Light Fortress-Chapter 49 - 47 Human Purgatory
49: Chapter 47: Human Purgatory
49 -47: Human Purgatory
“Very well.”
The Grand Judge paused, taken aback by Gu Shen’s straightforward answer.
Ever since this young man had entered the room, his performance had been remarkably stable…
completely unlike the description in his file.
The judge had thought him to be an introverted, timid little fellow, but in fact, it was the opposite: meticulous thinking, a calm style of action, beneath that youthful face lay a heart as mighty as a lion’s.
“Then…
let us continue.”
Tang Qingquan slowly extended his palm and pushed the Ghost Cage forward towards Gu Shen, making a gesture of invitation.
He wasn’t deliberately making things difficult for Gu Shen.
In the Yinghai District for over a decade, he had single-handedly dealt with countless tricky cases and had seen many out-of-control individuals in the Extraordinary Court.
There were those who proclaimed their innocence despite being egregious criminals, and those who posed as perfect victims so flawlessly…
Over the years, sometimes when he looked at himself in the mirror, he felt like a stranger.
He seemed no longer capable of human emotions like “mercy” or “sympathy.” In court, everyone could be passionate, but he alone, as the Grand Judge, had to maintain the utmost calm and rationality.
From the moment he received Gu Shen’s file.
He had a vague sense that something was off…
It was a doubt he couldn’t figure out no matter how much he thought.
It was an intuition, an instinctual feedback telling himself that this young man was definitely not as simple as the file described.
This review was not merely about Gu Shen’s potential.
So he insisted on having Gu Shen complete the test with the third sealed item.
He wanted to use his own Ghost Cage to see what the dark side of this young man’s heart really looked like.
The properties of the Ghost Cage were very simple.
The dreamer would see the darkest emotions in their heart within this lantern.
The greater the evil thoughts, the more numerous and powerful the ghost spirits inside the lantern… Upon awakening, the dreamer would be overwhelmed by the evil ghosts within the cage, and their only choice would be to use their willpower to fight against their “evil thoughts.”
That is…
slaying ghosts!
This property, though simple to describe, was tremendously intense.
The ghosts, transformed from evil thoughts within this lantern, were not something a normal person could contend against. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Those who could slay their own evil thoughts within the “Ghost Cage” were truly strong-willed, truly Extraordinary individuals.
…
…
Beneath the lantern’s oiled paper skin, a quiet flame flickered, as if housing a living being slowly breathing within.
From the first impression, this lantern imposed a much stronger sense of oppression than the other two sealed objects!
He reached out and gripped the thin handle connected to the upper end of the lantern.
With a hiss.
At the moment of contact with the lantern, the flame within seemed to leap out of the oiled paper, almost filling Gu Shen’s entire field of vision.
This entry into the Dream World was scarier than the previous two.
And Gu Shen woke up faster than in the previous two as well.
The flame leaping from the cage seemed like an illusion, or perhaps a magic show.
After the fireworks dispersed, Gu Shen stood in an endless expanse of darkness, with the tide seemingly washing back and forth under his feet.
He held the lantern, the only light in this world.
And the flame inside the lantern was diminishing bit by bit… The tide beneath his feet surged back and forth with an increasing intensity.
After resolving the Green Dice and Time Sand, Gu Shen was quite exhausted.
He looked at the pitch-black world, a very strong sense of crisis emerging in his heart…
He instinctively called out, “Chu Ling—”
This time, before Gu Shen could speak, Chu Ling appeared a step ahead.
Numerous dark codes spread out like feathers, and because the world was so dark, these codes seemed to naturally belong in this Dream World, showing no signs of disarray or conflict.
Chu Ling hovered in mid-air, her hands gently resting on the young man’s shoulders following the call of her name: “I am here.”
The lantern’s flame flickered intensely.
Gu Shen’s expression was solemn, he lowered his head to look at his chest, muttering, “I feel…
like something inside my chest got pulled out, is it an illusion?”
“…”
Chu Ling did not answer directly, she softly said, “You’ve resolved two dreams, do you still have the strength left?”
Gu Shen shook his head, not pretending to be strong: “Just by myself…
it will be tough.
I have a premonition that this Dream World is more dangerous than the previous two.”
“Ghost Cage…
once an S-level sealed item, now severely damaged.”
Chu Ling’s voice was unusually solemn, “But even so, it is still more perilous than the previous two dreams combined… Green Dice and Time Sand!”
An S-class sealed entity?
Gu Shen’s expression tightened…According to the danger classification, the tall lady he had encountered on the light rail was only A-class.
Could a sealed entity actually reach an S-level danger rating?
The two conversed.
The lantern’s light had almost completely extinguished.
The tide at their feet rose higher and Gu Shen felt himself being swallowed by boundless darkness, while his calves were enveloped in an icy cold.
The tide had submerged up to there and continued to rise… At the same time, the sensation of being pulled away in his chest grew stronger, as if a hand were clutching his heart.
With each wash of the tide, it forcefully tugged, intending to pull his soul from his body!
“When the lantern light dies out, evil ghosts pour forth.”
The girl’s voice echoed in the darkness, “The greater a person’s evil thoughts, the stronger the ghosts in the cage…”
Gu Shen took a deep breath, adjusting his condition and simultaneously coping with the soul-pulling force in the unknown.
Upon reflecting, he considered himself not a thief nor a robber, at most only slightly cunning.
The evil ghosts in the cage shouldn’t be particularly terrifying, right?
“Gu Shen, haven’t you always been curious about what your Extraordinary Ability is?” Chu Ling slowly spoke, “Soon, you will see it.”
What followed was.
The last sound in the dead silent world was:
“Hiss…”
The wick went out weakly.
The entire world plunged into darkness, and at the same moment, the pitch-black world began to slowly light up in another way.
Before Gu Shen’s eyes, a huge…
Vertical pupil slowly opened.
This vertical pupil was like a crimson sun, burning an endless sea of blood-red flames.
The moment it opened, a powerful shockwave emanated, instantly causing the lantern in Gu Shen’s hand to be incinerated to ashes.
Bright light shone.
Gu Shen could finally see clearly what the evil ghost before him actually looked like…
One after another, vertical pupils lit up in the distance.
The boundless tide was flowing out from a wide-open giant mouth.
Gu Shen stood before it, and the entire world seemed about to be swallowed by the evil ghost… At this very moment, from within the giant mouth, soul bodies the size of babies surged out like locusts.
The Dream World began to violently tremble, seeming on the verge of collapse.
Gu Shen’s face was pale.
This was his…evil thoughts?
This was simply, a human hell.
…
…
The audit team fell into absolute silence.
Including the Grand Judge.
Everyone stared with a haunted look at the young man holding the lantern who had entered the Dream.
In the real world, the Ghost Cage’s core flame burned exceedingly fiercely, even emitting cries like boiling water, the light splashing in bursts, casting onto the oil paper exterior… reflecting one vertical pupil after another.
The vertical pupils were crimson like blood.
Each one was strikingly terrifying.
And they kept emerging, emerging, then emerging further, finally stacking… densely packed, densely packed.
An innumerable amount of evil ghosts thickly coated the exterior of the lantern.
The Ghost Cage was able to reflect the true nature of the evil ghosts from within the Dream World on its exterior.
And this phenomenon… was the first of its kind.
How immense were these evil thoughts?
Boundless!
Nearly swallowing the entire Dream World!
