at Li You and his group.

“In the past, Queen Malika had not yet become a deity. She was just an ordinary person born in a witch village.

"But the witch tribe has been persecuted by the Horned People for many years. The Horned People regard witches as unclean things. They will capture witches, tear their skin, and seal them in a big pot along with the severed limbs of sinners. The Horned People believe that through this ritual, they can be reborn as 'good people'."

Melina's story was emotionless, she just narrated history very calmly, but the first sentence she said was so shocking that Li You was shocked, and Edge and V were horrified.

"The 'Pot Girl' you just defeated is the witch who was sealed in the pot and luckily survived. Witches have special physiques and strong adaptability, but this also brings them endless pain."

Melina continued, "This should be the healing church established by the Messermo Army. They must be hoping to find a way to cure these witches, but... the result is obvious."

“In this land, there is a place called Pony Village, which is one of the settlements of the Horned People and the starting point of this behavior.

"Those horned people who perform this ritual are called 'Great Pot Masters'. They wear caterpillar masks and use giant kitchen knives to tear the flesh and limbs of the victims and seal them in a pot.

"The 'Living Pots' in the Borderland actually originated from them. It's just that Queen Marika changed the nature of the pots, making them no longer instruments of punishment, but capable of nurturing real new life."

Melina's explanation ended here. She did not describe the cruelty of the Horned Man in detail, but the corpse of the Pot Woman in front of her became the best evidence.

Edge couldn't help but cover his mouth, unable to imagine the torture. The experienced V also frowned, with a murderous aura emanating from him. Even Yuzu, who had been standing quietly, gently touched the dragon-hunting axe on his back, and seemed to have some ideas.

Li You recalled the scene when he first met the horn man under Leida: "...So the reason why the badge had such a big reaction at that time was because of this."

He would certainly not forget that the mask worn on the head of the Horned Avenger was the so-called caterpillar mask.

Li You suddenly let out a long sigh: "I am now completely disappointed with that Mei Semo."

Everyone, including Melina, looked at him with confusion in their eyes.

Melina paused before saying, "It's okay if you don't believe what I said. After all, these are all history from a long time ago. We should focus on..."

"I believe it. I believe it very much." Li You interrupted her. "I'm disappointed not because I think he did it, but because he's too conservative."

Everyone: "?"

With a "clang" sound, Li You directly pulled out the Undead Sword, and the veins on his forehead throbbed slightly. "How can I be soft-hearted when dealing with a beast like the Horned Man? He is still too saintly."

"Sorry everyone, I just remembered that I have some garbage to take care of upstairs. I'll be right back. Please wait a moment."

Li You said this and was about to go back.

Everyone was shocked and quickly pulled him back: "Don't be impulsive!"

“Let me go!!”

(End of this chapter)