The Cursed Spirit's wings sliced through the thin mountain mist, landing steadily on a clearing covered in fallen leaves.
As soon as Rin stepped onto the ground, he instinctively frowned. The air was filled with a thick aura of Cursed Energy, chilling and eerily stagnant, several times stronger than the fluctuations detected on the plane.
"This aura... it's much heavier than the last time I was here."
Miguel put away his detection Cursed Tool, his eyes scanning the surroundings warily.
The deep mountains were abnormally quiet; even the chirping of birds and insects had vanished without a trace. Only the rustling of wind through the leaves could be heard, sounding particularly harsh.
Just as the two had the Cursed Spirit temporarily hide deep in the woods, a soft "click" sounded from behind a nearby bush.
Rin quickly stepped forward and pushed aside the branches. Three grayish-white stone statues were half-buried in the fallen leaves, their postures twisted as if frozen in a struggle. One had its hands extended forward as if trying to escape, another was curled up, its face still showing an expression of terror, with even the folds of its clothing clearly solidified on the stone surface.
"It's Cursed Technique residue."
Rin squatted down, his fingertips gently brushing the surface of a statue. The moment his black-red Cursed Energy touched the stone, a faint glow appeared:
"This Cursed Energy has a very special'solidification' attribute. These people must have been directly turned into stone by the Cursed Spirit's Cursed Technique."
Miguel also leaned over to examine it, tapping the statue's arm with his fingertip, producing a hard, stony sound:
"These statues weren't here the last time I came. It seems more people have intruded in the past few days." He looked up towards the depths of the mountains, his brows furrowing even tighter:
"From their clothing, they look like construction workers. They were probably here to survey the mountain road, but they didn't expect..."
The two continued deeper along the mountain path, and more and more statues appeared along the way.
Some lay by the roadside, some leaned against tree trunks, and even two statues maintained a pulling posture, clearly petrified instantly by the Cursed Technique, without even time to react.
Rin counted. In just a few hundred meters, there were more than a dozen statues, each frozen face etched with despair, making one's heart sink. It seemed that none of the workers who had entered this mountain area had left alive.
"We need to figure out the trigger conditions for its Cursed Technique."
Rin stopped, his expression grave. "If it can petrify simply by seeing a target, or activate from a distance, our situation will be too passive."
Miguel nodded in agreement. Just as he was about to open his detection Cursed Tool, the Cursed Tool suddenly began to violently vibrate.
"Found it!" Miguel gripped the Cursed Tool tightly, pointing towards a valley shrouded in black mist not far away. "The source of the Cursed Energy is right there!"
"Be careful, it might have already spotted us." Rin condensed Cursed Energy at his fingertips, ready to summon Rifle at any moment. "Don't get close yet; let's observe its attack pattern first."
The two lowered their bodies, moving stealthily towards the side of the valley, using the trees for cover.
The fallen leaves beneath their feet made a faint sound, yet it was exceptionally clear in the silent deep mountains... In the center of an open clearing, dozens of grayish-white stone statues were arranged neatly, like carefully displayed exhibits. Some knelt, some stood tall, and a few were even posed in an embrace, but the terror and despair frozen on every stone face tore apart the eerie 'order' beneath.
And in the center of the clearing, a tall figure slowly moved among the statues.
The Cursed Spirit was over two meters tall, covered in rough, black-blue'skin' with patterns crisscrossing like weathered rock, looking exactly like a Gargoyle from a medieval castle.
Its head was eagle-like, with a sharp, cold glinting beak. The edges of its folded wings on its back were lined with bone spurs, and each flap stirred up fine stone dust. Its short but thick limbs stepped on the ground, leaving deep indentations.
The most peculiar thing was that this creature had no eyes.
It stopped, gently caressing the cheek of a worker's stone statue with its cracked hand, its movements surprisingly showing a hint of obsession, as if admiring a rare treasure.
It was unclear how this creature observed these statues.
But the next second, as if it suddenly sensed something, its eagle-like head snapped up, its black-blue neck making a "clack-clack" turning sound. Although it had no eyes, it accurately locked onto the two figures at the edge of the clearing.
