The increasingly absurd and bizarre scene made Wan Lei's sense of unreality grow stronger. It felt as if he were in a dream, flitting from one place to another, unbound by logic or reason, in a world of fantastical and grotesque imagery.
Despite his feet firmly on the ground, there was a constant sense of hollowness.
This peculiar sensation had begun the moment they entered the amusement park.
After obtaining the key, Meng Meng skipped towards the staircase.
The stairs of the ancient castle were made of some unknown stone, over three meters wide, sturdy and ancient.
Unlike the typical spiral staircases of castles, these stairs made a turn halfway up. The second flight led to the second floor.
At the top of the stairs was a large platform facing a tightly shut grand door. Reaching the door, Meng Meng inserted the key she held into the keyhole, turned it gently, and shouted, "Open sesame!"
The grand door remained motionless.
Just as everyone began to wonder if the little frog had tricked them, a deep voice suddenly emanated from within the room.
"State the password."
"Password? What password?"
Meng Meng asked, confused.
"A lama came from the south."
The voice from within the room was deep and solemn.
Meng Meng paused for a moment before tentatively replying,
"A mute came from the north?"
Creak…
The door opened.
Wan Lei and the others were once again bewildered.
Damn it, wasn't this supposed to be a Western fantasy world? What was with this tongue-twister?
Regardless, they could finally enter.
The grand door opened, and Wan Lei and the others followed Meng Meng into the second-floor room.
This room was also large, furnished with antique decorations, tables, chairs, and benches. The most striking feature was the deer head sculpture hanging in the center of the wall.
"Good evening, little deer."
Meng Meng looked up and greeted the deer head.
Wan Lei and the others glanced at the deer head, assuming it was just a statue and Meng Meng was playing around. They began searching the room for any mechanisms, traps, or monsters, as the little frog and little pig had mentioned that floors one through eight would contain traps or monsters.
Moreover, even if they cleared the first eight floors, they would have to face the Midnight Baron on the ninth floor. Wan Lei didn't believe that the opponents matched for them by the immortal would be weak.
At that moment, the deer head spoke. From its deep, solemn tone, it was clear that it was the one who had spoken the tongue-twister earlier.
"Meng Meng, starting from this floor, every level is extremely dangerous. I urge you to leave immediately, or this will become your burial ground. You will surely die without a whole corpse…
Hey, hey, hey, let go, let go!"
Before the deer head could finish speaking, Meng Meng leaped high, grabbed its antlers with both hands, braced her feet against the wall, and pulled with all her might.
The deer head was gradually pulled out from the wall, slowly revealing its body.
Soon, Meng Meng had pulled the entire deer out.
As the deer was detached from the wall, both lost their support and fell heavily to the ground.
"Ouch, my butt is split in two."
Meng Meng stood up, gently rubbed her little backside, then pointed at the struggling deer and said triumphantly,
"Hurry up and tell me where the stairs to the third floor are, or I'll beat you to death."
"You have to beat me to death to find the stairs to the third floor."
"..."
This... was it that simple?
Wan Lei and the others looked at Meng Meng with hopeful anticipation, wishing she would display her might and dispatch the deer as easily as she had the witch earlier.
Suddenly, the deer began to glow with an iridescent light. From its antlers to its tail, it turned a myriad of vibrant colors, appearing magnificent and beautiful.
The surrounding objects were almost all in shades of gray, black, and white, monotonous yet exuding an ancient and weathered charm. The sudden appearance of a vibrantly colored deer seemed jarring and extremely bizarre.
The multicolored elk shook its head and transformed into a stream of colorful light, charging towards Meng Meng.
Meng Meng reached out, her body instantly distorting into an illusion. The multicolored elk missed.
Next, the elk charged towards Wan Lei.
Wan Lei didn't dodge, nor did he have time to. He only unleashed a bolt of lightning, but it passed through the elk's body without causing any harm.
The elk crashed into him, sending Wan Lei flying backward. He hit the wall and then fell to the ground.
The elk rampaged through the hall, continuously attacking them, while they were unable to harm it, forced to passively endure the blows.
Perhaps, they had to find the elk's weakness, break its inviolable rule, to be able to defeat it.
Much like how they dealt with the undead in the previous level.
This strange and absurd feeling gradually ignited a sense of frustration in Wan Lei's heart.
Elusive, ethereal, and unpredictable, it was immensely irritating.
He much preferred the solid, grounded feeling of the Thunderwind Realm.
Even when facing powerful enemies, even dozens of Demon Commanders, at least the battles were straightforward, with attacks landing squarely. There wasn't so much bizarre absurdity and ostentatious flair.
If you can hit me, I can hit you. If you're strong, you kill me; if you're weak, I kill you. It was simple, how much better was that? Look at this place, what a chaotic mess.
Ghost Immortal's Secret Realm, even if you gave me ferocious ghosts to kill, I would be willing.
But why must you introduce so many things that defy logic and are chaotic in their rules?
Does it make the Ghost Immortal seem intellectually superior? Does it make you seem capable?
Wan Lei did not believe that this unhittable elk was designed by some damned Baron. If he possessed the ability to set such rules, then Wan Lei would be utterly incapable of dealing with him.
This must have been designed by the Ghost Immortal himself.
The more Wan Lei thought about it, the more agitated he became. He was truly fed up with these illogical, bizarre things.
At this moment, he would rather fight the Ghost Immortal face-to-face than deal with these strange entities again.
All fear of the unknown stems from a lack of overwhelming power. If Wan Lei possessed the strength to break all formations with one strike, he wouldn't care about any strangeness, any memetics, any rules; he would throw a punch, and all things would turn to dust.
To hell with the amusement park,
To hell with memetics,
To hell with the undead and zombies,
To hell with spiders and toads,
What disgusting things are these?
To hell with the rules!
If I had the ability to change all these rules, I would sweep across the universe and make everything proceed according to my rules!
With this thought, a seed of order, named Order, appeared at the center of Wan Lei's brow.
Wan Lei did not know what this was, yet he felt an extreme sense of familiarity. The memories sealed by the Immortal Venerable began to loosen.
He clearly felt that this wisp of Order could allow him to re-establish the rules here, to reshape the order of this place.
Wan Lei looked up at the ceiling and said with a grim tone,
"Ghost Immortal, I know you're watching.
You designed the secret realm, set the rules, and want to test me. I'll consider it as you inviting me to dine at your table.
Fine, I'll play by your rules.
However, if your rules disgust me, if they make me extremely uncomfortable, then don't blame me... for flipping your table!"