Chapter 354: Into the Dark Prison
After parting ways with the nun, Lin Ye studied the mushroom in his hand. Although he couldn't see anything, all his other senses were telling him this was a piece of flesh.
This piece of flesh was now trembling in his hand. This trembling was like a slight struggle, or like shivering in fear, a reaction typically only shown by living things.
Lin Ye had explored the Black Prison for three hours and hadn't seen anything similar.
'Is this some kind of special mushroom raised in the camp? Or does the Black Prison have some area I haven't been able to access?'
'Why did the nun give me this piece of mushroom? Does she want me to eat it?'
Lin Ye brought the mushroom to his mouth. The smell of blood rushed into his nostrils, and the mushroom trembled even more violently.
"Are you alive? Give me a reason to spare you."
Lin Ye spoke to the mushroom in his hand.
The mushroom suddenly stopped trembling. It twisted its body, forming a sharp pointed tip.
"Are you giving me directions?" Lin Ye moved in the direction the tip was pointing. Soon, he arrived near a water source.
The tip pointed toward the mushrooms beside the water source.
"What do you mean? You want me to eat these mushrooms? How many do I need to eat?"
Lin Ye certainly wouldn't trust a piece of mushroom, but this mushroom was a local one and likely knew some information he was unaware of.
The mushroom kept twisting its body, pausing intermittently, twisting a total of seven times.
"Seven? You'd better not be lying to me."
Lin Ye used his sleeve to tie the mushroom securely, then dug up the mushrooms from the ground and stuffed them into his mouth.
When he ate the fourth mushroom, Lin Ye vaguely saw flowing light and shadows in the darkness in the distance.
When he ate the fifth mushroom, Lin Ye began gradually losing control over his body.
Before completely losing control, Lin Ye stuffed the remaining two mushrooms into his mouth.
The entire world began to twist and distort. Various lights and shadows flowed before his eyes. Chaotic colors reconstructed a brand new world in his vision.
No matter how chaotic the surroundings became, Lin Ye still maintained his mental stability.
When the chaos subsided, a stable world appeared before Lin Ye's eyes.
He was inside a narrow prison cell. Outside the cell was a corridor, with a row of blindingly bright incandescent lights installed on the ceiling.
"You might be the fastest prisoner to enter this place."
A familiar voice came from the cell across the corridor.
Lin Ye looked up toward the opposite side. Through the metal bars, he saw a tall woman wearing a nun's habit.
She had long, milky white hair with a yellowish tint, delicate features, fair skin, and looked very young.
"Nun? What is this place?"
Lin Ye stood up and sat near the metal bars. There was no spiritual energy here either, but he felt he could use mental energy in another way.
"Those clothes of yours don't look like a miner's. This is the Black Prison's mental world, a prison imagined by all the prisoners."
The nun revealed a pleasant smile and tossed Lin Ye a blue mushroom.
The mushroom struggled in the air like a living creature, but Lin Ye still caught it in his hand.
"I have many side jobs. Miner is just one of them."
Lin Ye was wearing an extremely complex and luxurious formal suit. The base color was pure white, adorned with decorations of various colors.
The blue mushroom struggled in his hand, looking like some kind of small creature.
"Why didn't you eat the mushroom I gave you? The taste is much better than the mushrooms in the Black Prison."
The nun took out another struggling mushroom and stuffed it into her mouth. Blue juice slid from the corner of her mouth and dripped onto the ground.
"I'm afraid of eating something strange. There don't seem to be many prisoners who enter here. Why don't you give them mushrooms?"
Lin Ye picked up the mushroom and took a bite. The taste was unexpectedly good, like some kind of moving fruit.
"Entering here isn't something you can achieve by just eating a few mushrooms. If the Consciousness's rank doesn't reach a certain level, eating all those mushrooms will only cause mental derangement, not entry into this place."
The nun answered briskly.
"Can we escape the Black Prison from here?"
The Dreamrealm is a somewhat mental-leaning Plane. If they could escape the Black Prison from within its mental world, perhaps they could break free from this place.
"Yes, but there are two problems that need to be solved.
First, our bodies over in the Black Prison are actually also part of our minds. We cannot abandon that part and escape from here alone.
Once, a prisoner tried to separate these two parts, but he died immediately after the separation.
For the prisoners here, splitting the mind isn't particularly difficult, but the way the Dreamrealm world constructs our physical bodies is extremely complex. It's not something that can be solved by simple cutting.
Second, we must find the exit of this Dreamrealm fragment that is the Black Prison."
The nun clearly wasn't saying these things for the first time, and Lin Ye wasn't the first prisoner sitting in the cell opposite hers.
"There's no spiritual energy here, but I seem to be able to use mental power to some extent."
Lin Ye analyzed the information about the Black Prison in his mind while continuing to gather new intelligence verbally.
"It's different from over there. This is the Black Prison's mental world, so naturally, you can use the power of the mind."
The nun stood up and very casually pushed open the cell door. The lock on it was completely intact.
However, she only stood at the edge of the cell door and did not step out of the prison cell.
"Can you tell me the rules over here?"
Lin Ye wanted to save some time.
"Sure, but staying over here for a long time will cause mental fatigue. How about we return to the other side first and then talk?"
The nun disappeared from the cell. Lin Ye closed his eyes. When he opened them again, everything around him was pitch black.
He had returned to the lightless Black Prison.
The mushroom that looked like a piece of flesh was still struggling on his sleeve. Lin Ye untied his sleeve and released the mushroom.
Soon, Lin Ye found the nun resting against a wall in the camp. After Lin Ye sat down, the nun began explaining the specific situation of the other prison.
"The situation over there is very complex. Honestly, I haven't even learned enough to teach you the rules properly.
First, you must be careful of the prison guards. Prisoners will attract prison guards as soon as they leave their cells. The prison guards are rule-based creatures of the Dreamrealm world and are very difficult to deal with.
Second, you must be careful of other prisoners. The prisoners who can be locked in the Black Prison aren't normal people to begin with. Those who can enter the Black Prison's mental world are the elite among the abnormal.
Finally, staying over there continuously consumes mental energy. When mental energy is insufficient, you return to this side. Eating over there can reduce mental consumption."
Afterward, the nun briefly introduced the prison's terrain and structure to Lin Ye, but she was unclear about many areas.
"Thank you. If I can escape, I'll take you with me."
Lin Ye still hadn't found the connection between the Black Prison and the Abyssal Eye. Based on his speculation, as long as he could find this connection, he would be able to find a method to leave the Black Prison from within it.