My body had recovered. Drenched in sweat, I stood up and looked at my hands and feet. Except for my right foot, which was still stone, the rest of my body was intact. I kept touching myself to make sure.
"Alright, let's go to the riverbank. Wash your face and clear your head. I'll take you over there, and once we arrive, you can rest."
I responded with an 'oh' and didn't ask further. Old Ray bent down slightly, signaling for me to climb onto his back.
Just as I was about to climb onto Old Ray's back, I stopped and shook my head.
"I'll walk by myself. Even if I'm slow, I can make it on my own."
"That's the spirit, Ethan. People must never let their desires cloud their minds. Back when I was in the Hell Realm, I saw all kinds of things. So many people lost themselves to their desires and fell into the Hell Realm. I was one of them."
I glanced sideways at Old Ray.
"What are you looking at? After I came out of the Animal Realm, I finally woke up. Even before that—hah—I almost died. Luckily, I pulled through. You'd better be careful. You look exhausted. Did you do something when you first arrived here?"
Thinking of that dream made my cheeks flush with embarrassment. I quickly turned my head away. Old Ray looked at me thoughtfully.
"You must've been blinded by lust, huh? Come on, tell me—how many times did it happen?"
I let out a sound and looked at Old Ray. He seemed to be laughing. Thinking back, that dream was intense—so many different positions, I couldn't even count how many times it happened. I just couldn't stop until I collapsed from exhaustion.
"Alright, enough questions. Damn."
Old Ray strode ahead with a spring in his step, laughing loudly as he ran. I hobbled after him, and just thinking about the dream made my whole body burn with heat.
"Ethan, where are you going? Let's go back and keep going." Rachel Lan's soft, seductive voice came from behind me. My heart skipped a beat, and I stopped in my tracks.
"Hurry up, Ethan!" Old Ray called out from ahead.
"Come on, Ethan, hurry up..." Rachel Lan's voice came in waves, full of temptation. I slowly turned my head.
In an instant, my blood boiled. Rachel Lan stood behind me, dressed in a sheer black gown that revealed everything beneath. I swallowed hard as she walked toward me.
"Feel it, Ethan. My heart is beating so fast..."
As soon as she came closer, Rachel Lan took my hand and placed it on her chest. Through the sheer fabric, I felt warmth and the softness of her skin. My heart pounded as I stared, breathing heavily.
Rachel Lan gently leaned in, grabbed my other hand, and placed it behind her. The sensation was round and incredibly soft—I was about to lose control.
"What are you doing? Hurry up!" Old Ray's voice came from behind me.
Suddenly, a soft, wide bed appeared beside me, piled high with clothes—all of them extremely seductive.
"Ethan, we can try them on, one by one."
Rachel Lan's voice was like a spell, tugging at my heartstrings. Unable to resist, I wrapped my arms around her waist and walked toward the wide bed.
"Damn, what the hell are you doing?"
Old Ray's voice rang out again. Suddenly, I shoved Rachel Lan away.
"Damn, what's the point of messing around with something fake? I'm heading back, I..."
I snapped back to reality. The Rachel Lan in front of me vanished—there was nothing there.
"You were thinking dirty thoughts again, weren't you? I told you to stay sharp if you don't want to die in the Forest of Desire."
I sat down for a moment. Everything that just happened was way too intense. I'd burned through a lot of energy, especially trying to calm my restless, overheated body.
"Let's go. Wash your face at the river. Look at you—you're still hard down there."
Old Ray said it without any hesitation. I shot him a resentful look, but had no choice but to get up and follow him back to the river. I washed my face with the cold water—it felt much better. I drank a little too, and sat contentedly by the river.
"So, where are you taking me?"
"Once you cross this river, you'll be there. There are people living here, you know."
I let out a sound and looked at Old Ray. He opened his mouth wide in a yawn, then sprawled in the water and started paddling across. Soon he was on the other side, shaking off the water and barking at me.
"Ugh, habit. Damn, I'm not even human anymore."
I covered my mouth and laughed, then jumped into the river. But in an instant, I felt my foot wouldn't move—I was sinking. I slapped at the surface of the water, panicking.
"My foot—one of them is still stone! Damn it, Old Ray, help me!"
