Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 306: The Ancient One

Chapter 306: The Ancient One

"Evil Suppressing Talisman, as the name suggests, is used to suppress various Evil Spirits. However, due to the different types and abilities of Evil Spirits, as well as their varying levels of threat, there are various types of Evil Suppressing Talismans. In general, when placing an Evil Suppressing Talisman in a protective amulet, only the lowest level of Evil Suppressing Talisman is used, serving as a warning. After all, as the saying goes, ’The dose makes the poison,’ and the same applies to Evil Suppressing Talismans."

"For comparison, an Evil Suppressing Talisman is similar to a signal generator, constantly emitting a signal that is threatening to Evil Spirits and can even cause harm. Therefore, the better the Evil Suppressing Talisman, the stronger the signal it can emit. However, this signal also affects humans to some extent. For ordinary people, only the lowest level of Evil Suppressing Talisman can be kept close. If a higher-level one is kept nearby, it can lead to symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, and even mental disorders in severe cases."

"Therefore, apart from professionals, ordinary people cannot handle higher-level Evil Suppressing Talismans. Even if I wanted to carry some higher-level ones, I would have to take appropriate precautions. Otherwise, I would be affected. But you can rest assured that this Evil Suppressing Talisman, even though it is the highest level, has completely lost its effectiveness due to its age and lack of professional maintenance," Zhang Jingxu explained.

After Zhang Jingxu’s explanation, Liu Xing couldn’t help but ask, "So, you mean to say that this highest-level Evil Suppressing Talisman, if placed in a protective amulet, would be a death sentence for ordinary people?"

Zhang Jingxu nodded and said seriously, "Liu Xing, you’re right. This highest-level Evil Suppressing Talisman is definitely more of a curse than a blessing for ordinary people. My master once told me that this highest-level Evil Suppressing Talisman could essentially be turned into a death curse for humans because, for humans and the lower-level mythical creatures, a death curse could easily kill them."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised by the incredible power of the highest-level Evil Suppressing Talisman.

"In that case, what’s the deal with this protective amulet? It’s like a deadly weapon. What does Li Yongjie want to achieve? Does he want to harm Inoue’s family?" Miyako Goudong furrowed his brow.

Zhang Jingxu nodded and then shook his head, "Miyako Goudong, you’re right. Talismans of the highest level, like this one, are typically out of reach even for my master. Such highest-level Evil Suppressing Talismans are usually created by grandmasters of the seal script world and require significant resources and time to make. Therefore, a highest-level Evil Suppressing Talisman like this, if it were in the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall’s store, would cost at least 10,000 points."

"So, we can be sure that Li Yongjie is not an ordinary person. He’s definitely not just a journalist, as Inoue Kenjiro believed. After all, even if a journalist happened to obtain a highest-level Evil Suppressing Talisman by chance, they would still be affected by it. So, I suspect that Li Yongjie is most likely the leader of some secret cult, and possibly even the leader of the Ocean True Deity Sect."

"Based on the content of Inoue Kenjiro’s two letters, Matsui Ichiro arrived in Fisher’s Village after Li Yongjie left. This suggests that Li Yongjie may have come to Fisher’s Village first to gather information and then had Matsui Ichiro come to Fisher’s Village to execute his plan."

"Furthermore, it was Li Yongjie’s invitation that led Inoue Kenjiro’s family to leave Fisher’s Village for Tokyo. This happened during the intense confrontation between Inoue Kenjiro and Matsui Ichiro. During their absence, Matsui Ichiro brainwashed the remaining villagers of Fisher’s Village."

"Lastly, considering the highest-level Evil Suppressing Talisman found inside the protective amulet, I believe Li Yongjie knew its purpose and intentionally gave it to Inoue Kenjiro’s daughter, Matsui Yui. His goal might have been to harm Inoue Kenjiro’s family. However, for some reason, this highest-level Evil Suppressing Talisman failed to work."

Liu Xing nodded, convinced by Zhang Jingxu’s reasoning. However, he couldn’t help but feel that the situation was more complex than it seemed. If Li Yongjie were indeed the leader of the Ocean True Deity Sect, why would he use such a powerful Evil Suppressing Talisman to kill Inoue Kenjiro’s family? It seemed like a waste.

There was also a saying, "To kill the roots of the grass."

Furthermore, Inoue Kenjiro’s son, Inoue Haruto, was still alive and knew the truth of what happened years ago, indicating that Li Yongjie might not be as ruthless as they thought. But it could also mean that Li Yongjie was confident and didn’t care about Inoue Haruto’s existence.

However, one thing still puzzled Liu Xing: Why would Li Yongjie place the highest-level Evil Suppressing Talisman inside the protective amulet?

"But don’t forget one detail," Panda Pig interjected. "The protective amulet was left in this villa. According to the information we have, this villa was established after Inoue Kenjiro’s family had their incident. In other words, this protective amulet should have been dropped here over a decade ago. At that time, Matsui Yui would have been just a child. So, Matsui Yui wouldn’t have thrown away the protective amulet herself. The question is, how did the protective amulet end up under that cabinet? After all, if it were Matsui Ichiro’s doing, the protective amulet wouldn’t be here."

