Chapter 2882: Chapter 2882: Stealthy Communication

The mysterious black was deep and all around, blocking all eyes from seeing anything. Nothing but loneliness was left in the Dark Region.

Previously, the other disciples had been there with them, but even then, they had found it hard to resist this lonely and gloomy feeling. Now that Zen and Elvinia were left alone, the uncomfortable feeling overwhelmed them even further.

The huts had seemed mysterious and fascinating when they had seen them from the Other Shore. But once they were inside them, they knew they were nothing but candle workshops. This disappointing fact added to their depression, especially after they found that their freedom had been taken from them.

“The other disciples will return to the Oneness Sky Palace and report our situation to my mother... She is going to be so worried...” Elvinia murmured, staring at the flickering candlelight that was casting ghostly shadows around them.

“You are right, but her worries won't take us out of here,” Zen remarked, shaking his head and heaving a sigh.

They had no way of leaving the Other Shore. The Illusion Breaking Rune had been rendered useless, and they couldn't be forcibly woken up by friends in the outside world, either.

And no matter how powerful Flamine was, she couldn't descend from the upper stages of the Other Shore to come to their rescue. In fact, even Eastern Emperor Taiyi and Yasamin couldn't find a way to help them at this point.

The Other Shore was a special type of place. Most of the time, it could be considered safer than most other places in the Source World. Almost all kinds of predicaments could be faced using the Illusion Breaking Rune only. However, if someone were unable to get out, then the Other Shore would become the most dangerous place.

“What if the three-eyed boy refuses to let us go?” Elvinia asked.

“Right now, I don't know,” Zen replied briefly with a shrug.

If they continued with this topic, it was highly likely that Elvinia would mention the candles hidden in her space ring. Therefore, Zen decisively stopped the conversation.

They waited in front of the hut for another two hours.

Suddenly, the Blue Twin Stars emerged in the dark sky above them, and the ground beneath them began to shake.

“The giant ape is back now...” Zen muttered, his eyes flashing into alertness.

The first time they had seen the three-eyed boy, he and the giant ape had appeared together.

Going by that, the giant ape's return could be considered a sign of the three-eyed boy's return. Still, Zen was worried that the three-eyed boy would merely hide himself in the darkness around them, choosing to observe them without being noticed.

Several loud thuds resounded in the darkness as the ground continued to shake.

Before long, the sound ceased abruptly somewhere close to the hut.

A giant hairy hand stretched out from the darkness and spread at the door of the hut.

Then, the three-eyed boy stepped down from the giant ape's palm. He had been bloodstained all over his body when they had seen him before. But now, he was injured even more severely. One side of his face was scraped very badly, and his arm was covered with several lacerations. Numerous small, black bugs were wriggling and biting the flesh within his wounds. ℞АΝỐ𝐛Ê𝘴

“These black bugs...” Zen mumbled.

Despite the extraordinary experiences and insights he had, Zen felt an inexplicable sense of fear in his heart when he saw the black bugs, as if they were the nemesis of the physical form of all creatures.

The three-eyed boy got down in front of the hut and stretched out his hand. The candle that was burning in front of the door flew into his hand, which he circled around his arm, shining the light at the black bugs on his wounds.

Some sizzling sounds could be heard when the light fell on the bugs.

The black bugs seemed deathly afraid of the candle. They had been greedily biting the three-eyed boy's arm, but when the candlelight fell on them, they crazily writhed in pain. Very soon, they dropped down dead. The boy waved his arm slightly and shook the remaining corpses to the ground.

As if noticing the careful gaze Zen was casting at him, the three-eyed boy explained flatly, “These Black Helmet Bugs are not afraid of fire. They fear only light...”

All the creatures in the Dark Region were afraid of light, including the three-eyed boy himself.

However, some of them were powerful enough to endure the candle light for quite a long while, while others would quickly succumb to the light.

In front of their very eyes, the Black Armor Bugs' corpses on the ground were very soon neutralized by the candle light and they vanished into thin air.

