"This entire vast forest is used for sealing? Who did this? Could it be that the tongue is something from the Outer Realm, sealed by the Corner?

No... If the tongue really is from the Outer Realm, then Mr. Question Mark, Grandmother, and the others should have told me by now, and Teacher Guo would never have let me make this contact.

Perhaps it offended someone in the past, or even offended the Corner, which is why it was sealed here.

This also explains why a monster of his caliber rarely appears in the Corner, and always in the form of 'influence'.

This time he could help me escape because I had a conflict with the Joker and the Carnivorous Family near the dense forest, allowing his influence to spread sufficiently.

First, let's see what form this seal takes; if I want to meet him, I need to figure out a way in."

In the center of the clearing,

there existed a small hole just large enough for an arm to pass through, pitch black inside. Any perception that got close would be blocked.

It's so small that the body definitely can't get through.

It's already confirmed as a type of seal that can completely suppress the terrifying tongue creature below. It's practically impossible for Luo Di with his current level to forcibly break the seal.

He first tried to slowly put his arm in.

Just as the middle finger was about to pass the hole... Snap!

A huge repulsive force came forth,

sending him stumbling back. A closer look revealed that his arm was nearly completely shattered, and the flesh was twisted into a mass.

"This was from a slow touch; if I were faster, or attempted to forcibly remove it, the rebound from the seal might have torn my body apart.

On the surface, it seems the seal can't be penetrated, but the tongue brought me here, suggesting it believes I can enter. I need to think about this."

Luo Di sat cross-legged on the flat ground, expanding his thoughts from his first encounter with the tongue.

"Even though he's sealed here, he spared no great costs to descend to the human world as a limited-time avatar and decisively chose to deeply cooperate with the World Bureau.

Actively participating in various seemingly insignificant small practices, making contact with young humans whose pituitaries hadn't been developed yet.

He made contact with me during high school, influencing my tongue through Demon Possession, while leaving a special Hell Symbol in my brain.

Essentially, he was selecting humans, and once he found someone he deemed 'suitable,' he would share the tongue with them.

Once an individual accepts the tongue, they gain the ability of 'danger foresight,' which greatly reduces the risk of death and ensures the individual's stable growth.

Until the day comes when they have the ability to visit the Corner, the Middle Layer, and come here to break the seal for him.

Why make it so complicated?

Why not directly influence passing monsters and have them help? With his ability to drive back the Joker and the Carnivorous Family, wouldn't influencing monsters be easy?

Is it because monsters can't enter this forest and aren't able to break the seal?

That might be the reason.

This is a Corner seal specifically for monsters.

Humans might not be restricted, or rather, an exclusive 'Connector' among humans can use powers not belonging to the Corner to break the seal?

Yes! That makes sense.

After all, the influence he gave me wasn't just the tongue; he also intentionally left the symbol in my mind.

As a demon formed under the Corner's influence, he might also know about the True Hell and deliberately helped me connect with that side."

With everything roughly figured out, Luo Di suddenly opened his eyes,

temporarily closing his pituitary and not using any Black Door-related abilities. He also set aside the baseball bat and work shoes used as Corner Horror Props.

Just as Luo Di was about to use the Hell System,

Wow!

It felt as if a strong current surged through his spine, reaching his soul, causing him to clutch his back and scream in pain, with a substance similar to Marrow Liquid oozing from his mouth.

His cervical and third lumbar vertebrae were completely fractured, with only a few unstable newly grown nerves connecting them.

Never mind using Hell Ability,

even walking felt uncomfortable.

The discomfort in his spine had almost disappeared after long walks in the forest, so Luo Di thought he'd slightly recovered, but the result was the same.

While resting against a tree,

a tongue centipede with dozens of appendages slowly crawled down, reaching Luo Di's ear and producing a strange sound by stirring its tongue.

"Use... the tongue."

When Luo Di turned his head, the centipede had already crawled away.

"Use the tongue?"

Luo Di suddenly recalled a strange dream he had before, where his injuries were all filled by his tongue.

"Use the tongue to heal and fill my wounds?

The human tongue naturally has disinfectant and antibacterial properties, and in ancient times people used their tongues to lick superficial wounds for initial treatment.

This tongue is so unique; its healing effect should be greatly amplified.

However, using the tongue in my mouth to reach the spine is a bit troublesome. Cutting it off and putting it over? Probably not, need to use abilities... maybe try Mr. Kraft's tentacles to mimic."

Tentacles extended from the cranial cavity to the mouth, connecting to the base of the tongue, quickly mimicking a similar tongue root structure.

Carrying the top, most core part of the tongue, it reversed inside his body, first reaching the cervical vertebrae area and gently licking the wound.

The viscous saliva secreted from the tongue tip was indeed filling the spine wound. But rather than repair, it was more like adhesion.

Like glue binding the spine together.

The same was done for the lumbar fracture.

Everything settled, the tongue returned to its place.

Luo Di continued to hide the Corner abilities and attempted to activate the Hell Energy.

Buzz!

The Old Spine trembled slightly, the pain still present, but the Hell Ability could flow normally between the spine, reaching Luo Di's entire body.

With demon horns growing from his forehead, a smile appeared on his face.

He moved to the center of the clearing, gripping the center hole with his burnt hands. Indeed, such a contact didn't trigger the seal or send his arms flying.

Pulling with strength!

Luo Di peeled off the entire surface of the clearing's ground.

He thought the seal would be lifted and the entity corresponding to the tongue would reveal itself.

But only a wave of moist, cold wind blew from below.

A square wellhead appeared, going straight down, leading to unknown depths. Due to years of moisture and the tongue's influence, various tongue-like mushrooms grew on the well's walls.

When Luo Di stared at the bottom, he vaguely heard some horrifying sound.

Obviously,

he had just torn the surface seal, and the monster corresponding to the tongue remained confined deep underground.

Since Luo Di had made up his mind, he didn't hesitate and jumped in, slowing his descent anytime speed felt too fast by placing his hand against the wall, consequently getting covered in sticky fluid.

50m,

100m,

200m,

500m,

1000m,

1579m,

Splash!

Water splashed everywhere,

Luo Di crashed heavily into a pool of foul, rotten saliva, various tongue-like lotus pods floating on the surface.

As he swam quickly to shore,

Tap!

His tongue clicked in his mouth, but this time not to foresee danger, but to inform Luo Di that "this navigation has ended."

With his left hand open, a flame burst forth in his palm, dispersing the cave's darkness and dampness.

Chains forged from Fear Entity hung from the ceiling of this underground cave, all pointing in one direction.

Luo Di could tell these chains were continuously absorbing energy,

following the source of the chains deeper into the cave,

a skinny man, clothed only in tattered rags around his lower body, with white hair extending beyond his body length, hung pinned to a huge stone statue of a finger.

A flesh-colored tongue tattoo was inked below his right eye.

The chains entangled each part of the cave, some binding or piercing his limbs, back, and the back of his head.

Others connected exclusively to his protruding tongue, suppressing his core ability and continually sucking out the incessant Fear Energy he produced.

"You... finally came."

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