The sky was overcast, and the clouds seemed ready to collapse at any moment. The leaves on the trees had mostly withered, leaving only grim branches. Even those not withered had transformed into a different state, either growing sharp teeth or being covered in fine hairs hiding poisonous spores. Walking nearby and taking a breath posed a risk of collapsing.
This once fertile and beautiful land, where people could live without worries even without labor, had now become gloomy and terrifying, resembling a hell from mythological tales.
“The Dark Ages,” Zhao Xiaokui looked at the environment and suddenly spoke.
This term was not in Lin Bai’s database, and he approached to ask, “What is the Dark Ages?”
“There’s a legend from the transcendent civilization, something I saw in the memories passed down by the evil god,” Zhao Xiaokui explained to her team while avoiding a fallen dead tree. “It is said that before the appearance of the transcendent beings, humans lived in ignorance for a long time. They had no written language, couldn’t make fire, and could only rely on gathering for food. Unlike our civilization, they not only had to face the changing seasons and natural disasters but also dealt with a threat from creatures called evil spirits.”
“Evil spirits roam the wilderness. When their numbers reach a certain level, the sunlight gets blocked out. They consume and transform the weak individuals, turning them into their own kind. They terrify the strong ones, pollute their minds, and lead them step by step towards collapse.”
“Evil spirits have no fixed form. Their specific form matches the body they contaminate and occupy. In other words, if they contaminate a tiger, they will become a tiger, and if they contaminate a person, they become a humanoid monster.”
As they discussed, Ye Ying, responsible for scouting, appeared before them. “Found a village ahead, but everyone inside has turned into strange creatures. I think you should take a look.”
Zhao Xiaokui said, “Let’s go. It might be the evil spirits.”
Her guess was not wrong.
From a distance, they saw figures wandering in the village.
They were very thin, their skin directly wrapped around bones, as if the muscles inside mysteriously disappeared. A strange black mist emanated from their bodies, concealing their faces. Only the eye sockets could be vaguely seen, with two clusters of ash-blue flames.
“Not a large number. Let’s go deal with them, and see if we can find any useful clues.”
They knew that at least two major evil gods existed within this domain, but the specific locations were unknown. They had to adapt to the situation and improvise after entering.
Although they were the Beheading Squad, it wasn’t necessary to cut off the two biggest heads. If they could force the two evil gods out, create a significant disturbance, attract the attention of outsiders, and have more powerful individuals launch a direct attack, it would also be considered a success.
“These things are indeed evil spirits. Human souls trapped inside turned into burning material. Killing them is a kind of relief, without too much psychological burden,” Zhao Xiaokui reminded, “Their bodies aren’t their weakness, only the brain, especially the position between the two soul fires, is the most crucial.”
As Zhao Xiaokui’s words fell, everyone drew their weapons, mostly knives. Only Sucha from the Thunder Sound Holy Land carried a short staff. With a tap on one end of the staff, it transformed into a long stick, held deftly in his hand. The first evil spirit had its head shattered by his strike.
Though Lin Bai was a technical talent, his strong mental power allowed him to plan the optimal attack route and methods in a short time. Nimbly moving among the evil spirits, each of his strikes brought one down.
Zhao Xiaokui’s weapon was equally extraordinary. She wielded a pair of claws, and after awakening the bloodline of the Golden Mermaid, her claws changed color. When her nails extended, a noticeable golden hue appeared. Attacking the evil spirits, as soon as her claws touched their foreheads, the soul fires inside would disperse abruptly under her innate holy aura.
To be honest, her golden mermaid form was even more conspicuous in the domain than holy water.
Fortunately, the ancestors in the inherited memories weren’t fools. Knowing that their bloodline was highly coveted, they had long developed a way to conceal themselves. That’s why Zhao Xiaokui, who hadn’t fully awakened, had been walking around with a golden fishtail. As long as she wasn’t targeted by the evil gods, who else could be targeted by them?
In no time, they dealt with the roaming evil spirits outside. Zhao Xiaokui said, “Check the situation inside the houses. Two people per group, be cautious.”
Being skilled and daring, Zhao Xiaokui naturally went alone.
She opened the wooden door of a nearby house, and a gust of wind rushed towards her. She caught it with her hand – a tiny milk cat no bigger than her palm. Upon closer inspection, she realized she had caught a small milk cat.
Park Huiya emerged from a house with nothing inside, and upon seeing the milk cat, her eyes lit up. She exclaimed, “It’s so cute, and it looks normal. Why are there such creatures in this contaminated domain?”
Holding the cat’s neck, Zhao Xiaokui lifted it up and examined it. The cat’s pitch-black eyes stared directly at her, inexplicably making people feel uneasy. Even Park Huiya, who had just called the cat cute, rubbed her arms and instinctively took a step back.
