Evan Yang glanced at the barrier, then smiled at Burch. "Thanks."
"No need to thank me. Safe travels," Burch replied.
Evan nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to the barrier. After staring at it for a while, he lifted his foot and stepped inside, disappearing into the barrier.
Outside the barrier, Burch watched Evan vanish and sighed, "Hope you'll be alright." Then he turned and entered the stone, leaving the area.
As for Evan, what greeted his eyes was a desolate space—withered grass, crumbling stones, cracked cities, dry earth. It was a place where life seemed impossible.
Yet in such a place, Evan still saw corpses—just ahead, a skull wedged in a crack in the stone, with a broken body beneath it.
Evan frowned. "This space shouldn't have any life. How did he end up dead here?"
Looking at the skeleton, Evan recalled the name of this space: the Dead-Forbidden Zone.
"Dead-Forbidden Zone? If it's already forbidden, why call it 'dead'? Isn't that contradictory?" Evan was curious about the origin of the name; it was a strange way to call it.
He shifted his gaze from the skeleton and looked around to see if there were more bones nearby. What he found startled him: along a certain path, every ten steps there was a corpse hidden among dried weeds and scattered stones. At first, Evan thought they were just small rocks, but when he got closer, he realized these bones were shattered all over, not a single piece intact—like a pile of broken stones.
"What did they encounter? Why did it turn out like this?" Evan frowned.
Curious and alert, Evan kept walking until he reached a ruined city. Strangely, the city was spotless—no corpses, no scattered stones or weeds, as if someone cleaned it every day.
The ruined city stood like an ancient relic, unmoving and silent. The quieter it was, the more anxious Evan felt. He slowly approached the ruins, spreading his Divine Sense to scan the surroundings.
Whenever a breeze swept past him, Evan could clearly sense its direction—like he was a leaf drifting in the wind.
Eventually, Evan reached the very center and saw a pool. The pool was circular, and in the middle stood a statue. But the pool was dried up—there wasn't a drop of water left.
"That statue is incredibly lifelike." Evan examined it closely: human upper body, serpent lower body, two eyes—one open, one closed.
After a while, Evan looked away and walked around the pool to continue on. But as soon as he turned his gaze and spread his Divine Sense, the statue's other eye silently opened, its face twisting into a strange smile—then it quickly returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
Evan searched all around and finally found something written. Before him stood a giant stone stele, carved with a few large characters: "Close your eyes, close your eyes, close your eyes again."
"Close your eyes, close your eyes, close your eyes again? What kind of saying is that?" Evan muttered to himself. It was the first time he'd seen such a bizarre message.
Puzzled, Evan walked around the stele. When he got to the back, his eyes widened and he was left speechless. Hanging before him were several banners that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, each with different writing. The foremost banner contained information about the Divine Pill Chapter.
Evan read carefully. It said the Divine Pill Chapter was hidden somewhere in this space. Besides that, he noticed that other banners were covered with names.
"All these names? So many? What are they for?" Evan muttered, puzzled.
"Those are the people who died here." Suddenly, a voice came from behind the banners. Hearing someone, Evan was startled and asked, "Who?"
Suddenly someone appeared at his side. Evan didn't even see the shadow before a hand grabbed him, pulling him away. Only when they reached a dark cave did Evan, using his Night-Eye Technique, see it was a middle-aged man—missing his right hand, only the left remained. It was this hand that had pulled Evan here.
"Senior, who are you?" Evan knew the other was no ordinary person, so he spoke respectfully.
"Me? I almost forgot my own name. But you can call me Stone Freak," the man said.
Hearing such a strange name, Evan replied respectfully, "Senior Stone."
"So, what are you doing here?" Stone Freak asked.
"I'm here to find something," Evan replied.
"Looking for what? An immortality pill? The Divine Pill Chapter? Or something else?" Stone Freak asked one by one. Evan didn't know what the Divine Pill Chapter had to do with immortality pills, but he replied, "I'm here for the Divine Pill Chapter."
"As expected. But I advise you to leave now. Otherwise, you won't get the Divine Pill Chapter—you'll turn to stone first," Stone Freak said.
"Stone? Why?" Evan asked, puzzled.
"There's a monster woman here with terrifying eyes. When she opens both, anyone she sees turns to stone," Stone Freak explained.
Evan was shocked. "Is that really possible?" he asked, incredulous.
"Of course. The corpses you saw all ended up that way. So I advise you to leave," Stone Freak said.
"I came here for the Divine Pill Chapter. If it's here, I'm not leaving," Evan said firmly.
"You're really stubborn. If you die, don't come looking for me. Get out," Stone Freak sighed.
Evan wanted to ask more, but Stone Freak drove him out of the cave. Helpless, Evan waited outside.
The surroundings were still silent. Then, Evan saw a beam of light in the sky ahead. Curious, he got up to investigate, but a hand pulled him down. "Don't go. It's a trap."
"Senior, you finally came out," Evan said with delight.
"If I hadn't seen you about to get yourself killed, I wouldn't have bothered coming out," Stone Freak said.
Evan ignored the reason and asked, "What's going on here?"
"That's the monster's seductive illusion. It makes you think there's a treasure, but if you go, you'll only meet her eyes," Stone Freak explained.
Hearing this, Evan was startled—and relieved he hadn't gone. Still, he asked, "Senior, why are you here? Don't you want to leave?"
"I won't leave until I've killed her," Stone Freak said.
"Kill her? Senior, didn't you say her eyes are deadly? How can you kill her?" Evan asked curiously.
"Her eyes don't shine in the dark. As long as it's dark enough, they're useless. But she's not stupid—whenever I make a dark spot to lure her in, she always lights it up before entering," Stone Freak said.
"So, Senior, you mean she can't use her power in the dark?" Evan asked.
"That's right," Stone Freak said.
Evan finally understood why Stone Freak liked hiding in dark places—it was to avoid the monster woman.
"Then why do you want to kill her, Senior?" Evan asked, puzzled.
"Because she killed all my family," he said flatly.
"All your family?" Evan asked, shocked.
"You don't know. She and I are from the same world. Somehow she gained this power, and in one night destroyed my entire family. I blocked her deadly light with one hand, crippling it for good—never grew back," he said, deeply agitated.
"So she's from your world too? Then why did she come here?" Evan asked, confused.
"She came here for the Divine Pill Chapter. But I threw it somewhere she can't reach—it's too dangerous. She's always looking for someone to die in her place, so she tries to trick me. I've seen through her tricks. Over the years, many have died at her hands, and she writes every victim's name on those banners," Stone Freak said.
"The Divine Pill Chapter—is it really here?" Evan asked, curious.
"That's right. But I threw it somewhere unreachable—even she won't risk going. Many have died trying, but none were strong enough; they either died as sacrifices or were killed by her," he said.
After hearing this, Evan said gloomily, "So there's no hope, then?"
"Do you really need it?" Stone Freak asked.