I shouted as I was sinking.
Tears and snot were streaming out as I gasped for air. Old Ray released my arm from his mouth.
"Sigh, what a hassle. Let's go."
"Wait... weren't you the one who told me to cross?"
"Do you have any brains at all? Just jumping straight into the river, sigh."
I had no choice but to let Old Ray carry me as we kept moving forward. Gradually, I noticed the trees around us thinning out. After a while, I saw a stone table surrounded by broken stone figures.
At that moment, my stomach growled again. Suddenly, I saw the stone table piled high with delicacies—the feast had reappeared. Old Ray kept running forward with me on his back.
"Wait, Old Ray, let's stop for another bowl of rice."
"If you want to die, go ahead. It's almost dark—you can rest soon."
I made a sound, lifting my head in surprise. The sky was still bright blue, dotted with white clouds.
"But it's still daytime. When does it end? At night..."
As I spoke, suddenly everything went pitch black. Night fell. Stars dotted the sky and a crescent moon hung high above. I stared in astonishment at my surroundings.
A burst of firelight appeared before my eyes. I stared in surprise.
"Old Ray, what took you so long? Huh, who's that on your back? Is he new? Let me see."
A woman's voice called out. I looked over in astonishment—a woman with Tibetan braids, dressed in an old Tibetan skirt. She was beautiful, though her skin was a bit dark, and she looked to be in her thirties.
"Tammy Blade, he's an old acquaintance of mine. No idea how he ended up here."
I smiled and looked at the woman with Tibetan braids—Tammy Blade. She was strange, but then, in an instant, I was stunned. A man appeared, wearing a black mask with the character 'life' written on the left side. My heart skipped a beat.
He was from the Immortality Society—that was my first thought. And he was a mid-level member. I'd seen him before, during the Chen Miaoqiang incident. He had taken care of Chen Miaoqiang easily. I wasn't very strong back then, but even now, I had to be careful.
"Sigh, lucky to be alive, but this leg is finished. Let me help you—I'll cut it off and give you a wooden one. It'll be easier."
I let out a cry as Tammy Blade, holding a Tibetan knife, suddenly swung it at my petrified right leg. I shrieked and tumbled off Old Ray's back.
"Hey, hey, Tammy Blade! What's with you? You didn't even ask him before doing that!"
"Shut up, Vincent Swallow, and stay put." Tammy Blade's voice was loud, like a shrew yelling in the street.
As they spoke, I saw a bald, broad-shouldered man with thick legs, dressed in an old black tracksuit. His eyes were glazed with drunkenness, and he held a wine gourd that gave off a strong scent of alcohol.
This was an open woodland, with five simple huts made from branches, pages from books, and stones, arranged in a pentagon in the clearing.
Vincent Swallow sat in front of the first hut on the right, while Mr. Blackmask from the Immortality Society was at the second. Two other huts seemed to have people lying inside. In the center, a fire burned—not very strong.
"Come on, kid, let me cut it off for you. That leg will only waste your strength."
Tammy Blade strode over, walking bow-legged like a man. She grabbed me like a chick, lifting me up.
"No, maybe there's still a way to fix it! Let go of me!"
"There's no way. Even the youngest of us has been stuck here for over a hundred years. No one gets out. If you keep wasting energy like this, you won't survive. Come on."
I screamed as Tammy Blade swung her Tibetan knife down at my right leg.
"Enough already, Tammy Blade! Every time there's a newcomer, you get all excited, thinking you're the boss here?"
It was Mr. Blackmask. In a flash, he darted over and grabbed Tammy Blade's Tibetan knife.
"Blackmask, I'm just looking out for the newcomer. Mind your own business."
Suddenly, Mr. Blackmask kicked me aside. I cried out, and as soon as he let go of the knife, the ground split open with a loud crack. I stared in shock at Tammy Blade, who looked furious.
"What? Since when do you get to interfere in what I do? Blackmask, I'm taking you on today. I'm cutting that kid's leg off, no matter what!"
As she spoke, Tammy Blade's Tibetan braids whipped around her head. A gust of wind rose, leaves rustling and swirling in the air, encircling her in a storm of dead foliage.