Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 270: Chapter 269: The Venom Hidden in the Darkness

Main World, City of Korhal.

Looking at the filthy tent before him, the man’s face showed an uncontrollable disgust.

“Are you sure we really need to cooperate with these people?”

“Shut up, it’s what the higher-ups want. Just do your job.”

Upon hearing the man’s complaint, an old man dressed as a coachman quietly reprimanded him, even though they appeared to be in a master-servant relationship, it actually seemed to be the other way around.

“Don’t talk too much, don’t meddle, just do what you’re supposed to do. Understand?”

“Alright.”

After the Old Coachman’s reminder, the man sneered and stepped forward, pulling aside the tent flap in one swift motion.

“———!”

A warm stench enveloped him, and for a moment, the man felt as if he had plunged head-first into elephant dung. He had to summon all his willpower to barely prevent himself from vomiting. Nonetheless, the man still reached out to grab a handkerchief and covered his mouth before entering the tent.

“Hehehe, welcome.”

As he stepped into the tent, the man saw an old woman sitting behind a round table. She looked like a dried-up mummy, wrapped in a colorful tattered cloth. Her hair was tied with several brightly colored bows, as if she were reminiscing about her youth. Most of her face was obscured by her disheveled hair, and under the flickering candlelight, only a shriveled chin was visible.

“Did you bring the things I asked for, young man?”

The old woman’s voice was like a saw cutting wood, making it uncomfortable to listen, and the man frowned before pulling out a cloth bundle from his bosom and placing it on the table in front of the old woman. Seeing the cloth bundle, the old woman smiled and squinted her eyes, then she used her thin fingers to pick open the bundle—under the candlelight, the long strands of hair wrapped inside were clearly visible.

“Is this what I wanted?”

“Of course.”

Hearing the old woman’s inquiry, the man frowned.

“It took me several days of effort to secretly pick up these few strands of hair from that foolish woman… Is this really useful?”

“Hehehe…”

Hearing the man’s question, the old woman let out a grating laugh.

“Of course, sir, this is what we witches live by…”

“Alright, whether it works or not is your problem.”

Facing the old woman’s response, the man shrugged indifferently, but soon he grew curious and began asking the old woman.

“But then again, why are you interested in such an insignificant person? While her inventions are indeed valuable, she is only a mediocre alchemist. I don’t think she has any special talents… uh…”

However, before the man could finish, the old woman simply pointed a finger at him. The next moment, the man sneezed violently, then he felt an itch in his nose. Before he could react, he felt something soft and sticky crawling out of his nose—two bugs!

“Uh… what the hell is this, uh…”

Watching the bugs crawl out of his nose, the man was horrified but as he just opened his mouth, he felt an itch in his throat, and suddenly he bent over and started vomiting. Then he was terrified to see a large number of furry spiders spray out of his mouth, covering the ground!

“Damn it, don’t…uh…stop it…!!”

“Hehehe…”

Watching the man’s ashen face and his incessant vomiting, the Old Witch let out a hoarse laugh. She narrowed her eyes, watching him, then sniffed dismissively. The next moment, the man saw the bugs that had emerged from his body quickly scurry in all directions, vanishing among the shadows of the miscellaneous items in the tent in the blink of an eye.

“Hehehe… young man, there are some things you should not speak carelessly about…”

“I…I understand now…”

The voice of the Old Witch was so repulsive, but at that moment the man dared not speak any further. He covered his throat with one hand while fearfully staring at the old woman in front of him.

“Then, I’ll be leaving now if there’s nothing else…”

“Hehehe, I apologize for not offering you a cup of tea as a guest…”

“No no no, it’s nothing. I have some urgent matters, I’ll be going now…uh!!”

At this point, the man could no longer hold back and turned to rush out the door. Soon, his retching was heard again through the tent flap. Listening to the man’s painful groans and vomiting, the Old Witch revealed a satisfied smile, then bowed her head and squinted her eyes, gazing at the hair in the bundle.

“Will it work?”

At some point, the bent old coachman had appeared inside the tent. His face showed no expression, just coldly staring at the hair in the hands of the Old Witch.

“Of course.”

Upon hearing the coachman’s inquiry, the old woman cracked a smirk, revealing her tobacco-stained teeth with a hint of triumph.

