Limoz did not answer immediately. His eyes gradually lost focus, as if he was pulled back to the past that he did not want to touch by some invisible force. His breathing became slow and heavy, as if he was struggling to get out of a deep abyss in his memory. He spoke in a low voice, his tone full of cold anger: "It's coming... We can't escape..."
The strange tone made the hairs on his body stand up. He took a step back unconsciously, but he knew that he had to say something and find out the truth. He tried to calm his heartbeat and made his tone sound calmer: "What is it? What are you talking about? Can you explain it clearly? Maybe... maybe we can still find a way to survive!"
Limoz did not respond directly. His eyes were still fixed on the water, his eyes were deep and complex, his lips opened and closed gently, and his voice was as low as a whisper: "That shadow... It's coming."
"Shadow?" Perry frowned, but his heart was in turmoil. He felt the air became colder, and the surrounding environment seemed to be oppressed by an invisible force, making it hard to breathe. He asked tentatively: "I remember that I came here because I was possessed by it. You said it was a curse, so how to eliminate it?"
Limoz's answer did not directly solve his doubts. He kept staring at the water and said: "It will kill me... and then you will replace me, trapped here like me, and become its new sacrifice."
"Replace you?" Perry's mind was confused for a while. He widened his eyes, and his blood seemed to be frozen in an instant, and his heartbeat was so fast that it seemed to jump out of his chest. "If that's the case, then do you have any way to prevent being killed by it?"
"No, because its rules are like this." Limoz finally turned his head and looked at him. That glance made Perry feel like he fell into an ice cellar. In an instant, the anger in Limoz's eyes was replaced by a deep fatigue and despair, as if he had accepted the fate. "It needs a substitute... a new sacrifice. And you are its target."
Perry felt his scalp tingling, and cold sweat ran down his back, as if a cold hand was clinging to his shoulder. He clenched his fist unconsciously, his nails almost piercing his palm, trying to suppress the panic in his heart. He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and asked in a calm voice: "Then how can we stop it? Is there really no other way? Don't you want to live?"
Limoz was silent for a while, his eyes fell on the ground, as if confronting some deep-buried fear. His lips pursed slightly, as if he wanted to speak but couldn't. Finally, he whispered, with a hint of fatigue and sadness in his voice: "If you want to leave here, you need to wake up."
"Wake up?" Perry frowned, his doubts in his heart became even worse, and his tone became hurried: "I am awake now! I know we are in danger, and I know we must find a way to escape. How can I not be awake?"
Limoz raised his head and glanced at him, with a complicated look in his eyes, a look mixed with ridicule, self-mockery and despair. The corners of his mouth raised a bitter arc, as if denying all of Perry's thoughts. His voice was low, with an unignorable chill: "You think you are awake, but you are not. You were attacked by the shadow and came here, right? That's how I came here too. Before I came to this place, I also thought I was teleported to some strange space. At first I thought I was completely awake... but that's not the case."
Perry's brows furrowed more and more. His intuition told him that Limoz was telling the truth, but he couldn't fully understand the meaning. He took a deep breath and tried to make his voice calmer: "What am I now...?"
Limoz's eyes were deep, as if he was looking through Perry to a place farther away. His voice was hoarse and low, as if it came from the abyss: "Your consciousness. The shadow will not kill you directly. It drags your consciousness into this place to make you sleep here, so that it will be easier for it to take your body away. If it finds your body, it will bring it here, and you... will be trapped here like me, and you will never be able to escape."
Perry took a deep breath, trying to suppress the fear in his heart, his voice trembling slightly: "Then as long as my body is still outside, we will be fine, right?"
Limoz shook his head slowly, his eyes heavy, and his tone revealed a hint of weakness and fatigue: "If it is now, yes, you are still safe. But things are not as simple as you think. The shadow will hunt your body by any means. No matter how deep you hide, it will find a way to bring your body here. Once it succeeds, you will never be able to escape."
Perry's body stiffened when he heard these words, as if he was locked tightly by invisible shackles. His fists trembled slightly, and a layer of fine cold sweat oozed from his forehead. He tried to calm himself down, but he couldn't control the violent beating of his heart, as if every beat was reminding him that danger was just around the corner. He took a deep breath, his eyes revealing a trace of struggle and unwillingness: "Then what should I do? I still have a way to stop it, right?"
Limoz looked at Perry quietly, his eyes were deep and cold, without any fluctuations, like a pool of stagnant water, reflecting Perry's panic and helplessness at the moment. He was silent for a moment, as if he was considering something, and as if he was recalling something, and finally whispered: "You can't stop it, at least not now. Unless you can find the person who cast this curse." There was a trace of imperceptible fatigue and helplessness in his tone, "But I don't know who that person is, and I don't know where he is hiding... Maybe you can try to find him, but that's for the future."
