Chapter 1150: Chapter 850: Another Castle?
High-level threat!?
Li Zheng’s heart skipped a beat. How long had Ma Long been following the Nine Heavens Legion’s leader into the Sin Domain, and he had already become a threat to him?
And that too while heavily injured?
"Ma Long?"
Li Zheng’s nose twitched, catching a faint sweet metallic scent— the smell of blood. "What are you doing here? Where are the others?"
Many people had entered the Sin Domain with the Nine Heavens leader, including Ma Long Squad, Qian Bu Gou, and some others Li Zheng didn’t recognize, at least a few dozen.
"Dead."
Ma Long’s voice carried no emotional fluctuation: "They’re all dead. Only I am still alive."
"All dead?"
Li Zheng abruptly lifted the hood covering Ma Long’s head, revealing a head lacking skin, with flesh and blood exposed to the air.
"What are you doing!"
Ma Long instinctively raised his hand to shield his face. Without eyelids, his eyes were wide open, looking rather eerie.
"This...!"
Seeing Ma Long pull the hood back on, Li Zheng frowned and asked, "What did you guys encounter in the Sin Domain that made you this way? And why haven’t you returned to the Outer City for healing when you’ve reached the Golden Light Zone of the Celestial Dragon Race?"
He didn’t expect to run into one of his objectives this early in his trip into the Sin Domain. Seeing Ma Long in such a state, Li Zheng had too many questions that needed answers.
"I can’t go back."
Ma Long’s voice was hoarse: "I don’t even know what has happened to me. I only remember I was with... with..."
In confusion, he slammed his head with his fist: "Damn it, who did I enter the Sin Domain with? Why can’t I remember? No, I clearly remember! But why does that name vanish from my mind just as I’m about to say it? Why? Why? Why!!!"
The banging on his head grew increasingly intense. Fearing that Ma Long might accidentally smash his head open, Li Zheng quickly stopped him.
"Don’t rush, just speak slowly."
Li Zheng tried to make his voice sound as gentle as possible, soothing Ma Long’s emotions: "Don’t worry about the things you can’t remember. Focus on what you do remember, for instance, why you’ve turned into this."
Something horrific must have happened to Ma Long, and it absolutely concerned that leader of Nine Heavens!
"I don’t know."
Ma Long was silent for half a minute, seemingly in deep thought: "I really don’t know. It’s like there’s a gap in my memory. After that gap, I found myself... Yes! I saw a castle deep within the Sin Domain!"
"A castle?"
Li Zheng’s heart stirred: "Sloth Sin Domain?"
He had seen a castle deep within the Sloth Sin Domain as well. Inside that castle was someone, possibly a female, either residing or imprisoned, a suspicion only based on the voice he heard.
Plus, the person seemed to know him.
"I don’t remember which Sin Domain."
Ma Long shook his head and said, "I only remember waking up outside a castle, and by then, I was already in this monstrous form. I tried approaching the castle, but it... it was unbearable! Just getting close to that castle brought intense pain! It wasn’t physical pain, but rather emotional, mental, even soul-searing pain, like being roasted above a fire!"
He seemed to genuinely feel the agony from back then, curling up like a shrimp, both hands clutching his head and hunched over.
Seeing signs of Ma Long’s breakdown, Li Zheng quickly stopped him from recalling further: "Don’t think about those painful memories. Change your focus; how did you make it back to the Golden Light Zone?"
Li Zheng intended to trace back from Ma Long’s path to find the castle Ma Long had visited. He suspected there were multiple castles within the Sin Domain.
Maybe every Sin Domain had one, or perhaps... countless!
"I don’t know." Ma Long repeated those four words: "I attempted to enter the castle, grew delirious from the pain, and when I awoke again, I found myself at the edge of the Golden Light Zone. I tried reentering from the Outer City entrance, but my badge was gone, everything that could prove my identity was gone, so the Outer City wouldn’t let me back in."
"Your badge is gone?"
Li Zheng asked, "What about your capsule accommodation? Is that gone too?"
Capsule accommodations, like badges, were bound to players and would not easily go missing.
"Gone." Ma Long’s voice was hoarse: "Since I’ve become like this, I’ve even forgotten the sensation of hunger, and I don’t need to eat."
Li Zheng frowned; Ma Long’s symptoms were reminiscent of some form of assimilation, similar to those Sin Domain exotic beasts.
For unknown reasons, Ma Long still retained human consciousness.
Considering the warning from Old Pu, could Ma Long have mastered some kind of Great Sin Rules?
The file sent from the terminal before his departure stated that all Outer City residents attempting to master the Great Sin Rules never returned to the Outer City after entering the Sin Domain.
It was as if they’d vanished into thin air.
The Outer City residents had organized exploratory teams to delve into the Sin Domain in search of those individuals, and not just once.
But every expedition ended in failure.
Li Zheng had never engaged with the Great Sin Rules, making it impossible for him to validate these guesses. Perhaps keeping Ma Long by his side might reveal something over time.
"What do you plan to do next?" Li Zheng asked, "I intend to delve deeper into the Sin Domain and investigate the castle you mentioned. Care to join me?"
"It seems I have no choice." Ma Long smiled bitterly: "Here, I’ve only encountered someone familiar like you. Apart from following you, it seems I have nowhere else to go."
Unable to return to the Outer City and eager to uncover what happened to him, meeting Li Zheng made following him the best choice.
After all, Li Zheng was among the strongest individuals he knew, with deep connections. Perhaps he could solve Ma Long’s current troubles.
"Then, let’s go."
Li Zheng stepped out of the Golden Light Zone, where negative emotions attacked relentlessly from all directions like a flood, an underlying rage simmering within, lingering.
Fortunately, Li Zheng was well-versed in dealing with such feelings, which posed no threat to him.
Once Ma Long caught up, Li Zheng glanced back.
Ma Long appeared even more at ease than he was, as if impervious to the Anger Sin Domain’s negative emotions, his steps light and brisk.
"In your current state, try not to engage in combat." Li Zheng advised, "Although I don’t know how you managed to walk back to the Golden Light Zone from the depths of the Sin Domain, you’re in an unknown state right now. Recklessly fighting might exacerbate your peculiar condition. Let me handle any exotic beasts we encounter."
"..."
Ma Long hesitated for a few seconds, feeling somewhat discouraged: "Even though this makes me feel like a useless person, you’re right."
If it weren’t for wanting to find out what happened to him, the best course of action would be to stay in the Golden Light Zone, awaiting Li Zheng’s return, instead of tagging along.
Despite losing many memories and having moments of chaotic thinking, Ma Long at least realized at this moment that he wasn’t a fool, still retaining basic rationality.