Liu Xing pondered and replied, "That’s indeed a question. If Matsui Yui didn’t discard the protective amulet over a decade ago, then it must have been someone who happened to obtain it by chance. Zhang Jingxu continued, "It’s possible, but it seems too coincidental. After all, Matsui Yui wouldn’t have been in this villa often. So, I think the protective amulet wasn’t voluntarily discarded by Matsui Yui. It might have been dropped here by someone who came across it by chance."

Before Zhang Jingxu could finish his sentence, KP Green Light interrupted, "Attention, players. The Private Room session has ended. Please be mindful of your roles."

With that, Zhang Jingxu shifted the conversation, "Well, let’s not dwell on these complicated matters for now. It’s best to get some rest since we’ll be visiting the Ancestral Hall in Fisher’s Village tomorrow. We need to be in good shape."

Zhang Jingxu concluded and prepared to go upstairs to sleep.

Liu Xing thought for a moment, then picked up the unidentified metal object. After bidding everyone goodnight, he returned to his room.

Because his phone was almost out of battery, and Lighter had been taken by Ling Ishikawa, Liu Xing didn’t bother trying to start a fire for a bath. Instead, after a simple wash-up, he placed the unidentified metal object beside his pillow. Without contacting KP Green Light, he lay down and went to sleep.

As Liu Xing expected, he soon found himself in a dream.

In his dream, Liu Xing found himself in an empty room. The room’s walls were painted with a peculiar shade of black with hints of blue, making him feel as if he were underwater. The color of the walls made Liu Xing uncomfortable, and he even started to feel a touch of Thalassophobia if he stayed in this room for too long.

After a while, bored and staring at the peculiar walls, Liu Xing suddenly noticed something surprising. What he initially thought were walls turned out to be glass, as he saw a massive deep-sea creature swim past.

"Am I underwater?" Liu Xing muttered to himself.

At that moment, the door finally opened, but it wasn’t a person who entered; it was a plant-like entity with a twisted appearance resembling a "seastar" head.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised to see what he had previously mentioned as the "Ancient One."

The Ancient One had an elongated head resembling a five-pointed star, with five eyes, five proboscis-like tubes, and a set of cilia for perceiving its surroundings in low-light conditions. Its feet resembled ax-shaped limbs, used for walking and other forms of movement. Additionally, the Ancient One had five pairs of leathery wing-like structures and five sets of tendrils sprouting from its main body.

Overall, the Ancient One’s appearance closely resembled that of a plant. When Liu Xing first saw it, he thought it was a plant with a "seastar" head.

Recalling the Ancient One’s background information, Liu Xing realized that it was one of the most symmetrical mythical creatures in the Cthulhu RPG Game, with a radial symmetry in its overall structure, including five brain lobes.

From a biological perspective, the Ancient One exhibited characteristics of both plants and animals, leaning more towards animals. It also had amphibious qualities, making it adaptable to both land and water. The Ancient One’s bodily tissues were extremely resilient, capable of withstanding immense pressure in the deep sea, which allowed it to dominate Earth’s oceans over a billion years ago.

However, it was important to note that the Ancient One was considered one of the most disgraceful mythical creatures because it had colonized Earth’s various oceans and Antarctica, taking control of the planet during its early days.

The Ancient One had a highly developed civilization with a complex social structure that possibly resembled China’s system and was considered a complete body. Due to its amphibious nature, the Ancient One had constructed massive cities both on land and underwater, engaging in extensive trade activities within and between cities. In trade, the Ancient One used flat, inscribed, small five-pointed star-shaped objects as currency.

Since the Ancient One reproduced through spores, it didn’t have a tight-knit family structure but formed groups with its preferred companions, living together in large rooms. It would stack objects in the center of caves and leave the walls for decoration.

Reflecting on this, Liu Xing began to suspect that the Underground Ruins might have been built by the Ancient One but had been taken over by others.

The Ancient One could absorb nutrients from inorganic matter like plants but had a preference for organic food, especially animals. While living in the sea, it would swallow uncooked marine life, but on land, it would cook its food before consumption. The Ancient One hunted and raised livestock, and its traces were sometimes mistaken for prehistoric human remnants.

However, because the Ancient One had initially dominated Earth and led a comfortable life, it had regressed over time, losing its adaptability to outer space and cold resistance. Consequently, it was defeated by other mythical creature races and retreated to the depths of the sea, no longer interacting with the outside world.

In the modern modules of the Cthulhu RPG Game, the Ancient One had become rather insignificant. Aside from its peculiar appearance, which could reduce a player’s sanity (san value), its combat abilities were quite average.

Therefore, Liu Xing was losing some sanity.

"Because player Liu Xing saw the strange-looking Ancient One, we will now conduct a sanity judgment. Since this is a dream, player Liu Xing only needs to make one successful roll to lose 0 sanity points or fail to lose 1 sanity point," KP Green Light said with a smile.

Liu Xing: 49/??, Success.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, realizing that his character card had more than 50 sanity points, which was more than he had imagined.

"So, player Liu Xing, you probably think that the Ancient One in front of you is just a weird creature from your dream, and therefore, you haven’t lost any sanity points," KP Green Light said somewhat disappointedly.

Before Liu Xing could respond to KP Green Light’s comment, the Ancient One in front of him smiled and said, "Hello, dear friend. I am Sirius, the master of this place."

Liu Xing, feeling puzzled, replied, "Hello, I am Liu Xing. May I ask where this place is?"

One of Sirius’s tendrils reached out towards Liu Xing, holding the pink unidentified metal object.

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