Lu Li extinguished the oil lamp and rged into the darkness, simply because he didn’t want to beco a moving point of light.
As he delved deeper into this strange underground world, the distorted lines underground gradually beca clear—horrific hills ford by countless Vortex People.
The Vortex People, stretching their bodies, turned into a viscous flowing river.
The steps below were solidified with Vortex People.
This underground world was entirely composed of vortices.
Lu Li descended along the spiral stairs like delicate columns, observing a flowing "river" slowly losing its fluidity, solidifying into part of the hill’s surface.
But there were still many "rivers" distributed across the "hills," as well as new "rivers" flowing from unknown depths.
Along with these bizarre scenes becoming clearer, there was also pollution. This underground was corroding Lu Li’s sanity and consciousness.
Lu Li stopped at the last few spiral steps of the "hills," paused briefly, and then stepped onto these soul-less, abhorrent forms.
Only by imagining these twisted lines as sothing else, like bundles of yarn or noodles, could he capture so thin sanity to avoid descending into madness.
Lu Li walked on the soft, tendril-shedding "hills," and under a luminous mushroom not far from the spiral stairs, he found the unconscious Porter.
Burrowing through the fringes of the mushroom coated with decay and ominous sli, Lu Li checked Porter, who was still breathing, but his brown hair and palms showed obvious, unnaturally curled vortex pollution.
Lu Li awakened Porter, who knew nothing of the previous events: "Where is this...Were we captured? Where are the others!"
"You were lured down by so force, and I followed you." Lu Li stood under the mushroom, surveying the surroundings: "I didn’t see anyone else."
Porter silently followed, glancing at this eerie underground world, guessing: "Are we under the high tower?"
Lu Li nodded.
Trying to sit up, Porter suddenly frowned, looking at his hand that remained curled even if he tried to straighten it: "There’s pollution here..."
"Because this is the core of the Land of Vortex."
More central than the Spiral Tower.
The truth and origin of the Land of Vortex lie here.
They could find a way to escape and resolve the Land of Vortex here, or remain forever, becoming part of the vortex.
Porter propped himself up, crawling out from the nauseous heap of Vortex People: "What do we do next?"
"I still don’t know what ensnared you."
"I don’t know either, but I feel..." Doubtfully, Porter shook his head, looking toward the direction obscured by the mushroom: "The call that made lose my mory ca from there..."
"Then let’s go there."
"It might be more dangerous there..."
"The strange doesn’t stay in one place without reason."
Perhaps the core of the Land of Vortex is there.
Lu Li continued: "You go back up to wait for the others to co down."
Whether they could return or not—Porter, transitioning into a Vortex Person, should no longer remain here.
"If the Land of Vortex wants to scatter us...we can’t do that..." But Porter didn’t want to leave. And going back, he might "vanish" like the others.
He realized the team was too scattered, as if sothing intentionally separated them.
Lu Li did not refuse.
Porter’s curled hand struggled to straighten, then gave up due to pain: "It’s no use...my bones are already curved, let’s get going."
They resud moving, heading towards the direction Porter sensed. Lu Li observed the surroundings, especially the still unfrozen "rivers," while looking for the earlier-arrived Triss and the others. But searching the chaotic and disorderly dark lines was unimaginably challenging.
The pollution seed to deepen as they ventured further into the underground, with the following Porter’s spine gradually hunching, his head lowering more, numbly trailing behind Lu Li.
The Protection Potion no longer worked, and when Lu Li handed him the Doomsday Apocalypse, Porter seed to know what it was and refused it.
"It can delay your vortex transformation," Lu Li said.
"It can also delay yours...It’s more useful with you."
Porter struggled to straighten his torso, lift his chest, raise his head, ignoring the screaming of vertebrae. Look, even the Exorcist’s black hair is uncurled; how can I take it away.
The silent pair continued forward along the "hills," bypassing the still unfrozen "rivers" that lay across their path. Porter gradually beca non-human, whispering low to Lu Li and himself that "the Twisted Shadow will not abandon Elena." Because Elena was far more polluted than him.
The camp would find a way to recover. Even if things got as bad as they could—if no recovery thod was found, he could convert into a follower of the Twisted Shadow.
"Would you allow Aliens to beco Exorcists?" Porter’s vague, altered voice ca through.
"I would."
"Thank you..."
The almost folded Porter, like a low dwarf, moved slower and slower, gradually falling behind Lu Li.
Lu Li slowed down to wait for Porter. He stopped and mumbled soft murmurs ca from the head curled down to the abdon: "I saw...stairs and...an altar, Triss is there...Allen is there...Lana is there...the answers you seek are there too..."
His snail-shell-like curled arm lifted, pointing ahead of them. In the mysterious depths of the dim, underground world to which Porter pointed, as if a mysterious altar stood silently.
Porter, who lost his thought process, could no longer move.
Lu Li took out the Fluorescent Potion, marking Porter, prepared to leave him and continue forward.
"Please wait a mont...Mr. Luli...don’t go forward..."
Porter’s panting echoed, and his head, which couldn’t lift, emitted a painful growl: "It’s affecting ...those aren’t my thoughts...let lure you there...get out! Leave my...it’s right there...the origin you are looking for..."
"Who are you?"
Lu Li gazed at Porter, who was influenced like a Vortex Person swirling.
"It’s right there...it’s right there...it’s right there..."
Porter, without intelligence, only had murmurs under influence left.
Lu Li silently proceeded, gradually leaving the dreamlike murmurs behind him.
Walking on the hills ford by Vortex People, he recalled everything that happened after entering the Land of Vortex.
The sealing of the Land of Vortex, forcing the team’s dispersion, Porter leading the way.
To think deeper, were the others in the sa circumstance as the ensnared Porter?
If deducing process from results, then the actions of the Land of Vortex aid to isolate each of them, or rather...to isolate Lu Li.
Lu Li seed like prey stepping willingly into a trap.
The tower, the underground city, the Staircase Altar were the bait enticing him forward.
However, there must be a reason for doing so.
For instance, the "Staircase Altar" spoken through Porter’s mouth.
That entity hoped Lu Li would go there—
And it’s simple to verify if this speculation is correct.
Lu Li took out the oil lamp and moved steadfastly into the dark depths.
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