"Entangled grievances can indeed guide the way, but there is still a bit of uncertainty in direction. I am not sure whether it disperses resentment or is powerless against it."

Feng Yuan immediately recognized Qiu Hanmo’s intention. These black mists and fireflies are aggregates of grievances, and they inherently try to approach the existence that enticed their creation.

However, to anyone, these things are not pleasant. Normally, everyone would choose to dispel them, and Feng Yuan is unsure if the darkness of the Devouring World can achieve this step. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

If the darkness dispels them, they should proceed in the opposite direction of the black mist and fireflies, and vice versa.

"Grievances?"

The people from the Parallel World are unaware of any connection, Dou Yanlan furrowed her brow and asked Feng Yuan,

"What do you think?"

"Hmm, I think both possibilities exist. Forget it, let’s follow their direction first."

After thinking it over, Feng Yuan couldn’t make an accurate judgment because he does not understand the darkness of the Devouring World well enough to guess which situation it belongs to.

"Didn’t you say they... How can there be grievances?"

Qi Chen looked at Feng Yuan worriedly, if he remembers correctly, Feng Yuan had said there were no real life forms in this Parallel World, so why would grievances be entangled here?

"It exists between fantasy and reality, this region is probably like that. Grievance is just a form of emotional energy, it’s not strange to appear here. After all, this is a mock reality world, isn’t it?"

Feng Yuan understood Qi Chen’s confusion, but he wasn’t in the mood to slowly explain.

The aurora above continuously changed colors, making the surrounding environment appear odd and constantly shifting.

The Fluffy Fire Wolfhound gingerly moved its paws around, being cautious of the corpses everywhere that cluttered up the ground. Xiao Ji chose to fly in the air, refusing to land as these corpses gave off a deeply unpleasant feeling, one it preferred not to approach.

Aside from Xiao Ji, everyone else had to walk slowly through this bloody Land of Flesh and Blood.

"This stuff, I feel like I’m gonna have nightmares when we get back."

Yang Hongzhi looked at Najia on his shoulder with a face full of helplessness and spoke. Najia smiled without knowing how to comfort him -- trudging through this land strewn with corpses was indeed stressful.

"How much sin have they committed to cause this?"

Staring at the endless stretch of terrain spattered with corpses, Qi Chen couldn’t help but lament. He hadn’t expected those people to have done such things.

No, to be precise, both Feng Yuan and others had mentioned it before, but without witnessing it firsthand, it was hard to have a heartfelt impression. Facing all this now, Qi Chen seemed to finally understand why Feng Yuan chose to save only those without sins with clear decisiveness.

Qi Chen was well aware that everything currently in front of them was only the tip of the iceberg. They had committed far more than this.

"In their eyes, these pseudo-lifeforms are not real life, so in order to make the Parallel World more real, naturally, they would do some rather cruel things. However, in a certain sense, it can’t be considered wrong."

Thinking about it, Feng Yuan said; he had no intention of defending those people. To him, pseudo-lifeforms were much like NPCs in a game, with actions controlled mostly by rules, due to lacking a real soul.

Except for some special existences, like the one they first encountered who retained memories from each world reset -- a being between real and phantom, unable to be directly categorized as a life form or pseudo-life form.

Though without a true soul, it possessed the self-will and emotions of a real life form.

Feng Yuan didn’t know if such entities had ever existed amidst the corpses here.

"Just as players won’t pity NPCs for the sake of experience and items in a game, to them, these pseudo-life forms have little difference from NPCs in a game."

"It’s just this time they messed up, after all, a Parallel World isn’t merely a game. A Parallel World linked to the real world conceives various miracles is not impossible."

Smiling, Feng Yuan didn’t continue explaining. Hearing Feng Yuan’s words, everyone felt uncomfortable. Although Feng Yuan spoke the truth, witnessing this scene, Qiu Hanmo felt on edge despite being from a different time reality.

Everyone moved in the direction the black mist was gathering, leading to increasingly dense mist the further they went. Feng Yuan remained vigilant, constantly surveying his surroundings to avoid an ambush.

It didn’t matter to him, as the darkness of the Devouring World wouldn’t be able to do anything to him. Feng Yuan was concerned about Qi Chen and the others’ safety.

Fortunately, for the entire journey, none of them encountered a single enemy.

"No ambushes? Are we on the wrong route, or is the other side preparing a major trap to spring on us?"

Qiu Hanmo skeptically examined the surroundings. It had been too peaceful; not only were there no enemies, but even traps hadn’t been encountered, which was illogical unless they were indeed straying from the core area, failing to explain the situation.

"An ambush isn’t impossible, but with grievances interfering, attempting such would be costly. Besides, grievances won’t ignore entities related to them."

Feng Yuan wasn’t particularly surprised; these grievances, though sharing origin with the darkness of the Devouring World, inherently attack that darkness first.

Feng Yuan could tell, for some reason, the grievances were targeting the Devouring World’s darkness itself, perhaps due to some unknown motives.

It was precisely this unique scenario making it difficult for the Devouring World’s darkness to lay ambushes in this area; even the space remained due to the grievances.

Earlier, while observing reality, Feng Yuan noticed a world incongruous with the giant chimera, clumsily embedded on it.

Parts of rule distortion emanated from this bizarre world, prompting Feng Yuan’s intent to venture in and investigate the anomaly.

If the world served as an energy source for the giant chimera, by resolving it Feng Yuan believed dealing with the chimera wouldn’t pose much challenge.

Upon entering, he realized the situation might be more favorable.

This world was deeply intertwined with the darkness of the Devouring World, from which Feng Yuan estimated they might bypass certain defenses and reach the core.

On the other side, Agunas and the others also chose to disperse false phantoms. Unlike Qi Chen and his group, Agunas and others felt utterly unperturbed by the grim sight before them.

Agunas and Veronia had long grown accustomed; during the Mythical Era, scenes like these weren’t unheard of.

Tamur carried little sentiment, albeit improving somewhat while accompanying Feng Yuan. It still felt detached from the world, rendering it incapable of empathizing with the corpses.

Unlike Feng Yuan’s group, Tamur led Agunas and the others straightforwardly in the direction where the black mist was advancing.

"You seem to know quite well about this region."

Veronia peered at Tamur suspiciously, sensing Tamur possessed a greater understanding, decisively choosing a direction based on more than mere contemplation.

"Here, its scent is extremely potent."

Tamur replied calmly without any intent to hide, finding secrecy bothersome.

"Scent?"

Startled by Tamur’s response, Veronia and Agunas were taken aback.

Gitalien recalled something and said:

"Could it be that it has some connection with you?"

As a Divine Beast, Gitalien naturally understood the implications of such strange perceptions. Since the Parallel World was already connected to Tamur, it’s no wonder the darkness of Devouring World was linked as well, causing Gitalien to doubt if separating from Feng Yuan was wise.

"Not sure, saying it’s connected seems less apt than describing it as... a kindred?"

After some thought, Tamur replied, feeling the sensation was odd and unclear, leaving Agunas and the others at a loss, puzzled by what kindred could mean or if the entity was capable of ascending to Divine Beast status.

"Let’s observe first, Tamur, be cautious; this could be a trap aimed at you."

Swishing its tail, Agunas raised an alert, unable to untangle the current scenario, advising Tamur to remain vigilant to avoid being deceived.