Chapter 2153: Chapter 2148: Confinement (22)

The body wasn’t even frozen. Judging by the flow of blood, the skull must have been opened while still alive.

That’s right, besides the deep brown hair matching the description, it’s impossible to recognize the face; the skull has been forcibly pried open.

And what was exposed inside is even more peculiar. There was no usual red or yellow matter, replaced by layers of gray-white, scale-like thin tissue.

Indeed, it grows from the skull, layer by layer, intertwining into a complex structure.

From a certain angle, it even resembles a pine cone.

Unfortunately, the pine cone is also shattered, leaving only empty cavities, void of anything.

A very special mutation. Was it Yiven’s doing?

Ignoring Brother Tantou behind him, Fu Qian stepped forward for a closer look.

Though visually shocking, in a world clearly possessing Extraordinary Powers, compared to Brother Tantou beside him, this transformation wasn’t even excessive.

The issue is, with a head turned into this state, it’s hard to imagine managing to run away from home or even wander into the Art Prison.

So a very natural assumption is that the transformation happened after the person arrived here.

The next question then is, who did it?

Who transformed him into this?

The "Old Hunter" is undoubtedly very suspicious. Fu Qian doesn’t think that an opponent bearing such a title would be a benevolent person.

Including the fact that Brother Tantou could consume "Yiven," which should probably be related to him.

The setup below is obviously Yiven’s doing, yet he ended up dead, eaten by a scavenger. There must be a reason.

Currently, it seems likely that he was killed by the pursuing Old Hunter, and then Brother Tantou, guided by the scent, arrived to act as the Scavenger at the scene of slaughter.

But even so, Fu Qian still leans towards Yiven being more suspicious in the current situation—at the next moment, he picked up the limp arm nearby.

This is no exaggeration. The entire hand felt neither alive nor like a dead man’s.

Each bone was crushed evenly, leaving no dead ends or remnants, meticulously as if searching for money—or a key?—in a pocket.

Indeed, regardless of Yiven’s intentions, Fu Qian tends to believe such actions were committed by his rival, who was attempting to find anything that could be called a key within the boy’s body.

Most crucially, judging from the traces left, this kind of violence occurred post-mortem, not at the same time as when the skull was opened.

Exactly this temporal distinction decreases the likelihood of Yiven having done the previous act as well.

...

What is the purpose of the setup below? This was the question raised earlier.

It’s clear Yiven was engaged in some special endeavor, potentially even extracting corpses from medical institutions for this purpose.

Now Fu Qian vaguely feels he has the answer.

Indeed, there’s no need to easily dismiss one’s imagination; what if the skull truly contained a pine cone? Or a similar concept of fruit.

Throughout the journey, there were already multiple moments of déjà vu related to an invisible tree appearing around.

However similar it may be, essentially, there was no real object.

Like the painting seen in the tower earlier, it was merely depicted via alternative means.

But this boundary, seemingly, has been broken here.

This spherical space indeed seems not merely spacious.

Lowering his hand, Fu Qian leaned closer to catch a scent.

Sure enough, the peculiar "fragrance" was most concentrated inside the opened skull.

No matter if human flesh is living or dead, it seems that placing it in such a spot could break some boundary and let a real fruit of the invisible tree grow inside?

Interesting.

If that’s truly the case, it’s genuinely intriguing how Brother Yiven came up with such a concept.

Nonetheless, given this premise, the current situation seems slightly clearer to summarize—

Yiven used various means to procure human bodies, dead or alive, with the aim to truly touch the invisible tree and thereby obtain the fruit that grew inside the skull.

And the two young men who accidentally entered this place undoubtedly walked right into the lion’s den.

The boy quickly became fertile soil and had his skull opened while alive, the "fruit" inside taken.

Yet what Yiven didn’t anticipate was that, although the two young people lacked the power to resist, they brought along an Old Hunter in pursuit of the White Key.

With the goal close at hand, the latter’s methods were shockingly brutal, massacring all the way.

It’s just unfortunate that one of the missing boys ended up dead without any exchange, leaving no option but to "explore" by hand.

As mentioned before, indeed his rival’s capability for action is very strong.

In this situation, what will his next move be?

Only let’s say there are many possibilities, hard to predict.

After all, I don’t know if the eaten girl is another missing person, but he probably does.

Of course, thinking on the bright side, the next step of my action is considerably clear.

Heh—

In the midst of contemplation, along with a peculiar low growl, some liquid unexpectedly fell from above, landing on the pale corpse.

Fu Qian didn’t need to look up to know that both the sound and the murky secretion came from Brother Tantou.

Even though he kept silent during the inspection earlier, it didn’t mean he did nothing.

Amidst the rustling, it was entirely imaginable how Brother Tantou had transformed again into a gecko, climbing to the top.

As to why such an impulsive act occurred?

It’s actually simple; he previously mentioned having been drawn by a special "fragrance," and now there’s a source of the scent right here.

With such temptation before him, it’s quite impressive he lasted this long.

Following such an action, it’s entirely imaginable how the situation, which was already akin to balancing on a tightrope, had truly become precarious. That longing was already teetering on madness—bang!

So what? My being revels in madness.

Amid the gunshot, the face of Brother Tantou, staring down, was hit squarely.

Let us see whether you still have the chance to make a bigger contribution.

Of course, the intention wasn’t really to eliminate the opponent, as it was already proven that bullets were hardly lethal.

And as the bullet splattered blood, slamming Brother Tantou’s head on top, Fu Qian decisively shattered an oil lamp into the opened skull.

Boom!

The resemblance to a pine cone had not been in vain; inside the skull was seemingly flammable, almost instantly bursting into flames.

With some satisfaction, even the detached half of a bone was grabbed by Fu Qian and tossed into the fire.

That fragrance, which tempted Brother Tantou greatly, was rapidly turning bizarre.

Roar—

A beast-like roar came from overhead, clearly unable to accept this scene.

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