The strange thing was that the corpses of the Black Helmet Bugs emanated a faint black light before they completely dissipated. Zen noticed the phenomenon and wondered, 'Does everything in the Dark Region conflict with the substances of the outside world?'

While Zen was still focused on observing and thinking, the three-eyed boy spoke up, “Show me the fruits of your effort. If you can't prove your value, it will be pointless for me to keep you here.”

“So will you let us go?” Elvinia asked in surprise.

Zen sighed to himself and thought, 'Elvinia is so naive.'

The three-eyed boy merely sneered in reply and walked into the hut. As soon as he entered, his eyes fell on the candles placed in the corner. Zen had collected the candles he and Elvinia had made and placed them together. The vessels had also been returned to their original position.

The three-eyed boy glanced at the candles for a while before he reached out and grabbed one in his hand. He then nodded with a satisfied expression on his face. “Your first candles are good enough. I will spare your lives so you may work for me,” he said.

Hearing his comments, Zen finally heaved a sigh of relief.

The three-eyed boy then fetched more Burning Crystals from another hut below. He placed them at the center of the third hut. Together, the crystals made a big pile on the floor. After giving them a few more orders, the boy jumped onto the giant ape's palm and left in a hurry.

The ground shook severely as the boy and the ape galloped away.

Zen and Elvinia watched them until their figures vanished into the darkness.

Very soon, the place returned to silence.

“He seems in quite a hurry, doesn't he?” Elvinia said.

“You are right. His injuries are getting worse each time, and he stayed here for a much shorter period this time,” Zen nodded.

Since the creatures of the Dark Region couldn't survive long in the light, it meant that the three-eyed boy would have to pay a certain price if he wanted to stay in the candle light for any period of time, especially if that period was long. This was an obvious assumption.

The more serious the boy's injuries grew, the more trouble he would have staying in the light, which was why he had to come and go in a hurry each time.

Zen pondered over his assumptions as he threw a few Burning Crystals into the pot. After he had poured some green powder over them, he asked Elvinia to release her divine flames to melt the crystals.

While Elvinia was releasing the divine flames, she suddenly asked, “We can't light up these candles. I am wondering how the three-eyed boy lights them up.”

Zen shook his head and replied, “I don't know, but I have a feeling these candles we made are unfinished. I think that he conceals the last stage from us.”

Zen was wondering why Elvinia had suddenly raised such a question when she waved at him and said, “I believe there are at least three candles that we can light up. What do you think?”

Three was the exact number of candles Dorothy had handed over to her secretly. Elvinia had attempted to inquire about them, but had been interrupted by Zen every time. She understood that he wanted to conceal them from the three-eyed boy, and therefore, decided to ask about them cleverly.

Zen instantly understood the undertone of her words and replied, “Yes, I suppose so. We may give it a shot after the work is done. But there's no hurry for now. In any case, the three-eyed boy doesn't seem that bad. Maybe he'll let us go at the right time after we make enough candles for him.”

“I agree,” Elvinia nodded.

She was smart enough to get Zen's real meaning: the three candles from Dorothy could be lit up, but right now wasn't the time. They would light up the candles and escape only when the time was ripe.

Some distance away in the Dark Region, the three-eyed boy was sitting in the giant ape's palm and healing himself.

Beside him, a round black curtain was floating in the air gracefully. If creatures from outside the Dark Region looked into this curtain, they would see nothing. The curtain would just be that for them; a curtain. However, through this black curtain, the three-eye boy could see every movement of Zen and Elvinia, as well as hear their conversation.

“Let you go? Huh, in your dreams!” The three-eyed boy sneered and waved his hand. The round black curtain disappeared immediately.

The Burning Crystal mine had been taken over by the black monkeys. They were very strong creatures, and successfully plundering the Burning Crystals from them was no small achievement. The three-eyed boy had recently obtained a large amount of those Burning Crystals, but the price was that he had suffered a lot of injuries.

Fortunately, his candle workshop had already been on. The drudges he had found — a human male and a female — were quite efficient, therefore, he had decided on working hard to plunder more crystals now.