She frowned, gently closing her fingers. Just when Park Huiya thought she would directly deal with the small creature, a black mist rose from the milk cat. With the ascent of the black mist, the cat gradually became weak. Its initially eerie eyes also softened a bit, and it gazed at Zhao Xiaokui, letting out a soft and gentle meow.
Zhao Xiaokui said, “No need to thank me.”
She then placed the cat on the ground. The small milk cat, lying on the ground, slowly closed its eyes. Soon, its body rapidly decayed into a pile of dry bones. The bones, in a very short time, turned into powder and dispersed.
The prolonged stay of Zhao Xiaokui and Park Huiya attracted the attention of other team members. Witnessing this scene, they couldn’t help but ask, “What’s going on?”
“This cat was lucky. It was born during a period of increased concentration of supernatural power, so it opened its intelligence while still in the womb, becoming a supernatural being. Unfortunately, its living place fell under the control of evil gods, becoming part of the domain. It was contaminated and corrupted by the power of the evil gods, its soul wailing in agony amidst the pollution of demonic energy. I helped remove the demonic energy, but it also lost its vitality.”
“Be cautious of these corrupted creatures. They are more dangerous than tangible evil spirits. Of course, don’t underestimate evil spirits. We can handle them easily now because they are possessing living beings. If we face intangible evil spirits, you’ll know how formidable they can be.”
“Yes.”
This was not a wealthy village, evident from the fact that the villagers had few possessions. The most valuable item there was a motorcycle parked at the village entrance. Arthur tried to start it, but the deafening roar scared him, prompting him to quickly turn it off.
Lin Bai walked out of the room holding a notebook and said, “I found this. I think it might be useful.”
“What is this?” Zhao Xiaokui took it and found a notebook with some writings in French. Arthur, standing beside her, paraphrased it in English, “Uncle Gru in the village has been sick for a long time. Today, when I went to see him, he became very strange. He used to be strong, but now he’s as thin as a stray dog…”
Hill Nedam, the black man, said, “It should be about the initial invasion of evil spirits in the village.”
As they flipped through the pages, the diary recorded one person after another falling ill in the village. The United Nations called on everyone to leave Africa on television. They were unaware of what exactly had happened, thinking it was another deadly infectious disease spreading in this land. Everyone was scared, afraid that they might be the ones to die tomorrow.
The one recording all this seemed to be a child. The wording was immature, revealing a childlike innocence. Through the writings, Zhao Xiaokui and the others pieced together what had happened in the village.
Their culture was too low. When the United Nations warned everyone to evacuate, no one understood what it really meant. Poverty left them with no choice, unable to escape this land where generations had survived. Even when some local powers tried to gather people together to form larger settlements to evade the invasion of evil spirits, they didn’t comply. They stayed in their homes, thinking that as long as they closed their doors, nothing would happen.
Then came one tragedy after another.
The child with the diary was among the last few to face the consequences. Before being possessed by evil spirits, he started having nightmares day and night—strange and eerie visions. Upon waking up, his consciousness was foggy. He thought he was just sick, but his parents were even more severely ill. Unable to seek help from them, he had to take care of them. He endured it, recording his daily hallucinations and describing what he saw.
“I saw a ship, a very large black ship, made of wood, but smoke was rising from it. Black flags were hanging on the ship, with white skulls on them, very cool, just like a legendary pirate ship…”
“Today, my dream was very frightening. I dreamed of a valley filled with dead people. Blood flowed out of the valley, turning into a red river, and many monsters emerged from the river…”
“Today, I dreamed of a village. There were many people in the village, dressed like those in ancient European TV dramas. A group of soldiers stormed into their village, wielding long knives and spears, killing anyone they saw. Everywhere, there were shattered bodies and intestines scattered on the ground, very terrifying and bloody…”
“These should be memories from the evil spirit that possessed him before. For someone with pure thoughts and strong will, being possessed by an evil spirit is not a sudden event; it’s a process of contamination over time. During this process, one continuously glimpses into the painful past of the evil spirit inhabiting their body.”
“He probably wasn’t the first person to be possessed by the evil spirit. Before him, there were likely many others who had been occupied by the evil spirit. These people might not even have lived in the same era and civilization as us. Otherwise, the scenes he saw wouldn’t have such significant discrepancies.”
After reading the diary, everyone’s mood became somewhat heavy.
Through that diary, it was as if they had entered the period when the continent was occupied by evil gods. The common people stranded in this land, powerless to resist, could only wait for death to come in despair.
Sucha closed his eyes and recited a Buddhist mantra.
Zhao Xiaokui said, “At least we haven’t gained nothing. Based on this diary, we should be able to find the next settlement. Maybe there are still people alive there.”
Park Huiya asked, “In a place like this, are there really still people alive?”
“Yes, there are. Trust me.” Zhao Xiaokui never doubted this, “Evil gods are not omnipotent. As long as they still need humans, there will always be humans surviving.”