Little Sam’s steps unconsciously quickened, he wanted to quickly leave the dark corridor and reach a lit area like the stairway, the hall, or the kitchen.
But he wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination; he felt he had been walking for a long time and still hadn’t escaped the darkness.
"Something’s wrong." Little Sam stopped and glanced towards where the curtains were, outside was still the tree shadows clawing at the air.
Little Sam trembled as he walked forward, pulled open the curtains, and immediately heard the pounding sounds of the mountain winds against the windows, along with the peculiar shaped tree.
The tree was deeply etched in his memory, it was close to the terrace.
And he had retreated from the terrace some time ago. This meant that he hadn’t actually moved at all.
Yet Little Sam could hear his own frantic heartbeat and the sound of his throat gasping for air, a side effect from his earlier quick steps. With such feedback from intense movement, why hadn’t he moved any actual distance? What on earth was happening?
"Soul Blind?" Little Sam unintentionally muttered this term.
It was something he read in a book a few days ago at the orphanage, describing a unique soul ability. It appeared like an illusion technique, but it directly acted on the mind through a wave frequency, guiding and misleading inner choices, resulting in effects similar to illusions.
The most famous aspect of Soul Blind is making one lose their sense of distance, trapping them in an endless looping maze.
And this situation was incredibly similar to what Little Sam was currently experiencing.
"If it really is Soul Blind, it means there is a high probability that the undead are attacking..." Little Sam’s heart pounded as he decided to test it out.
The simplest experiment to determine if he was under Soul Blind was to make a mark and walk forward, if he returned to the mark, he was likely obstructed.
Little Sam carved a deep mark into the wall with the dagger he carried, then took a deep breath and walked briskly forward.
Minutes later, Little Sam still hadn’t walked out of the dark corridor, and once again, he saw the knife mark.
"It’s really Soul Blind!" Little Sam’s expression grew grim: "Ordinary souls simply can’t wield such power. Adar, Shanni, even Frode haven’t learned it yet, this is very likely a Soul Blind created by the undead. If it truly is from the undead... then Lady Cilla’s chances are high."
Little Sam couldn’t help but recall the eerie laughter he had heard before.
At that time, he thought it was the strange wind outside, but in retrospect, the abnormality in the corridor clearly appeared after that laughter. Perhaps that laughter was a kind of psychological suggestion against him.
He distinctly remembered that the laughter was sharp and piercing, with clear female vocal characteristics.
He didn’t know what Lady Cilla’s voice was like, but he had a hunch that the eerie laughter was very likely Lady Cilla’s.
If it really was Lady Cilla, he had no means to deal with it. He currently possessed no extraordinary power, unable to deal with even an ordinary undead, let alone a fully empowered special undead!
"No, if it truly is Lady Cilla, it’s not completely without means. The Book of the Undead recorded some clues..." Little Sam clenched the fist hidden in his sleeve: "Even if this method works, I must first confront her."
Lady Cilla casting such a Soul Blind on him was surely intended to torment him, to watch him despair. She won’t reveal herself actively in the short term.
The only way to face Lady Cilla directly is to break the Soul Blind!
Little Sam was a person of great resolve, and although he was terrified to his core, he understood that at the brink of life and death, self-rescue was his only option. Upon deciding on this option, he would muster all his strength to implement it.
Just like when he discovered the farmer secretly watching him, planning to use him as a living sacrifice, he immediately decided on his course of action.
He had no hesitancy in his character, and reality didn’t allow him to hesitate.
Little Sam suppressed his racing heart and looked again at the deep, dark corridor.
"The book said Soul Blind misleads the mind and obscures intuition. So, I won’t rely on intuition, or follow my inner choices." Little Sam closed his eyes, conjuring in his mind the scene of him killing the farmer, a moment he couldn’t forget and was least susceptible to misdirection.
He meticulously recalled every detail of killing the farmer, his emotions, actions, language, mindset at that time, all played back in his mind.
As he detailed these memories, Little Sam’s feet started moving.
His body unconsciously walked forward, while his mind contemplated another unforgettable event. This was the method for breaking Soul Blind he read about in the book.
When Little Sam finished recalling all the details of killing the farmer, he opened his eyes.
This time, he found himself standing under a lit wall lamp.
The corridor on the third floor had only one wall lamp lit, and it was near the stairway!
Previously, no matter how he walked, he couldn’t reach the stairway. Now, seeing the wall lamp meant the stairway was adjacent!
Little Sam look ahead, and indeed, he saw the dark corner.
"Escaped!" Little Sam felt a surge of joy in his heart, but before he could celebrate, a wave of eerie laughter accompanied by a cold wind struck from behind.
Little Sam didn’t dare look back, he only charged forward through the corner to the stairway, intending first to reach the well-lit first-floor hall, then strategize further.
As Little Sam crossed the corner and descended, from the corner of his eye, he glimpsed the depths of the corridor.
A massive black shadow occupied the end of the corridor.
He could vaguely discern that the outline of the shadow resembled a... giant spider!
...
On the high ground behind the lake’s hill, Angel and Frode stood there, gazing into the distance.
Frode was watching the castle, sensing the eerie chaotic death aura within.
"Lady Cilla has arrived," Frode’s tone was certain, his eyes carrying an unfathomable expression.
"Yes, she went to the third floor of the castle."
Although Angel was replying to Frode, his gaze wasn’t on the castle but on the distant horizon. The rolling low black clouds not only enveloped the entire mountain forest but also obscured the far-off Saint Sem City and surrounding towns.
This grand dark phenomenon, though preluding Lady Cilla’s entrance, was not created by her.
Lady Cilla merely took advantage of the situation, entering the castle amidst the pervasive dark clouds.