Chapter 33
Chapter 33
The next moment, a vertical slit opened across the black sun.
It was like a demon opening its eye to gaze upon this world.
With the black sun’s appearance, everything in the Otherworld grew darker and even began to distort.
It seemed to radiate endless shadow instead of sunlight.
As Su Chen stared at the black eye, his mind began to blur.
Then the wind rose.
Countless waves of smog rolled forward like a surging sea.
The wind struck Su Chen’s sweat-soaked back, chilling him and instantly bringing him back to his senses.
He hurriedly looked away.
At the same time, the countless goats quietly eating grass roots beside him raised their heads and stared ahead in unison.
A black shadow gradually emerged at the end of the road.
On closer inspection, its body resembled that of an eight-year-old child.
Yet a pair of enormous goat horns grew from its head,
making it look extremely unnatural.
The waves of smog, dyed black by the sun, surged toward the shadow.
The shadow spread its arms, and the smog rushed toward it like rivers pouring into the sea.
It merged directly into the shadow’s body.
As the mist entered it, the shadow became more substantial.
Su Chen frowned at the sight.
This world was far too bizarre.
Everything happening here exceeded his understanding.
After a long time, the tide of smog gradually dispersed.
The mist throughout the Goat Enclosure seemed to have thinned.
Then the shadow moved. It extended its right hand, chose a nearby goat, and patted its head.
The goat looked as though it had received an extraordinary reward.
Excitement spread across its face.
It turned and trotted down the path toward Su Chen.
As it approached, Su Chen could make out its demonic pupils.
Reflected within them was his own sweat-covered, anxious face.
Suddenly, a lion’s roar shook heaven and earth.
Su Chen’s eyes flew open.
A sky full of stars came into view.
He scrambled upright, gasping heavily.
The dream had been so real that he remained dazed for a while.
Only after a long time did his pounding heart settle.
“Why did I have that dream? Does it mean something?”
He murmured the questions softly.
After thinking for a long time, Su Chen formed a rough hypothesis.
According to the rules,
“It” was attracted to light, appeared from shadows,
and possessed the temperament of a child.
The horned shadow he had seen at the end of the dream might therefore be “Its” true form.
Combined with the scene of the shadow devouring smog darkened by the sun,
“It” might be drawing some mysterious power from the Otherworld.
That would explain why “It” kept growing stronger and had gradually begun distorting the rules.
As for the Otherworld, if smog blackened by that dark sun could increase “Its” strength,
then the Otherworld might have existed much earlier and might not have been created by “It.”
Perhaps “It” had accidentally fallen into the Otherworld, become contaminated, and turned into what it was now.
If that was true, this zoo was even more dangerous!
He had actually been pulled into the Otherworld in his dream!
He had to escape as soon as possible.
Su Chen checked the time on his phone and saw that it was still a little early.
He took out the rules and studied them to pass the time.
In truth, he simply did not dare sleep again.
What if he were pulled into the Otherworld once more?
The viewers in Longguo’s livestream were confused.
“Why did Su Chen look so terrified when he woke up? Did he have a nightmare?”
“Maybe. But I’m curious. He didn’t panic this badly after facing so many dangers during the day. What could he possibly have dreamed about?”
“Did you hear what he muttered just now? There may be some secret behind it.”
“You people from Longguo are such cowards. Even a dream frightens you. The people of Sakura Nation would never be so timid!”
“Right, you wouldn’t. Your Chosen One died ages ago, so he has no chance to experience the rest of the story!”
…
The livestream viewers did not know what Su Chen had seen in his dream.
Had they witnessed it themselves, they certainly would not have been so relaxed.
Inside the zoo,
the night deepened.
Suddenly, a strange sound caught Su Chen’s attention.
Clopping came from the empty road in the distance,
like an animal’s hooves striking the stone pavement.
Su Chen abruptly remembered something and turned in alarm.
From the end of the pitch-black road came a goat, pure white without a single hair of another color.
Bathed in moonlight, it seemed almost holy.
Its elegant steps rang crisply against the bluestone path.
To Su Chen, however, every sound was like the beating of a war drum.
“Why has a goat really appeared? Was the dream real?”
He was utterly shocked!
The goat soon reached him.
It raised its head and looked at Su Chen.
Meeting its gaze, Su Chen thought he saw a trace of mockery in its eyes.
“Am I still dreaming? How could a goat look mocking?”
Su Chen’s mind filled with questions.
The man and goat remained deadlocked for a long time.
Finally, the goat turned and walked into the Lion Enclosure.
The moment it crossed the entrance, its body expanded rapidly.
In the next instant, it became a white lion,
a majestic white lion standing tall and proud.
The sight threw Su Chen into confusion again.
A goat could turn into a white lion!
Then Su Chen remembered something important.
Based on his experiences that day,
the Lion Enclosure lost its purifying effect whenever five white lions were present.
Now that the goat had become a white lion, didn’t that mean the Lion Enclosure had temporarily stopped working?
“Fuck, ‘It’ has far too many tricks!”
Su Chen was speechless.
But even as he cursed, he moved quickly.
Knowing it was unsafe to remain, he hurried toward the Aquarium.
He checked his phone along the way. It was 12:29 a.m.
Fortunately, the timing was perfect.
There were no streetlights, and the road was extremely dark.
Su Chen could only stumble forward by the dim moonlight.
Then he noticed figures among the trees in the distance.
Looking carefully, he saw a group of people in work uniforms.
The nearest figure had a build resembling the Chosen One from Tieba Nation.
“So the other Chosen Ones weren’t all wiped out. Some survived. But they’ve all put on black uniforms, so they probably have no hope of escaping the zoo.”
“I’d better avoid their attention so they don’t cause more trouble.”
Su Chen thought.
Then he crouched low and used the roadside hollies for cover, making it safely through that stretch of road.
He did not draw the attention of anyone in the woods.
Before long, he reached the Aquarium.
After checking the time again and confirming it was past 12:30,
he pushed open the doors and walked inside.