WTNL Chapter 188

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Ping An Asylum
Chapter 188: “Alright, now let’s create God.”

……What?

Wen Jianyan’s pupils suddenly contracted.

As if being pulled by some irresistible force, his gaze rested on that old, yellowed piece of paper.

On the parchment, the bold black letters slowly faded away, and new words emerged.

“After struggling for so long, you finally realize that the entire Ping An Asylum is a breeding ground for divine embryos. But, obviously, something is missing in this hospital. It’s precisely because of this absence that the incubation process has never truly succeeded. To leave this place, you decide to complete this process, fill the gap, make it a complete circle again, and let the true God be born from within.
You have long discovered that ‘7’ is the key. Whether it’s seven floors, seven tolls of the bell, or seven high-risk patients, it proves that only ‘7’ can truly nurture divinity.
You start to ponder, where exactly has ‘7’ not been achieved?”

…Where has ‘7’ not been achieved?

Wen Jianyan was stunned, and in the blink of an eye, something flashed through his mind.

The sacraments!

Only three out of seven sacraments have been completed!

In that moment, his thoughts became clear.

Obviously, the Nightmare Live Room does not want this instance to achieve its goal. If the God-making process is successful, the entire instance will close, and it won’t be able to draw the anchors in.

Therefore, even though the tasks are related to epic hidden items, the seven sacraments only need to be completed three times, precisely because the Nightmare does not want the anchors to end the instance in this way.

While Wen Jianyan was still in a daze, the writing on the parchment faded away once again, and more words emerged.

“Suddenly, you realize, it’s the sacraments!
The inability to complete the seven sacraments has led to an irreparable gap in this perfect circle, preventing it from ever achieving its purpose.

So, you decide to head to the secret chamber to the right behind the underground tomb, where you will find everything you need to accomplish your goal. Only then can you escape from this terrifying world and forever end this cruel cycle.”

“But all this must be done before the head and tail overlap.
Once the bell rings, everything will start again.
You don’t have much time.”

“…”

Staring at the words appearing on the parchment, Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but feel a tingling sensation on his scalp.

The “omniscience” it displayed made him very uneasy, not because it was so familiar with the structure and rules of this instance, but because it was very aware of his current progress and thoughts — it knew what information Wen Jianyan currently possessed, how much he understood the rules of this instance, and what it should reveal based on this. Revealing how much would make the other party, even if very cautious, have to trust it.

It was almost like reading minds.

Truly terrifying.

Suddenly, Blond sucked in a breath of cold air, emitting a suppressed and trembling whisper: “Wait, have you noticed that things seem a bit different here…?”

Wen Jianyan was startled, looking up.

“You, you all look here, here, and there…”

Blond’s face was very pale. Although he forced himself not to show any panicked expression, the trembling like a frightened bird still leaked from the depths of his eyes.

The underground tomb was large, and the light was very dim. It was difficult to observe the changes around when everyone was gathered in the center.

Shao Yao quickly exchanged for a flashlight, and the bright beam pierced the darkness, sweeping toward the direction Blond pointed.

In the brightness, the rest of them were all shocked, unable to help but show expressions of astonishment.

The walls, originally made of brick, stone, and tile, now exhibited a metallic smooth texture, and the ceiling above the high dome became smooth and gleaming. Near the open stone coffins, glass seemed to be emerging from all sides.

“What… what is this?” Su Cheng widened his eyes.

Luce whispered, “It seems like… the laboratory is gradually merging with the underground tomb.”

Both places had exactly the same layout, so this fusion felt completely natural.

Wen Jianyan’s heart sank, subconsciously lowering his head to look at the parchment in his hand.

[All this must be done before the head and tail overlap. One the bell rings, everything will start over.]

According to his earlier speculation, the “head” referred to the laboratory, and the “tail” to the underground tomb. Overlapping of the head and the tail refers to the mutual fusion of the laboratory and the underground tomb—

Just like a real Ouroboros, the entire instance was slowly taking shape.

When this Ouroboros formed a “circle,” the seventh toll of the bell would ring—unless Wen Jianyan completed the remaining conditions before that, the instance would reset.

The writing on the parchment changed once again:

“You can ask me two questions.”

Then, these words also began to slowly fade away, eventually disappearing completely, leaving only a smooth surface, as if it were brand new and had never been used.

“…” Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, folding the parchment and putting it into his pocket.

He stood up, the now useless black box placed casually aside.

“What… what do we do?” 

Blond looked particularly panicked, almost unable to stop himself from biting his nails. He stared tightly at Wen Jianyan, as if a drowning man were clutching at his only straw.