“No one can escape from a witch… This poor soul will forever be lost in the realm of dreams…”

As she spoke, the Old Witch raised her hands and began applying the strange and peculiar-smelling spices from the containers beside her into her hair, arranging it, all the while, she began to chant ancient mysterious Spell Texts…

“Ah… It was not successful again…”

Nanali stretched her arms, yawning, then with a worried frown, she looked at the cultivation tank in front of her where the experimental crops had turned dry and yellow, clearly unable to absorb enough nutrients anymore.

“Mr. Ezio said that hydroponics is truly difficult. Even though I have already matched all the elements as Miss Nymph suggested, why are there always mistakes? Could it be the temperature? Or something with the container?”

While muttering to herself, Nanali picked up the notebook beside her, recorded several sets of data in front of the specimen, then stood up.

“I guess that’s it for today… I wonder when Mr. Ezio will be back. Miss Nymph mentioned that he had to travel far away… Hopefully, he won’t encounter any danger.”

While pondering, Nanali yawned again, then shook her head and walked towards the bedroom, pushing open the door. Afterwards, she staggered in.

“Huh?”

But the next moment, a chilling wind blew past, making the young girl shiver, wiping away any trace of sleepiness. When she looked up again, to her surprise, instead of her familiar bedroom, she was staring at a pitch-black, dilapidated room, covered with cobwebs and dust!

“Where is this?”

Nanali observed her surroundings, then she rubbed her eyes.

Am I dreaming?

Nanali looked around, but she could see nothing, it seemed as if she was alone there, and even behind her was a blank wall, which made Nanali wonder if she was hallucinating from staying up too late?

“…”

Yet, the girl did not notice that behind her, in that dark, gloomy corner, twisted, eerie Shadows were silently drawing nearer to her, interweaving and solidifying into the form of a skinny old hag, who then split her mouth into a cold smile, and silently extended her hands toward the girl like a snake.

And just then… suddenly, a cat’s meow sounded.

“Meow.”

Following this meow, the world in front of her suddenly started warping and bending like glass being struck, a series of cracks rapidly emerging in the air and extending, and then in that moment, the world completely burst with a “snap”.

At the same time, the hag that emerged from the darkness screamed, and hurriedly retreated as if her buttocks were on fire. Nanali’s body shook violently, then she collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious.

“How, how could this be…”

The shadowy figure formed by the shadows stared in terror at the scene before her with widened eyes, frightened as she watched. In front of her, a black cat stood, its tail tied with a blue bow, its bright eyes unblinkingly staring at the witch.

“Who are you! Why can you enter my Dream Domain?”

Looking at the black cat in front of her, the Old Witch felt cold sweat all over her body. This was a power belonging solely to witches, to intrude into someone else’s dreams, to pull the prey’s soul into one’s own domain of dreams, plunging it wholly into the dark shadows of nightmares and death. But now… something had invaded her own dreamscape?

In the face of the Old Witch’s roar, the little black cat said nothing. It simply cocked its head sidewards, stretched out its paw to wipe its face, then gently licked its paw tip, and afterwards looked up at the Old Witch. That look, it was as if a Hunter was stalking its prey…

“Meow…”

Then, the little black cat meowed softly again, followed by a paw slap on the floor.

“Snap!!”

In that moment, the entire world completely shattered, and then, an immense darkness like a raging flood, completely swallowed up the witch in front of it.

“Aaaaaahhh!!!”

In a filthy, shabby tent, a piercing scream sounded. The Old Coachman’s eyes widened, watching as the witch in front of him suddenly arched her body backward, her eyes bulging, showing only the whites. Her whole body almost seemed on the verge of breaking as it bent.

“Dream… My… dream…”

The Old Witch’s hands frantically waved in the air, like a drowning person trying to grasp at straws. Then, suddenly, her eyes turned pitch black, followed by the next moment her rib cage in the middle of her body abruptly “burst” outwards, and blood mixed with organs spurted out from it, scattering around. The Old Witch then stayed lying on her back on the ground, motionless as if she were a statue.

“What… what exactly is going on?”

Hearing the scream, the man came back to the tent and was shocked at the scene before him. Faced with the man’s inquiry, the Old Coachman’s face was somber as he coldly stared at the corpse of the Old Witch, only huffing coldly after a moment.

“It seems that our opponent is not easy to deal with…”