Chapter 168: Morning Chess and Evening Chess

"Among these murals, the second, fourth, and fifth hold the most secrets!"

"They all depict people singing and dancing merrily around a fire with delicious food spread beside them, seemingly identical scenes..." A smile played at the corner of Lin Wei's mouth. "Yet, in truth, there is a stark difference between them, and this pile of bizarre food is the best hint!"

"The difference between the fourth mural and the second is that on the table laden with food, there is no black bread or mustard!"

Understanding dawned in Lin Wei's eyes: "They all feed on meat, eat vegetables and fruits, and even share a fondness for alcohol, but these giant beasts alone despise black bread and mustard!"

"Black bread! Mustard!"

Lin Wei reached out and snatched the black bread and mustard from the pile of food.

Rumble!

At the zero hour, the dark red walls surrounding Lin Wei underwent a dramatic transformation.

The original murals and smooth walls began to ripple and wrinkle. The entire space seemed to spring to life as layers of brownish-yellow, pungent liquid seeped out from the dark red walls.

Stellar-Dark Flowing Sand.

Grains of black sand appeared beneath Lin Wei's soles, lifting his entire body into suspension.

The very instant Lin Wei left the ground, the food and burlap bundle beneath his feet were swallowed by the writhing ground. Had Lin Wei been even a second slower, he would have been devoured just the same.

"The seemingly insignificant fifth mural was actually the best portrayal of my current predicament," Lin Wei didn't seem worried at all about the changes around him. "The giant beast devoured the mortal, and at this moment, I am that mortal!"

"Right now, I am inside the giant beast's stomach!"

"The dark red walls are the stomach lining of the beast, and the brownish-yellow liquid is its gastric acid! If I hadn't discovered this secret, I'm afraid that within a few breaths, I would have been dissolved into a skeleton by this gastric acid!"

Lin Wei shook his wrist and a smile appeared on his face: "What a pity, I did discover it!"

"Monster, don't you hate eating black bread and mustard?! Then let me help you break your bad habit of being a picky eater!"

Lin Wei roared aloud, pouring all the mustard from his hand over the black bread.

"Eat up!!"

Lin Wei hurled the mustard-slathered black bread directly at the stomach wall of the giant beast.

Hiss, hiss, hiss...

The gastric acid, which seemed capable of dissolving everything, parted to avoid them the moment it touched the black bread and mustard!

The black bread and mustard made direct contact with the dark red stomach wall.

Roar!!!

Lin Wei heard the screech of the giant beast.

It was a wail of anger and agony!

In an instant, the entire enclosed space seemed to freeze.

The beast's cries of pain began to subside, the secretion of gastric acid dwindled, and even the stomach walls stopped writhing.

Within the span of a few breaths, all the scenery vanished completely.

Lin Wei found himself back in the space bordering the endless darkness.

The chess board, radiating intense light, still hung suspended above Lin Wei's head, emanating a vast and mysterious aura.

"It seems my guess was correct."

Lin Wei smiled faintly: "It appears to have been a test, but I have passed."

"Next... what else will there be?"

Lin Wei cast his gaze once more toward the glowing white chessboard.

Swish, swish!

Two more dazzling beams of light shot down from the white chessboard toward Lin Wei.

"Oh? Another test?"

The reflection of the white light in Lin Wei's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

However, the two beams of light did not strike him as he had imagined; instead, they halted abruptly right before his eyes.

Soon, the light faded, and two faceted triangular prisms with patterned borders floated before Lin Wei's eyes.

Both triangular prisms were the size of an adult's thumb, one black and one white, their surfaces shimmering with bizarre, unfamiliar text.

"Morning Chess... Dusk Chess... Are these two chess pieces?"

To Lin Wei's astonishment, although he did not recognize the script on the surface of the triangular prisms, he somehow understood the meaning they represented.

The moment Lin Wei recognized the strange script, the two chess pieces transformed into a black beam of light and a white beam of light, instantly sinking into the back of his hand.

A profound and wondrous sensation reverberated through Lin Wei's heart.

"This feeling..."

Lin Wei was momentarily lost in it, much like someone long exposed to a freezing environment suddenly feeling the warmth of the sun—an incomparable sense of comfort and peace.

Yet, after mere seconds, that feeling vanished from his heart, replaced by a sudden burning sensation on the back of his hand.

Lin Wei lowered his head to look and saw that two chess pieces, one black and one white, were imprinted on the back of his hand like tattoos, the shimmering text still shifting across his skin.

"Chessboard... Morning Chess... Dusk Chess..."

Lin Wei looked up again at the glowing chessboard in the sky, somewhat puzzled for a moment: "Giving me chess pieces—is it asking me to play a game with them?"

"This chess game... what kind of rules does it have?"

By this time, Lin Wei was certain that whether it was the Fangs of Blood Shadow or the Shadow Forest, no one truly understood what lay within this mysterious space.

"The sacrifices who successfully made it out in the past must have had their memories erased, right?"

A sudden wave of dread washed over Lin Wei's heart. If he managed to survive and was sent out of the mysterious space, would his memories be wiped as well?

A chill gripped Lin Wei for a moment.

"No... that's not right..."

Lin Wei's expression suddenly tightened: "If it were merely to screen sacrifices, there's truly no need to go through such complicated procedures... Just now in the beast's stomach, it felt more like a test... a test of impromptu adaptability in a moment of crisis..."

"Perhaps... this so-called mysterious space... is simply a training ground?!"

A possibility surfaced in Lin Wei's mind, his eyes narrowing slightly: "Does the fact that all departing sacrifices are unable to know the truth mean that the mysterious space needs to keep the secrets of the trial?"

"Is that really how it is... or is there another possibility?" Lin Wei licked his teeth with the tip of his tongue. "The place I've come to is not a place for screening sacrifices at all!"

"Perhaps I am fundamentally different from the others!"

A flash of understanding crossed Lin Wei's mind: "If that's the case, what is special about me? Pure shadow aptitude? No... I'm far from the only one who has possessed pure aptitude before... Then what on earth is it?"

Swish!

Just as Lin Wei continued to ponder, a grid on the glowing chessboard suddenly flashed with a blinding light, piercing straight toward him.

With his previous experience, Lin Wei was no longer worried and had no intention of dodging.

Thwack!

As before, the intense light struck straight between Lin Wei's brows.

"This time... what kind of test will it be?"

In the fraction of a second before his consciousness vanished, Lin Wei murmured softly to himself.