The Cornflower Witch Chapter 156

The next day, the team set off early in the morning. Their belongings and packages had already been checked and prepared the night before. After a simple breakfast as the sun rose, they embarked on their journey.

Leaving Beig Town, they followed a mountain path westward, traversing through woods filled with weeds and bushes, gradually arriving at the edge of the outpost.

Compared to the peaceful town, the air here was distinctly different; even the distant scenery appeared gray and still, as if sketched with a pencil.

“This is it.”

“Bad Apple” stopped, turning to face his companions. Yarn was not far behind him, followed by Hylial, Bona, and Karl.

“The black and white part of the Shadowland is actually a non-existent world. It only appears to be there, but in reality, it’s merely a projection of the Cloud Sea Continent,” he explained briefly to Hylial.

“When it gains ‘color,’ it gradually develops real parts from its illusory state.”

“Every time we walk through it, we leave faint traces. Once these accumulate to a certain extent, this illusory part can transform into a real world.”

“However, this process is quite long, and ordinary people usually won’t witness it.”

“Although it’s not visible, this also offers an advantage: if your Perception is exceptionally high, you can follow these faint color traces to know the routes taken by previous explorers who ventured into this Secret Realm.”

“As long as we follow these established routes, we’ll be safe. The downside, of course, is that everyone thinks this way, so the rewards on such routes will be fewer.”

“This time, our main goal is to familiarize ourselves with the environment and help Lia get accustomed to the exploration process, so we’re taking the main path.”

After his explanation, everyone nodded in understanding, then plunged into the peculiar black and white world.

Traversing the silent black and white Shadowland, Hylial stayed close within the team, walking briskly. About fifteen minutes later, they reached the first intermediate node, a colored area.

“Phew, I can finally talk again,” Bona said, supporting her back, feeling a bit tired.

“This is not far from the outpost, so there are generally no monsters around,” Karl said, looking around. It was his first words since they set off.

“There are residual embers on the ground; someone must have spent the night here a couple of days ago.”

“Why didn’t they just go back to town if it’s so close? Maybe it was too late that day,” Bona said, touching the charcoal inside, which was already somewhat damp.

Hylial also looked into the distance. Due to the many trees and forests blocking her view, she could only see so far. She vaguely sensed faint “traces” leading to the next node in front of her.

“Let’s keep going.” After a brief two-minute rest, the team set off again.

After that, they passed through several similar nodes without any problems, likely because they had not yet truly reached the Secret Realm.

Around three in the afternoon, as Hylial followed her teammates into another patch of forest, a cool sensation greeted them, and the surrounding trees once again regained their color.

This must be deep within the forest. Tree trunks were covered in moss, the air was cold and damp, and dense canopies of leaves overhead obscured the light, making the woods exceptionally dim.

“That’s right, this is it. We’ve officially reached the ‘Deep Forest Path’,” “Bad Apple” commented from the front.

“Sharpen up, everyone. We need to be careful now,” he scanned his surroundings, taking light and silent steps as he led the way.

Not far behind him, Yarn, clad in heavy armor and wielding a shield and long sword, followed step by step. His gaze was fixed forward and at his feet, not wasting energy looking around.

In this dim forest, Hylial couldn’t hear any bird calls. The five of them moving through it could only hear their own movements, such as faint breathing, the snapping of dry twigs, and the rustling through bushes and thorns.

The first few hundred meters went smoothly, with no anomalies or incidents, until Karl, at the rear of the team, suddenly stopped.

“Wait a moment, did you see that tree?” he asked, pointing beyond the roadside bushes, into the darker depths of the forest.

“I can’t see it,” Bona said, standing on her tiptoes and looking, then shaking her head.

She didn’t have any far-sighted abilities and wasn’t sensitive to certain Aspect auras.

“I can sense something different, but it’s blurry; I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is,” Yarn replied, looking into the woods. “I can vaguely smell something, enough to tell the direction.” “Bad Apple” twitched his nose.

“I think I saw it,” Hylial’s answer surprised the others slightly.

“What did you see, Lia?” Karl turned his head, asking carefully.

“It looks like a strange tree, with twisted faces on its trunk,” the girl described meticulously.

“Then that’s it, it must be the ‘Twisted Dead Tree’,” Bad Apple rubbed his nose, then turned his gaze to Karl.

“Do you want to go look for it?”

“Yes, thank you all for the trouble,” Karl nodded, then raised his hand. A phantom ghost cat leaped out, darting into the depths of the forest.

The group left the main path, pushing aside weeds and branches with their weapons, cautiously approaching the location Hylial described.

It was a withered tree, its branches and trunk seemingly covered in white ash, exceptionally quiet. However, the static, twisted faces on the trunk made everything spooky.

“Time to cut the tree. Yarn, you do it.” Bad Apple observed for a bit, then retreated.

“Okay.” Yarn then put down his heavy backpack, pulled out an axe, walked to the dead tree, aimed, and prepared to strike.

“Get into position first, Lia. You and Bona stand at the very back, as far away as possible.”

“Understood.” Hylial and Bona stepped back a few paces.

At this point, Karl waited behind Yarn, carefully observing the large tree.

“Alright, begin.” He nodded.

Yarn raised the axe high and swung it down, chopping into the base of the tree. The axe sank into the withered wood, and then wisps of black mist seeped out from the cut.

“Indeed, this is the ‘Twisted Dead Tree’,” Karl’s expression was complex.

“It is said that in the Eighth Epoch, an evil church developed a special ritual: placing the corpses of the dead into tree trunks and sealing the wounds.”

“This great tree would also slowly die, and under the influence of the ritual, gradually condense the ‘Dead Ember’ Aspect.”

“If the ritual succeeded, the corpses buried in the tree trunk would also be imbued with the ‘Dead Ember’ Aspect, eventually animating and becoming a type of walking corpse.”

“The evil church at that time used this method to create walking corpses and ghosts for warfare or to learn certain special spells.”

“This Secret Realm, the Shadowland, was once a site of activity for those cult members. Even today, hidden ‘Twisted Dead Trees’ remain undiscovered, still nurturing corpses and ghosts.”

As he explained, Yarn pulled out his axe and continued chopping, and the black mist emanating became increasingly dense.

Then, with a crack, the withered great tree slowly fell, revealing white bone remains within its cracked trunk, including a rotting skull.

He walked over, and the ghost cat rushed to the cracked tree trunk, its fur bristling, letting out a warning hiss, as if something unseen was entwined there.

“Boring,” Karl said coldly, then sprinkled a strange luminous powder he carried, which drifted towards the cracked tree trunk.

An ugly-faced humanoid figure emerged, its lower body connected to the bones within the tree trunk, writhing and crawling.

[Corpse Wraith] (Tier 1 – Dead Ember): A ghost spawned from dead remains, often mindless, attacking living beings instinctively.