Chapter 2305: Chapter 2305: The Hallucinatory Fragrance

Nobody could escape from the erosion of the Lethal Fire Magma.

At the final moment, Zen's mind went totally blank.

He was already being pummeled into darkness, even before he could recall the hits and misses of his life.

One thing was clear. If his soul diminished, that was the end of his time in the world. There was no returning back.

There were many legends revolving around death in the divine land. One such was that if a person died, he or she was destined for hell, namely the Abyss Demon Region.

It was said that the Abyss Demon Region had eighteen layers, filled with fiends and monsters. Almost all of the incarnations of fears would automatically reveal themselves in the Abyss Demon Region.

'Harold said that the Stone Mouse knows the secret of reincarnation, ' Zen thought.

'Then, Gregorio, who is supposed to die, is still alive.

If that is the case, then the Abyss Demon Region may be the place of reincarnation.

Then it shouldn't be a coincidence that the body of Stone Mouse showed up on the edge of the Abyss Demon Region.'

'Wait! Why am I still thinking? Am I not dead?'

If one's soul was completely destroyed, he or she would lose the ability to think.

As soon as this realization dawned on him, a glimmer of hope lit up in his heart.

But despite the hope, he could hardly move his limbs, nor speak, see or even smell. Except for the small strand of consciousness, he seemed to sense nothing at all.

Suddenly, a thought communicated with him.

“Zen, are you okay?”

“Is that you, No. 9527?” Zen was more than happy to communicate with No. 9527. “How are you coping?”

Technically, if Zen's body was eroded, the sclerite on his chest and No. 9527 should have been burnt.

He didn't expect that No. 9527 could even communicate with him so freely.

“Of course I'm fine. What should I be otherwise?” No. 9527 answered in astonishment.

Its answer left Zen even more baffled. He said, “My body has been burnt to ashes. The sclerite where you are in should have been burnt as well.”

There was no way Zen could save himself, even if he used two Promises of Absolute Beginning.

Once he entered that cave, it would be the end.

No. 9527 was silent for a while before chuckling. “The sclerite is not burnt.”

“What? How?” Zen was stunned.

“Neither the sclerite nor your body has been burnt,” No. 9527 replied.

Zen's mind went blank as he listened to these words. He then asked, “Then what is wrong with me now? I cannot move or feel!”

“You have been deprived of your senses. Currently, you are lying on the ground,” said No. 9527.

“…”

Nothing that No.9527 said made any sense to Zen.

He clearly remembered being devoured by the Lethal Fire Magma. Then how could No. 9527 say that he was alright?

“What is going on? Could you explain it? Can you help me?” Zen asked.

Although No. 9527 was an insignificant brain unit, it was still a strand of the Chaos Ancient God's soul. Therefore, it had a much wider range of knowledge than Zen. ṚάƝỐʙÊṢ

“I myself am to be blamed for landing in this situation. Even I was deluded by the Hallucinatory Fragrance at the beginning,” No. 9527 answered. “I could sense something was not right until I smelled it again. By then it was too late. You was already taken to this place!”

“The Hallucinatory Fragrance? This place? What are you talking about?” Zen still looked confused.

“In reality, nothing exists in this cave. The four legged Earth Ghosts and the Lethal Fire Magma are merely illusions,” No. 9527 said. “You simply have been affected by the Hallucinatory Fragrance.”

Zen could vividly remember the scene now. As soon as he stepped into the layer of soft stones, he could smell a sweet and intense fragrance.

The first Hallucinatory Fragrance had thrown everyone into a dangerous situation.

And the second one formed a situation of death that they could not escape from.

“…” Zen remained silent for a while, and then he asked, “Do you mean to say that all this is not real?”

“Not really. The Stone Mouse is true,” No. 9527 said. “If I'm not wrong, it should lead you to the Reincarnation Land.”

“The Reincarnation Land?” Zen asked curiously.

After thinking for a moment, No. 9527 said, “Your inner world is not yet complete and it's completely normal if you don't know much about it. Some people in the Source World would create a door for the living beings inside their inner worlds, which is known as the chance of reincarnation.”

“Reincarnation that includes the restoration of memories of the previous life?” Zen asked.

“Yes,” No. 9527 said after thinking for a moment. “I guess that the Stone Mouse was for the Nine Li race, but after their members were killed in the divine land, it fell into the hands of someone else.”

“Is it Gregorio?”

Before he had set out, Zen heard about this person from Harold and Joy.

He thought for a while and then said, “But now the Stone Mouse has been reincarnated again and Gregorio has nothing to do with it. Then, why did we enter this illusion?”

“I don't know,” No. 9527 admitted. It was equally puzzled with this fact. It added, “It is most likely that this is someone else's doing. Somebody might have got the possession of the Stone Mouse and clearly did not want anybody else to gain the benefits of reincarnation.”

“But that somebody did not succeed in stopping me. I entered the Reincarnation Land. Didn't I?” Zen asked hopefully.

“Partly that is true. But you seem to have lost all your senses and are hardly able to move. I am afraid you haven't fully succeeded. I guess you fell into the Reincarnation Land by some abnormal means, so your six senses are suppressed,” No. 9527 said with a slight smile.

Zen thought for a while and felt that No. 9527 had a reasonable explanation.

He was like a dead man now.

“What about the others?” Zen enquired.

“They are lying on the ground, just like you,” No. 9527 said, looking around. Both Leland and Jalen lay on the ground motionless, like corpses.

It thought for a while and said, “Maybe I can pass on my sense of the surroundings to you. Let me try.”

As soon as it finished speaking, Zen could feel its consciousness.

When his soul was connected with No. 9527's consciousness, he could clearly see the surrounding environment in his mind.

It was a dark world that possessed nothing.

But not far away, Zen could see a small altar, on which the statue of the Stone Mouse was placed.

This altar seemed different from the one he had seen before. There were tiny wisps of cyan smoke that slowly floated around it.

Zen thought for a while and then asked, “No. 9527, is it possible for you to control my body? I want to have a closer look at the altar.”

Zen had a strong feeling that the key to the current problem was located on the altar of the Stone Mouse. But since he was detached from his senses, he couldn't do anything.

No. 9527 didn't seem to have any problem in doing so.

“Let me try.” Without much hesitation, No. 9527 poured its own consciousness into Zen's mind.

After a while, Zen was able to get up. But he still felt unsteady.

As soon as he got himself into upright position, he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

“I'm sorry. It's my first time to take control of a human body,” No. 9527 said apologetically.

Again Zen slowly got up and groping in the darkness, he unsteadily walked towards the altar.