There were no other clues to know why the Crimson Lunar cult did what they did. But both Xin Feng and Hua Mei knew that the cult wasn't planning anything good by going after a small caravan.
Since they weren't investigators, they didn't know why. But what they did know, was that they had to become stronger as soon as possible to avoid a possible calamity. The two left that place to continue on their plan, since they weren't able to find any other clues.
Nonetheless, Hua Mei felt that there was something different about the place. An uncomfortable feeling that made her feel as if something was waiting for them. Hungry for their soul, thirsty for their blood, and That's when they encountered the stench of rotten corpses and fresh blood. The smell came from a narrow split on the walls.
Together the two punched the wall to make a path for themselves. The place shook, which meant that the thing that causes the smell, might've heard them. Still, they continued to punch their way in until they found themselves in a large cave.
Xin Feng almost vomited when he was assaulted with the poisonous stench of rotting corpses mixed with fresh blood and the sight of shredded bodies. To ridden the smell, he quickly summoned a swirl of air around his head to breath some fresh air.
There was a strange creature that was feasting on different beasts a few hundred meters away from them.
"Looks like we're in its nest" uttered Hua Mei, who looked confusingly at the visible air that was swirling around Xin Feng's head.
The creature had two short legs and tentacles as its arms. It was big as a bus, and it was covered with pus all over its body. It had triangular teeth like shark that was all over its round mouth, and inside that mouth was a tentacle like tongue that had plenty mouths with sharp teeth on it. It was a creature that one could only find in nightmares.
"What is that?"
"I have no clue… We should be careful, since we know nothing about it. Based on the type of beasts it killed, it should be stronger than me."
"Well, what are we waiting for. Let's leave." Xin Feng said urgently.
Maybe it was coincidence or perhaps misfortune, but right as Xin Feng had finished his sentence, the monster threw away the body it was eating to focus at the two. It then roared, which was followed with tentacles bursting out of its back, before turning as hard as its bones. Out of the bones grew skin, forming a wing behind the monster's back. Eyes that the monsters didn't seem to have, were created all over its wings.
The monster moved towards the two, as it stared at them with all of its pink eyes. It spread out its wings, and flapped them with so much force that it was able to make itself fly with outrageous speed.
"Run!" Hua Mei yelled with the top of her lungs.
But Xin Feng didn't run. He used his wind summoning skill to fly and bring the running Hua Mei with him instead. He flew as fast as he could to avoid the terrifying monster that broke every concrete hindering it, but the monster was still on his tracks even after he flew out of the canyon.
The monster broke through the ground as it flew the sky up, and roared frustratingly in search of Xin Feng. But Xin Feng was ready. He made a part of the sky darken itself, which gave birth to spikes of ice that were as big as the monster.
A continuous rain of ice spikes fell on the monster, and when the dark clouds had cleared, Xin Feng was able to be seen where the clouds used to be. Xin Feng followed his magical attack with a sudden but powerful punch on the top of the monster's body that send it crashing to the ground like a small meteor.
Meanwhile, Hua Mei who had been on the ground the entire time, decided to do her part by filling the crater with water. When the crate was half-filled, Xin Feng created a new lightning skill that would summon rods of lightning to be thrown at the monster's mouth.
The monster was left stunned once more...
With a slight gesture of Xin Feng, both of them went and delivered an all-out punch at the monster. But doomed to be their surprise, the monster was still able to move. Two of its tentacles grabbed their arms, and slammed both Xin Feng and Hua Mei with a lot of impact at the ground. The ground quivered and pits were made by the bodies of the two.
Hua Mei's body was paralyzed with a few broken bones from getting slammed continuously, while Xin Feng was patiently waiting for his stamina to recover. He patiently waited for his health points to reach near a hundred to receive enough status points, before he used his Mana to soften the slams. With his ability to control earth, he was able to soften the ground to make it as if he was falling on soft snow.
...
The monster stopped with its attacks when it saw that the two small creatures had stopped moving after a while. When it brought Xin Feng near its mouth to eat, It ate explosions that were thrown in its mouth instead. In anger, it threw the two a great distance away from itself.
It was all according to plan. Xin Feng could now feed Hua Mei some healing pills, since he had the opportunity to do so because he was far enough from the monster.
After a few minutes, Hua Mei was able to stand up again. She was glad that Xin Feng didn't suffer as much as she did.
*Cough *Cough I should be able to support you from the sides… May the heavens be with you."
Xin Feng nodded to what Hua Mei said, and straight up charged towards the rampaging monster that was trying to ease its burned mouth with water.
With enough force and the help of his skills to control the ground, he threw himself with immense speed towards the monster's back. All of his strength and Qi was being put in a single fist, and he made it explosive as well upon contact.
The added ignition made it possible for Xin Feng to penetrate its skin and pierce its body further.
Within the warm and tight body, Xin Feng felt something similar to a crystal. Knowing that it was a beast's core, he grabbed onto it and pulled it out of its body, which made the monster screech in pain. With a plump, it fell to the ground, death due to an overwhelming defeat.
