Chapter 106: The Moss’s Bewitching Chant and the Node Revealed
The shadow at the entrance of the rift was as thick as ink. Cold, damp air continuously surged up from underground, carrying that ceaseless, low-frequency whisper. The sound had no fixed words, yet it was like tiny insects that burrowed into the Sea of Consciousness through the ear canals, teasing out the hidden irritability, exhaustion, and fear deep within their hearts.
The screen of the vertical detector in Su Wan's hand flickered incessantly, the waveform curve fluctuating violently.
"The deeper we go, the stronger the resonance. The source of the signal is deep within the rift. Those gray mosses on the rock walls—they themselves are participating in the resonance."
Lin Yan extended his hand, his fingertips hovering an inch above the moss on the rock wall. He separated a wisp of fine psychic thread from his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness to gently touch it.
The moment the psychic thread made contact with the moss, the entire patch of moss writhed slightly, and a fine psychic tremor bounced back along the thread.
"As expected," Lin Yan withdrew his psychic thread and spoke in a low voice. "These aren't ordinary mosses. They are symbiotic organisms cultivated by the underground race. Every clump of moss is a micro-resonance node. Countless mosses linked together and superimposed form this continuous, bewildering chant."
Shen Ke looked around, his right hand always resting on the short knife at his waist. "This kind of thing is too well-concealed. To the naked eye, they just look like ordinary attachments on the rock wall. If all the secondary rifts on the perimeter of the six major bastions are covered with this kind of symbiotic moss, continuously radiating low-frequency psychic waves year after year, the consequences would be unimaginable."
Xu Yang took out a sealed sampling test tube, carefully scraped off a small piece of moss, and quickly sealed it inside. The moss in the tube was still writhing slightly even after the cap was closed, emitting a faint tremor through the glass.
"Sample secured. We'll hand it over to the research institute for component analysis when we get back, to see if there's a targeted way to eradicate it."
Zhao Hu held a high-intensity flashlight, its beam piercing the darkness and extending deep into the rift. The passage wasn't very wide; the rock walls were shattered, and the ground was covered in thick, black mud that was slippery and difficult to walk on. Scattered across the ground were shed shells and broken bone fragments from scaled beasts. The deeper they went, the stronger the stench of decay became.
The squad advanced slowly in a triangular formation. Zhao Hu took the lead to clear the path, Su Wan stayed in the center to continuously monitor the signals, Lin Yan positioned himself in the middle to provide support, Shen Ke brought up the rear, and Xu Yang handled both sampling and perimeter security.
The bewildering chant continuously swirled within their Sea of Consciousness.
Xu Yang's brow gradually tightened, his breathing unconsciously grew heavier, and a hint of irritability surfaced in his eyes. "This sound... after listening to it for so long, I inexplicably feel panicked."
"Retract your Sea of Consciousness, guard your mind, and don't sway with the resonance frequency," Lin Yan's voice came through the squad's internal communicator into everyone's ears. His fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness deployed a faint psychic barrier to envelop the entire squad, offsetting some of the erosion from the moss's bewildering chant. "Do not stare at the moss on the rock walls for too long."
Everyone followed his instructions, forcibly suppressing the restlessness in their hearts.
After advancing about eighty meters, the space ahead suddenly opened up, leading them into a natural rock cavern.
In the center of the cavern rose a massive black rock platform. Its surface was densely covered with large patches of gray symbiotic moss, far more abundant than the moss along the walls. The entire patch of moss rose and fell in synchronized tremors. All the micro-nodes converged here, forming a main resonance hub; the source of the bewildering chant was right here.
Around the cavern, over a dozen scaled beasts lay quietly prostrate on the ground, motionless. They hadn't launched an attack; instead, their heads were all facing the rock platform, listening to the bewildering chant silently like devout believers.
"They are scaled beasts tamed by the bewildering chant," Shen Ke whispered. "They haven't received any hunting orders; they are only drawn by the instinct of the resonance. As long as we don't destroy the main moss hub, they most likely won't launch a surprise attack."
Su Wan quickly adjusted her detector, recording the complete resonance spectrum of the main node. "Found it. The core node is right on this rock platform. The signal strength far exceeds the combined output of all the moss outside. This is the bewildering chant generator of the No. 3 Rift."
Xu Yang took out a micro-explosive device and proposed in a low voice, "Captain, should we just plant the explosives and destroy this main moss hub? Once it's destroyed, the bewildering chant throughout the entire rift will disappear."
Lin Yan carefully scanned every corner of the cavern, his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness probing outward meticulously.
"Don't rush," Lin Yan shook his head slightly. "Look closely. Although these scaled beasts are quiet, their bodies are tense; they are in a state of alert. If we detonate explosives, the loud noise combined with the psychic shockwave from the node's destruction will instantly awaken them. Moreover, I sense a narrow passage extending inward behind the cavern. There is a faint psychic aura hidden inside. It's not a scaled beast; something is hiding in the dark, watching us."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a faint sound of shells scraping against each other echoed from the dark passage behind the cavern.
The dozen or so scaled beasts prostrate around the rock platform suddenly raised their heads in unison, low roars rolling from their throats. The previously dormant beasts were instantly awakened by a command from the hidden presence, their pitch-black vertical pupils locking onto the squad.
The presence in the dark was finally no longer hiding.
A cold, obscure will gently drifted into everyone's Sea of Consciousness. Unlike the Ancient Progenitor's overwhelming dominance, this will carried a venomous chill.