"Welcome, my two esteemed guests."
The Cursed Spirit's voice was hoarse like grinding stones, yet it carried a deliberately slow "elegance." "Finally, someone has come to appreciate my exhibition hall."
Rin and Miguel stepped out from behind the trees, their faces serious.
Miguel's gaze was fixed on the Cursed Spirit's folded wings, a posture that made him feel it could launch a sudden attack at any moment.
The Gargoyle Cursed Spirit slowly turned around, its ugly, wrinkled mouth suddenly widening to reveal jagged fangs, its laughter as grating as tumbling gravel:
"Why so serious, my esteemed guests? Haven't you felt the artistic atmosphere here?"
It gestured to the surrounding statues, its voice filled with fanaticism: "Look at them, every expression, every tremor before death, perfectly preserved! This is the most vibrant 'art,' my gift to this world!"
Rin's gaze swept over a statue in the front row:
It was a young worker, his stone hand still in the posture of gripping a tool, his mouth wide open as if frozen in a final scream, the terror in his stone eyes something even the rock could not conceal.
These once vibrant lives were now breathless stone statues, treated as 자랑스러운 collections by the monster before them, every inch of the scene exuding suffocating eeriness and cruelty.
"You turn human lives into works of art, and you dare speak of 'art'?" Rin's voice was cold.
"Your so-called 'exhibition hall' is nothing but a slaughterhouse stained with fresh blood."
The Gargoyle Cursed Spirit's laughter abruptly ceased, its black-blue head tilting slightly as if in confusion: "Slaughterhouse? No, this is an exhibition hall. You will understand soon enough, after all, the best exhibits are always fresh."
"This world is getting crazier and crazier. Even Cursed Spirits are talking about 'artistic atmosphere'."
Miguel watched the Gargoyle's obsessive manipulation of the statues, lowering his voice to complain to Rin.
Rin didn't reply, his gaze quickly scanning the perimeter of the clearing. Small stone fragments were scattered on the ground, and the distance between the statues was roughly equal, like deliberately left 'viewing passages'.
Although the Gargoyle's wings were still folded, subtle black Cursed Energy seeped from the gaps in its wing bones, clearly indicating that Cursed Energy was accumulating in secret.
"Alright, stop messing with your broken rocks here."
Miguel took half a step forward, his tone filled with undisguised pressure:
"Come with us willingly, or else..." He deliberately paused, then let out a cold snort, his threat self-evident.
But the Gargoyle paid no attention to the threat. Instead, it turned to a nearby worker's stone statue and murmured, its voice sounding like it was squeezed from stone cracks:
"It seems my guests don't understand art very well... But it doesn't matter, I will teach them. Once they learn, they too will become one of my most perfect works."
Before its words finished, Rin suddenly raised his hand, and black-red Cursed Energy exploded in front of him. A Worm Cursed Spirit nearly five meters long materialized from the Cursed Energy, its slimy body covered in thorns, and it lunged towards the Gargoyle.
This was a test he had prepared long ago, hoping to force out the opponent's Cursed Technique with the Worm Cursed Spirit's massive body.
"Boom!" The Worm Cursed Spirit's body slammed heavily into the Gargoyle, and dust instantly billowed out. Several surrounding statues were shattered into pieces, sending debris flying.
But before the dust could settle, a piercing shriek cut through the air—it was the Worm Cursed Spirit's voice!
Rin and Miguel's expressions drastically changed. In the dust, the Worm Cursed Spirit's body was hardening at a visible rate; its once slimy skin gradually lost its luster, turning into grayish-white stone.
It thrashed wildly, but could only watch helplessly as the petrification spread from its head to its torso. In just two seconds, its massive body completely solidified, transforming into an ugly, thorn-covered stone statue, which then crashed to the ground.
As the dust slowly cleared, the Gargoyle emerged from behind the shattered statues, not a speck of dust on its black-blue body. Its eagle-like eyes stared at Rin and Miguel, its mouth twisting into an eerie arc, its voice so sinister it made their scalps tingle:
"No need to rush, my esteemed guests. Soon, you will be just like it, staying here forever, becoming new additions to my exhibition hall."