Strangely, a weird sensation could be felt surging from the crystal. In shock from the sudden and abnormal surch of energy, Xin Feng quickly threw the crystal away from his hand but it was too late.
[Immune]
Xin Feng was brought to the character room out of nowhere.
"…"
[Reporting… You have access to this parasite's memories, since it tried entering your soul]
[Do you want to fight this filth of a being to improve your intelligence and wisdom?]
"What?! I… I would've gotten possessed if I was a normal soul from this world!"
"What the!"
"…"
'I should more careful next time…'
"Will It take over my soul if I lose against it?"
[No. There are no consequences. If you lose, you'll only return back from the character room.]
'I don't see a reason why I would even decline this opportunity.'
"Sure, I accept."
[Pain…]
"… Wait! Wait!"
Everything around Xin Feng darkened, and he was suddenly greeted with someone else's perspective. After looking around for a bit longer his thoughts changed, as he thought, 'No… it's something else's perspective.'
Out of nowhere someone suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Finally! The world will have equality and peace!" An enormous humanoid body spoke in front of him, and he closed the container Xin Feng was apparently in right after. It was a while in darkness, before light finally showed itself to Xin Feng. What Xin Feng saw within the lights, were the same bodies of the mortals and disciples that he saw in the canyon. The difference was that there was one more disciple that was barely alive. He was tending his wounds, but stopped when he saw Xin Feng.
The disciple crawled towards him, and stretched out his hand with an unnatural look of desire. Again, Xin Feng's surrounding darkened, but this time he found himself in the perspective of the disciple. With the body of the disciple, he felt hungry as he was staring at his own arms. In a quick motion, he bit down on his own arms, and engulfed them until he was lusting for something else.
Days went by where Xin Feng had to watch himself slaughter and devour every type of beasts that were available to him. His body turned more monstrous the more he ate, and he would always feel an unending hunger and hear cries for help simultaneously.
After some time, he had to experience the fight against himself as well and the pain it came with. A horrible experience that he had to go through too, because he couldn't stop the flows of memory.
The memory ended when he was killed, but his surroundings became dark again right after. It wasn't due to the lack of light, but from polluting ashes and smoke that covered his sight. In this darkness, Xin Feng forgot why was even there. His mind was blank, and he was confused what was going on.
Even if the toxic smoke was thick, he didn't have a problem breathing. Someone else did though. It was the coughs of a man behind Xin Feng that indicated that he was dying within the smoke. Xin Feng confusion scattered, as the feeling of urgency replaced it. He turned around to find his actual father dying of suffocation.
His father was right in front of his eyes, his body twitching while he held his neck in pain. His eyes were red with tears dripping due to the burning smoke. Saliva and mucus that was mixed with blood, covered his mouth and cheeks. With all that he had, Xin Feng rushed to his dad, before falling down on his knees with worry and fear. He cried out for help, as he didn't have a clue on what to do in such a situation.
...
After crying out for help for as long as he was able to, a voice finally answered him. "Do you want save him?" A shadow with the form of a human whispered to his ears.
"Yhes! PWease! Save him!"
"As you wish…"
Xin Feng's father finally stopped struggling, as his body came to rest, signifying that he was dead.
"He's dea-"
The body suddenly jerked even harder, but came to a sudden halt right after. His father eyes opened, but there were no pupils visible. Tentacles burst out of his mouth, and continued by wrapping his entire body. A horrifying mouth took most of the body's surface, before another burst of tentacles grew out of his back.
"Wh- What did you do?!"
"I did what you asked…"
"HiHiHi! I saved him from his suffering! From his imperfection!"
The shadow had disappeared, but its laughter continued without a stop.
In fear of the growling monster who used to be his father, Xin Feng ran away. He ran and ran, away from the monster that chased after him.
"Mom!" Out of nowhere, his mother had appeared within the smoke in front of him. She was staring to the distance, and when she heard her son's call she turned around in happiness. "Little hamster! Where have you been?! You know how much I've missed you?!"
"Mom, we have to go! Dad has turned into a monster!"
"What?! I knew I should've divorced him!"
"Mom! That's not what I mean!"
"Don't worry, dear. I Understand. Let's go then..." She grabbed his hand and ran away with him to the unknown, but amidst their running, she suddenly stopped.
"Why did we stop?" Xin Feng asked, confused why he was running and stopping, and why what was happening was happening.
"I was thinking…"
"Wouldn't it be great if we have a family reunion?" She said with a hoarse voice, as her body became pale and her head rotated a hundred-eighty degrees to talk to him.
Different family members like his sister appeared around him as a walking dead, greeting him in a monotone voice. His father showed up as well, completing the family reunion.
They all walked up to him, closing him in their family circle. Once more, the same laughter of the shadow was heard again as they made their way closer to Xin Feng.
"Please! No! Please!" Xin Feng begged in fear.
"Ahh!" His screams echoed. He was slowly getting eaten by everyone around him.
…