"Intruding humans... You shouldn't have entered this place."
Su Wan's detector jumped violently, and she whispered in shock, "A lesser priest!"
The screen of the vertical detector in Su Wan's hand flickered incessantly, the waveform curve fluctuating violently.
"The deeper we go, the stronger the resonance. The source of the signal is deep within the rift. Those gray mosses on the rock walls—they themselves are participating in the resonance."
Lin Yan extended his hand, his fingertips hovering an inch above the moss on the rock wall. He separated a wisp of fine psychic thread from his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness to gently touch it.
The moment the psychic thread made contact with the moss, the entire patch of moss writhed slightly, and a fine psychic tremor bounced back along the thread.
"As expected," Lin Yan withdrew his psychic thread and spoke in a low voice. "These aren't ordinary mosses. They are symbiotic organisms cultivated by the underground race. Every clump of moss is a micro-resonance node. Countless mosses linked together and superimposed form this continuous, bewildering chant."
Shen Ke looked around, his right hand always resting on the short knife at his waist. "This kind of thing is too well-concealed. To the naked eye, they just look like ordinary attachments on the rock wall. If all the secondary rifts on the perimeter of the six major bastions are covered with this kind of symbiotic moss, continuously radiating low-frequency psychic waves year after year, the consequences would be unimaginable."
Xu Yang took out a sealed sampling test tube, carefully scraped off a small piece of moss, and quickly sealed it inside. The moss in the tube was still writhing slightly even after the cap was closed, emitting a faint tremor through the glass.
"Sample secured. We'll hand it over to the research institute for component analysis when we get back, to see if there's a targeted way to eradicate it."
Zhao Hu held a high-intensity flashlight, its beam piercing the darkness and extending deep into the rift. The passage wasn't very wide; the rock walls were shattered, and the ground was covered in thick, black mud that was slippery and difficult to walk on. Scattered across the ground were shed shells and broken bone fragments from scaled beasts. The deeper they went, the stronger the stench of decay became.
The squad advanced slowly in a triangular formation. Zhao Hu took the lead to clear the path, Su Wan stayed in the center to continuously monitor the signals, Lin Yan positioned himself in the middle to provide support, Shen Ke brought up the rear, and Xu Yang handled both sampling and perimeter security.
The bewildering chant continuously swirled within their Sea of Consciousness.
Xu Yang's brow gradually tightened, his breathing unconsciously grew heavier, and a hint of irritability surfaced in his eyes. "This sound... after listening to it for so long, I inexplicably feel panicked."
"Retract your Sea of Consciousness, guard your mind, and don't sway with the resonance frequency," Lin Yan's voice came through the squad's internal communicator into everyone's ears. His fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness deployed a faint psychic barrier to envelop the entire squad, offsetting some of the erosion from the moss's bewildering chant. "Do not stare at the moss on the rock walls for too long."
Everyone followed his instructions, forcibly suppressing the restlessness in their hearts.
After advancing about eighty meters, the space ahead suddenly opened up, leading them into a natural rock cavern.
In the center of the cavern rose a massive black rock platform. Its surface was densely covered with large patches of gray symbiotic moss, far more abundant than the moss along the walls. The entire patch of moss rose and fell in synchronized tremors. All the micro-nodes converged here, forming a main resonance hub; the source of the bewildering chant was right here.
Around the cavern, over a dozen scaled beasts lay quietly prostrate on the ground, motionless. They hadn't launched an attack; instead, their heads were all facing the rock platform, listening to the bewildering chant silently like devout believers.
"They are scaled beasts tamed by the bewildering chant," Shen Ke whispered. "They haven't received any hunting orders; they are only drawn by the instinct of the resonance. As long as we don't destroy the main moss hub, they most likely won't launch a surprise attack."
Su Wan quickly adjusted her detector, recording the complete resonance spectrum of the main node. "Found it. The core node is right on this rock platform. The signal strength far exceeds the combined output of all the moss outside. This is the bewildering chant generator of the No. 3 Rift."
Xu Yang took out a micro-explosive device and proposed in a low voice, "Captain, should we just plant the explosives and destroy this main moss hub? Once it's destroyed, the bewildering chant throughout the entire rift will disappear."
Lin Yan carefully scanned every corner of the cavern, his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness probing outward meticulously.
"Don't rush," Lin Yan shook his head slightly. "Look closely. Although these scaled beasts are quiet, their bodies are tense; they are in a state of alert. If we detonate explosives, the loud noise combined with the psychic shockwave from the node's destruction will instantly awaken them. Moreover, I sense a narrow passage extending inward behind the cavern. There is a faint psychic aura hidden inside. It's not a scaled beast; something is hiding in the dark, watching us."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a faint sound of shells scraping against each other echoed from the dark passage behind the cavern.
The dozen or so scaled beasts prostrate around the rock platform suddenly raised their heads in unison, low roars rolling from their throats. The previously dormant beasts were instantly awakened by a command from the hidden presence, their pitch-black vertical pupils locking onto the squad.
The presence in the dark was finally no longer hiding.
A cold, obscure will gently drifted into everyone's Sea of Consciousness. Unlike the Ancient Progenitor's overwhelming dominance, this will carried a venomous chill.
"Intruding humans... You shouldn't have entered this place."
Su Wan's detector jumped violently, and she whispered in shock, "A lesser priest!"
