The Indestructible Aberration

After Ye Chuan searched the room for a while, apart from the phrase about the goddess killing herself, there seemed to be no other valuable clues.

But what exactly did that phrase mean?

Ye Chuan couldn't quite figure it out, but for now, he could only silently memorize it. Hints in the bizarre instance world were generally useful; it wouldn't leave such a message for no reason.

At the same time, he noticed Xiao Tian, who had been staring blankly, and called out,

"Oi Xiaogua, what are you spacing out for? Aren't you going to come over and help search?"

Xiao Tian immediately reacted and quickly trotted over to Ye Chuan. "Ah, I just zoned out. Brother Cai Kun, did you find any clues?"

As she spoke, Xiao Tian's gaze remained fixed outside the window; there seemed to be something out there that caught her attention.

"No," Ye Chuan said. After all, it was just a small house, and he didn't expect to find many valuable clues inside.

"I guess that makes sense."

For the next while, Ye Chuan carried the door panel and led Xiao Tian to search the nearby houses. Apart from encountering slime monsters a few times, they found no other valuable clues.

"Hmm..."

"What a headache. This damn rain is too restrictive. Where am I supposed to find clues?"

The black rain kept falling, not only interfering with Ye Chuan's vision but also leaving him clueless as to where to even begin looking.

Seeing Ye Chuan looking completely lost, Xiao Tian suddenly spoke up.

"Brother Cai Kun, when I was looking for you earlier, I think I saw another church in this town. Why don't we go over there and see if there are any clues?"

"Another church?"

"Yeah." Xiao Tian nodded.

"Then let's go take a look." Ye Chuan hummed in agreement, but he couldn't help stealing another glance at Xiao Tian. Was this little girl's eyesight really that good?

He couldn't even see it himself, yet she managed to spot it on her way here?

"Where is it?" Ye Chuan asked.

"This way... I think?" Xiao Tian pointed in a direction.

"Let's go then." Ye Chuan hoisted the iron door onto his shoulder, continuing to use it as an umbrella.

The black rain continued to fall endlessly, the sound of it making one's heart sink.

The two of them trudged through the mud, their feet sinking deep into the sticky muck, making every step a struggle.

The houses on both sides had long been reduced to ruins, with broken walls standing crookedly. Through the curtain of rain, a few vague shadows could faintly be seen squirming slowly along the ground.

"Brother Cai Kun... it feels like something has been following us..."

Xiao Tian said, following closely behind Ye Chuan.

"Ignore it, just walk faster," Ye Chuan said without looking back. The massive door panel shielded them completely, ensuring not even a drop of the black rain splashed onto their clothes.

His gaze swept through the rain ahead, faintly making out a blurry silhouette in the distance, resembling the spire of a building. "Is it that one up ahead?"

Xiao Tian looked in the direction he pointed and nodded vigorously. "Yes! That's the one!"

After walking for another ten minutes or so, the outline of the building became clearer; it was indeed a church.

However, this church was far more dilapidated than the one they had stayed in before. The walls were covered in hideous cracks, and parts of them had already collapsed, revealing dark, gaping holes inside. The cross on the roof had snapped in half and was stuck crookedly atop the building, coated in thick black mud and rust.

The church's main doors were long gone, leaving only the bare doorframes, like a wide-open, pitch-black maw waiting for people to walk inside.

"Let's go in and take a look." Carrying the iron door, Ye Chuan took the lead and walked inside.

The interior layout of the church was similar to the one at their spawn point. Dozens of rows of wooden benches lined the hall, but the destruction here was much more severe, with rain leaking in from everywhere.

Most of the benches were broken in two and scattered across the floor. The wooden planks were gnawed and pitted, stained with dark red blood and dark purple slime.

Ye Chuan's gaze fell upon the goddess statue at the end of the hall.

Just like the one in the previous church, this goddess statue was also headless. The break at the neck was jagged, as if it had been forcefully snapped off by brute strength. The broken edge was stained with dark brown smudges—whether dried blood or something else, it was impossible to tell.

The body of the statue was covered in scratches and dents, clearly having been intentionally smashed. One of its arms was also broken off, lying shattered on the ground nearby.

"Headless again..." Ye Chuan muttered to himself. He walked over and kicked the fragments of the statue on the floor. The rock-hard pieces were covered in black mud, with nothing special about them.

"Brother Cai Kun, I'll go check the next room for clues!"

After saying that, Xiao Tian walked toward the adjacent room. The door there was left ajar, and the inside was pitch black; nothing could be seen.

"Mm, be careful," Ye Chuan replied, then began searching the hall.

Just as Ye Chuan was looking under a broken bench, he suddenly heard a shrill scream coming from the next room.

"Ah!!"

Immediately after, there was a loud crash, sounding like something being knocked over, followed by the dull thuds of a struggle echoing from the adjacent room.

"Gua?" Ye Chuan instantly dashed over, kicking open the half-closed door.

The scene inside made even Ye Chuan frown.

The room was in complete disarray. An old, battered cabinet lay on the floor, its contents scattered everywhere. Xiao Tian was huddled in the corner of the room, trembling with fear. And standing right in front of her was a bizarre, humanoid monster.

The monster was pitch-black all over, as if soaked through by the black rain. Its entire body was wrapped in thick bandages, which had long since been stained a dark brown, making one's scalp tingle just looking at it.

It was significantly taller than an average adult, with an impossibly emaciated frame and stiff limbs. The nails on its fingers were sharp and long, gleaming with a cold, dark glint.

The bandages were tightly wound, revealing only two murky, blood-red eyes. They had no pupils, just a dead, crimson stillness, staring fixedly at the cowering Xiao Tian as low, guttural growls emanated from its throat.

Ye Chuan took a massive stride forward, raised his greatsword, and slashed down viciously at the monster.

Clang!

The greatsword struck the monster's body, producing a crisp sound like metal clashing against metal. The immense force sent the monster flying backward, tumbling across the floor a few times.

"Huh?" Ye Chuan paused in surprise. This monster's defense was much stronger than the slime monsters from before.

The monster steadied itself and slowly turned its head. Its blood-red eyes locked onto Ye Chuan before it charged at him stiffly. Its sharp nails swiped straight for Ye Chuan's chest, carrying a foul-smelling gust of wind.

Ye Chuan sidestepped to dodge, then raised his greatsword in a horizontal sweep, slashing fiercely into the monster's waist.

Squelch—

This time, the greatsword easily sliced through the monster's body. Dark purple slime instantly splattered all over the floor. The monster was chopped in half at the waist; its upper body fell to the ground, while its lower half remained standing stiffly in place, refusing to fall.

Ye Chuan was just about to turn around and help Xiao Tian up when he seemed to notice something.

The upper half of the body on the ground and the standing lower half actually began to squirm and fuse together. In just a few short seconds, the monster was completely restored. Retaining its hideous appearance, it charged at Ye Chuan once again, its blood-red eyes entirely devoid of emotion.

"This anomaly can actually resurrect?"

Ye Chuan hoisted his giant sword again and unleashed several rapid swings, every single strike hacking precisely into the monster's body.

Yet, even when chopped into minced meat, the monster would instantly heal and return to its original state, its aura not weakening in the slightest.

"Brother Cai Kun... it, it can't be killed..." Xiao Tian said.