He paused, his eyes flashed slightly, and his voice was lowered a few points, as if to guide Perry to focus: "Anyway, the most important thing now is that you have to stay calm. Panic will only make you its prey, making it easier for it to succeed."
Perry's heart seemed to be grasped by an invisible hand, getting tighter and tighter. Fear and helplessness surged in his mind, but he knew that Limoz was right. He took a deep breath and asked through gritted teeth, "What should I do now?"
"Return to your body." Limoz's tone was calm, but with an unquestionable power, "Listen to me, close your eyes, focus on your heart, and find the line connecting your body. That line is the only way for your consciousness. As long as your consciousness can return to your body along that line, you can leave here."
Perry swallowed nervously, nodded, but suddenly remembered Limoz's situation, and a trace of hesitation and worry flashed in his eyes. He whispered, "Thank you for telling me this ... But if I leave, will the shadow come to hurt you?"
A complex emotion flashed in Limoz's eyes, and then he suddenly smiled. His smile was a little sarcastic, but also full of deep fatigue and helplessness. "Don't worry, as long as you're not here, the shadow has no reason to hurt me. Its target is you, not me."
His voice was low and hoarse, but it was firm. "But what you should worry about more is how to completely get rid of this curse, instead of wasting time here worrying about others."
Perry was stunned. This sentence was like a thorn, poking some emotion deep in his heart. He opened his mouth and wanted to defend himself, but found that he couldn't. He smiled bitterly and shook his head. A complex emotion rose in his heart, both self-blame and helplessness. "Yes, I must make myself safe first before I am qualified to talk about saving others." He was silent for a moment, his eyes stayed on Limoz for a moment, and gradually became soft, "But... since I can meet you here, I think this is also a kind of fate. I don't want anyone to die in front of me."
Limoz heard this and shook his head slightly, revealing a trace of indescribable complex emotions in his eyes. He whispered, "Naive guy..." Although there was a hint of mockery in his tone, Perry noticed that there seemed to be a brief flash of warmth in those deep eyes.
At this moment, there was an indescribable pressure in the air, so dull that it was almost impossible to breathe, as if the darkness around was pressing towards Perry. Cold sweat oozed from his forehead, his heart was beating wildly, and his palms were so wet that he could hardly clench his fists. A low surging sound came from his ears, like some malicious whispers from the abyss, which made his scalp numb.
Suddenly, ripples began to appear on the water surface, and then a strange wave spread from the bottom of the water, as if something was slowly climbing up. Perry's eyes instantly locked on the center of the wave, his pupils shrank slightly, and cold sweat slid down his cheeks. He knew that it was a shadow - it was appearing little by little, and its dark shadow was like a cunning venomous snake, hovering at the moment of hunting its prey.
"Hurry!" Limoz's voice suddenly rose a little, and his tone was urgent. "The shadow will move slowly here, but once it approaches you, you have no chance! Wake up, wake up now!"
Perry clenched his teeth, and fear and anxiety rose in his heart. He tried to calm himself down, but the breath of the shadow seemed to be constantly eroding his will. He closed his eyes, held his breath, and focused his attention deep in his heart. The darkness instantly engulfed his vision, and everything around him became dead silent, with only his heartbeat echoing in his ears.
"Calm down, calm down..." Perry muttered silently, forcing himself to calm down his disordered breathing. He adjusted his rhythm, inhaled and exhaled slowly, and gradually made his consciousness clear. Some vague images began to emerge in his mind, like a clue hidden in the fog. He held his breath and tried to catch the "line" connecting his body.
Gradually, a faint light appeared in the darkness, like a star at the end of the abyss. The light gradually became clearer, and a thin line appeared vaguely in his mind, as if extending from the invisible depths, connecting to some real existence. He stretched out his hand slightly, as if he touched the line, and felt a familiar and warm power.
Perry walked along the line without hesitation, and his consciousness seemed to move forward as if attracted. At the same time, he heard a faint voice in his ears, as if someone was calling Henry's name.
"Henry..." The voice was soft but rapid, calling over and over again.
The light gradually became brighter, and Perry's consciousness was suddenly pulled back by a force. He suddenly opened his eyes, panting violently, and what came into his sight was a bright space. He saw Teresa sitting on a chair, holding a book in her hand, with a bored look on her face, her lips opened and closed, calling the familiar name: "Wake up, Henry! Henry, can you hear me?"
Perry's eyes froze for a few seconds, and then he realized that he had left the strange darkness. His hand lifted up, feeling the real touch.