The world, as bright as day, saw its light constantly retreating, yet still being overtaken by encroaching darkness.
"Crack!"
The clear, empty world fractured. Tang Sui, who had closed her eyes, sensed something was wrong and abruptly opened them.
What met her eyes was not a bright, clear world, but a long, deep corridor that seemed to have no end.
Along the corridor, at intervals of approximately ten meters, a kerosene lamp was placed on the ground.
However, in the quiet darkness, the orange-yellow lamplight could only illuminate a small corner, making it impossible to see anything else.
"La... la... la..."
An old-fashioned nursery rhyme from a record player reached Tang Sui's ears.
But it seemed due to the great age, or perhaps the severe degradation of the equipment, the nursery rhyme stuttered, giving her a chilling sense of dread.
This ethereal, eerie humming felt like someone was forcefully inserting a needle into her brain, causing a sharp pain.
Tang Sui, in some pain, held her throbbing temples, trying to alleviate the discomfort.
Time was blurred here. The deep, boundless darkness was like an unresolvable night. A rich scent of blood, accompanied by the glow of a high-hanging red moon, seeped through the screen and into the room, spreading within this dim space. Souden Novel Network.
Suddenly, Tang Sui stopped moving. As if sensing something, she turned around, looking alertly behind her.
"Who?!"
"......"
In the dim corridor, a shadowy figure stood silently in the shadow where the faint light could not reach.
The darkness obscured the person's face, only revealing a vague silhouette.
Although she couldn't see their appearance or know what they were, the moment the shadowy figure appeared, Tang Sui's heart instinctively tightened. The "thump-thump" of her heartbeat amplified in her ears, as if it would leap out of her chest the next second. The profound sense of fear enveloped her, making her pupils tremble and shrink in shock.
In the seemingly endless corridor, the atmosphere became oppressive and heavy, as if something terrifying lurked in the darkness, restless.
As the figure gradually loomed larger in Tang Sui's vision, realizing the other person was approaching her, Tang Sui took a sharp step back, her voice laced with urgency:
"Don't come closer..."
But what made Tang Sui's expression change dramatically was that the figure's steps showed no sign of stopping. They moved forward, step by step, slowly yet resolutely, towards her.
Tang Sui instinctively wanted to flee, but the moment she had this thought, a bone-chilling coldness spread from the soles of her feet throughout her entire body.
"Crackling!"
The solid ground beneath her feet suddenly cracked into several wide fissures, like the gaping maw of an abyss, swallowing her in surprise.
"Ah!"
The sensation of falling after stepping into emptiness made Tang Sui cry out instinctively. She tried to use her demonic power to stabilize herself but found that all the strength within her, whether demonic or soul power, was stagnant like dead water, unresponsive.
What was happening?
A hint of confusion flickered across Tang Sui's face, but the next second—
"Bang!"
Tang Sui, who had stopped falling, hit a solid wooden door awkwardly. Her body made a dull thud, and pain surged. Despite her body having been strengthened, it felt as fragile and sensitive as it was in the beginning.
"Ugh!"
"Click—!"
Before she could recover, letting out only a muffled groan, the wooden door beneath her split open in the middle once more. Tang Sui's eyes widened slightly, and she began to fall again.
"Bang!"
Tang Sui, attempting to adjust herself mid-air, failed. She collided with the next wooden door in haste. Before she could recover, she repeated the same fate.
"Bang!"
A faint, mocking laughter reached her ears. Tang Sui, lying awkwardly on the wooden door, struggled to lift her head. A thick, pungent smell of blood assailed her nostrils.
She didn't know if it was the scent permeating the air or her own blood.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
After colliding with wooden doors six times in succession, Tang Sui landed on the lowest level.
She had hit the doors without any time to react.
Her entire body felt as if it were fractured by the fall, but Tang Sui still gritted her teeth, struggling to stand up, limping.
However, as she steadied herself and looked up, what greeted her eyes was a different scene—
Like a shattered and reassembled puzzle, countless retro corridors and buildings intertwined, arranged bizarrely and frighteningly in this boundless dark space.
The abstract and distorted scenes, like an oil painting, layered in Tang Sui's vision, eventually twisting into dark shadows that sank into her eyes. Only the occasional flash of crimson lines became the sole bright spots in her pupils.
Flowing red filled her entire field of vision. The frantically oppressive sounds were like the hazy experience of falling asleep, and chaotic whispers rippled outward, forming constantly churning vortexes that merged into a vast, tattered expanse, creating an even more chaotic and terrifying space.
Yet, from this chaotic space, Tang Sui felt a long-lost sense of familiarity.
It was as if she had been here before.
She had come countless times, so deeply that even if her mind forgot, the feeling was etched into her soul, and when triggered, it strongly urged her—
"Go forward."
The system's voice echoed faintly in this chaotic, disordered world.
She wanted to take a step, but was held back by another unknown force.
Unable to move, Tang Sui couldn't see that her snow-white ankles were already entwined by black and red wisps of light, which were constricting. Her pupils, contracting, reflected the horrifying, chaotic scene before her.
"Look."
A cold temperature, accompanied by a chilling aura, pressed against her from behind. Tang Sui's breathing quickened, but suddenly, she heard another soft, cool breath beside her ear.
"I found you."
—But I don't want to be found by you.
This thought surfaced in her mind almost instantly.
Tang Sui clenched her fists, all her fear transforming into the power to break free. As she regained control of her body, she quickly turned around, her clear blue eyes flashing with sharp light. She brought her fingers together, turning her hand into a sharp weapon, and the moment she completed her turn, she forcefully plunged it into the other existence's body.
"Sssst—"
Scarlet blood splattered, a few drops landing on her cheek.
Tang Sui's eyes widened in disbelief, reflecting another face in her pupils—a face she was intimately familiar with, so much so that she saw it every day.
—It was her own reflection.
Unnoticed, an inky darkness stained her pupils. Two similar yet different eyes met. One pair slowly welled up with mist, while the other was incredibly calm, even clearly reflecting her tear-streaked face.
"You..."
Before she could even utter the first word after regaining her senses, the spreading deep crimson began to consciously withdraw from her long robe, stretching into red threads that entwined their wrists.
—This was her sin.
As she was completely wrapped and covered by the scarlet threads, Tang Sui had a fleeting thought in her mind:
[Beep—Demonic Power Awakening Failed.]
......
—Aside—
This chapter might be more impactful if read at night?
And little cuties can go check out the character art for Sui Sui on the Q Yue comment section, pinned at the top of the bonus chapter rules.