He faintly realized that the entire instance had started its countdown.

Along with their lives.

The silver-haired young man lowered his eyes, his pale face devoid of any extra expression, as if wearing a stone mask.

He was contemplating.

The others watched him nervously.

After a few seconds, Wen Jianyan seemed to finally make a decision. He lifted his gaze, took a deep breath, then turned and walked toward the depths of the underground tomb.

The young man’s figure was straight, his steps steady and swift, as if he knew his destination very well. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the dark shadows.

“?”

The group exchanged uncertain glances. Although they didn’t understand the meaning behind Wen Jianyan’s actions, they followed after him.

“What’s ahead?” Su Cheng frowned, lowering his voice as he leaned in to ask Blond.

“…Nothing.” Blond’s face mirrored Su Cheng’s confusion.

His vision was good, unaffected by the darkness, but according to what he could see, there was just an empty stone wall ahead, with nothing at all.

Meanwhile, Wen Jianyan stopped at the end of the path, raising his eyes to examine the stone wall in front of him. He reached out and felt around, as if searching for something.

The rest of the group stood nearby, their confusion growing deeper.

After a few minutes, Luce couldn’t resist any longer. He spoke up, “What are you looking for…”

Before he could finish his sentence, a light cracking sound came from the front. Then, something started to stir in the shadows, resembling the sound of stone walls rubbing against each other.

Everyone was momentarily stunned.

Shao Yao snapped back to reality, shining her flashlight ahead.

In the darkness, a door made of rock slowly swung open, revealing a pitch-black tunnel that seemed to stretch endlessly.

She sucked in a breath of cold air, “A secret door?!”

“How did you…” Before the question could be fully asked, Wen Jianyan hesitated to step into the unknown darkness.

Su Cheng was startled, “Wait! Be careful—”

The calm voice of the young man came from the darkness, “Don’t worry, there’s no danger inside. You can come in with confidence.”

“…”

The group exchanged glances, their expressions of astonishment deepening.

Though skeptical, they still stepped toward the secret door.

Wen Jianyan held a flashlight exchanged from the system store, standing in the cold, hollow stone chamber. His silver hair shimmered with a faint light in the darkness, emitting an inexplicable sense of sanctity.

He heard footsteps and stepped aside.

The gaze of the group fell in front of him, and they couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air.

It was a small stone platform, resembling a pulpit or an altar. In front of it lay a corpse that had turned into a desiccated mummy, clad in a dusty priest’s robe. Its chest, where a cross should have been, was empty. Its fingers remained frozen in a position as if pressing on something, but the Bible underneath was gone.

The face, devoid of flesh and skin, looked particularly terrifying in the darkness, with its hollow eye sockets staring straight ahead as if contemplating something.

Shao Yao turned around to survey the scene. She seemed to recognize something, her eyes widening in astonishment as she said, “These… are all the items needed to complete the sacraments?!”

During their previous attempts to complete the sacraments, they had always lacked the necessary items and had to rely on the system’s prompts. In the process, they encountered countless life-threatening situations. Although they barely managed to resolve each one in the end, recalling those experiences still sent shivers down her spine.

But now, laid out before them, were all the items needed to complete the sacraments.

Whether it was holy water, holy oil, or communion wafers… they were all there.

Wen Jianyan nodded slowly and said:

“This is why this instance has never succeeded.”

His experiences within the special scenes earlier were indeed events that had truly occurred. And the priest he portrayed, after completing his task, was evidently also plugged into this black box. However, he died—so even with seven high-risk patients, seven floors, and seven tolls of the bell, this breeding ground never birthed a true God because it wasn’t a complete circle.

So, like a tape stuck in a loop, this instance repeated its cycle over and over.

But the missing part was forever missing, so it would never reach its endpoint.

Wen Jianyan pulled out the Bible and the cross from his pocket. He bent down to hang the cross around the empty neck of the priest and then placed the Bible under his palm.

Click, click—

At the moment of returning to its rightful owner, eerie sounds of bone scraping against bone echoed in the dim darkness, sending shivers down the spine.

Click, click.

The withered, skeletal fingers slowly closed, clutching the Bible tightly.

The neck of the desiccated corpse turned at an angle unimaginable for a human, its hollow, pitch-black eye sockets looking toward the young man in front of it.

The real priest “came” back to life.

Wen Jianyan held his breath, stepping back two paces, tightly watching the slowly reviving desiccated corpse. Bright, almost mad lights gleamed in its amber-colored eyes.

He smiled lightly and said softly,

“Alright, now let’s create God.”

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