Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Chapter 2249: Chapter 2244: Things Remain, but People Have Changed

Apart from the changing times, the Witch had undoubtedly noticed the changes in the Knight’s blood bar.

On one hand, she had already experienced something similar with Mrs. Harper, and on the other hand, the Knight’s level of blood loss seemed more favorable than expected, so she didn’t comment further at the moment.

As for the item given to Fu Qian, it was undoubtedly the same one used before in the Other Shore.

Just a small sacrifice of Divine Beings’ flesh could turn into an anchor point for the Witch’s arrival.

The two of them clearly agreed that the probability of the Dark Moon being from the Nightmare Corridor was extremely high.

Because the spread of the ”Other Shore” attribute made it easier to create connections with this world.

The stimulation the Witch applied within the Nightmare aggregate further manifested this connection.

And although the Nightmare Corridor might hold some dangers, the Witch clearly inclined toward pursuing the traces of this ”Mother.”

Incidents involving the ”Dark Moon” had become increasingly numerous, and many places bore its marks.

Not understanding the ins and outs would undoubtedly be a significant hidden danger for the Witch closely related to it.

Therefore, this was not merely to satisfy psychological needs but a risk-taking behavior supported by full rationality.

”Let’s begin, I’ll go scout ahead first.”

Fu Qian wasn’t courteous, directly accepting the Bone Chain, and the Extreme Hunger Infection was silently activated.

In the corridor, some old friends felt a sense of long separation.

No need to choose a target; it was as if accumulated momentum was released instantaneously, accelerating the transition of scenes before him, and the light quickly turned dim—wasn’t it too dark?

For a moment, Fu Qian marveled at the strangely familiar yet unfamiliar scene before him.

...

The place was right, but something about it felt wrong.

Corridors, doors, patterns... Fu Qian saw many familiar elements at a glance, making it undoubtedly the Nightmare Corridor he had visited numerous times.

However, even though the structure hadn’t changed, everything seemed to exude an unusual aura.

The most immediate was that everything was bathed in an Abyss-like Darkness.

The visibility was as bad as a blackout, with only faint glows from several doors illuminating the space.

But even so, even the patterns on those doors lost the eerie strangeness they had during their first encounter, now filled with a sense of decay and Withering.

Overall, it gave a sense of discovering mummies starved to death—a desolate feeling.

Even the old close friend, the Interlocutor, left no trace in the Darkness.

Were times so tough that even the Nightmare Corridor couldn’t stay operational?

And it seemed so fast; theoretically, it hadn’t been many days since his last visit, right?

They couldn’t have heard of his arrival and shut down for business, could they?

Not understanding this scene, Fu Qian stepped forward and soon found a reddish-brown door.

It was almost the most familiar one, belonging to His Excellency Alarakir.

On his first visit to the Nightmare Corridor, it was behind this door that he escorted the Interlocutor through the trials, even providing some insights on the relatively sparse elements of imagination within.

To date, apart from the Interlocutor, he’s interacted the most with him in the corridor.

Conversely, the resentment level was quite considerable.

Yet, despite such ties, after standing at the door for over five seconds, he received no welcoming greeting.

This disheartening scene, even though used to the warmth and coldness of human interactions, made Fu Qian shake his head.

As for Brother Interlocutor, suffice to say, even a strand of hair wasn’t seen.

Of course, Fu Qian wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

There might be reasons for the Interlocutor’s absence, like a Homeward story earlier.

Through his and the Witch’s actions, they successfully moved that fragile yet resilient toy workshop into the book in her hands.

Inside it, it was clearly recorded that the long-lost Interlocutor returned home again in a daze, surprisingly finding that he had never left.

...

Could it be that Brother Interlocutor had gained freedom, completely breaking free from the Nightmare’s torment, and returned to his origins?

This possibility couldn’t be entirely negated, especially since, apart from being a co-author, the earlier conjectures regarding the ”Other Shore” suggested such a boundary blurring, which both he and the Witch leaned towards.

One can’t rule out that the book provided a sufficiently solid anchor point, allowing the Interlocutor to finally escape.

But honestly, from Fu Qian’s perspective, it was merely possible.

The Interlocutor, after mingling on this side for so long, was eroded by those prisoners to a near-irrecoverable extent.

In fact, the earlier boundary-blurring judgment was because it was proven he was used as a tool by those prisoners, aiding in their infiltration into the Witch’s world.

In such a situation, if the Interlocutor wanted to escape, it would only be possible with a general amnesty, meaning this place’s prisoners had to all flee.

And so far, the Witch, who had been monitoring that book, hadn’t noticed any particular anomalies.

So if Brother Interlocutor hadn’t escaped, then where had he gone?

Not forcing the issue, Fu Qian left His Excellency Alarakir’s door and continued forward with this question in mind.

Of course, it’s also possible that, like last time, the Interlocutor had gone behind the door to Alarakir’s Nightmare theme park.

But mutual friendships should remain light; if Brother Interlocutor didn’t want to meet, breaking in would be inappropriate—wasn’t Lord Destiny Snake also a light friendship?

Fu Qian soon stopped in front of a silver door.

Compared to other places, the slightly better visibility of the faint glow still responded with indifference.

...

The ambiance was even reminiscent of the door seen in the bar last time.

The familiar patterns, familiar colors, were undoubtedly Lord Destiny Snake’s residence.

Yet the originally majestic and eerie door, like Alarakir’s before it, had no intention of opening, appearing so dim as to evoke a sense of cheapness, an utterly lamentable sight.

Although they only met during a mission, Lord Destiny Snake wouldn’t have minded lending a hand when he was entangled in the corridor.

Yet even this entity was non-responsive—creak!

The turnaround came quickly; Fu Qian’s reflections hadn’t ended when the cheap-sounding door hinges began to move, and the silver door before him was already opened from inside.

”Long time no see, were you looking for me?”

Even a friendly greeting came simultaneously, but it wasn’t Lord Destiny Snake’s voice.

Shell, bristles, long wings... standing inside gazing out was the very old friend he had just been musing over, the seemingly homebound Interlocutor.

And directly proving he hadn’t left, the Interlocutor even appeared unusually enthusiastic.

Speaking, his withered face was filled with the joy of welcoming a dear friend from afar.