The moment the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception activated, Duan Chen's world suddenly changed. The entire world seemed to fade in color, and countless lines appeared before his eyes, giving him a sense of control over everyone's fate. It felt as if a mere extension of his hand could extinguish all life present. His gaze involuntarily drifted towards the scarecrow and the angel statue behind him.
Unbeknownst to Duan Chen, as he turned his head, Bai Ye and Wang Zihao clearly saw his eyes. In that instant, they had to exert immense restraint to prevent themselves from launching an attack. No, it shouldn't be called launching an attack, but rather resisting. If not for their strong self-control, they might have instantly attacked simply from Duan Chen's peripheral vision as he looked at them.
"Such terrifying eyes, is this the instructor's ocular technique?" Wang Zihao was somewhat frightened. He patted his chest, his gaze instinctively avoiding Duan Chen's eyes as he lowered his head. Even he couldn't explain why, but he felt that if he continued to stare into those eyes, he might face a dire consequence.
Bai Ye swallowed, appearing particularly nervous, his entire being feeling somewhat detached from his body. He looked at Duan Chen, his eyes filled with a sense of awe. "I must admit, in ways I didn't know, Duan Chen has become even stronger." A feeling of powerlessness surged within Bai Ye, as if he could never catch up to Duan Chen, no matter what.
But the moment this feeling arose, Bai Ye suddenly found peace. He became happy again. Why did he have to catch up to Duan Chen? Bai Ye suddenly remembered that he was not the same as before, nor was he an adversary to Duan Chen. The stronger Duan Chen became, the better it was for him.
Duan Chen, unaware of what the two beside him were thinking, his gaze gently fell upon the scarecrow and the angel statue behind him, noticing the lines on them. This was somewhat unexpected. Duan Chen raised an eyebrow slightly. So, eerie objects also had lines? Moreover, the black lines on them were spread across their entire bodies, making them riddled with flaws. What surprised him most was that when the scarecrows and angel statues were seen by his eyes, although their physical movements did not change, their postures conveyed a sense of wanting to escape. The cloth bags covering the scarecrows' heads instantly showed expressions of desolation and sorrow, even faintly imbued with fear. The expressions on the faces of the angel statues also became exceedingly distorted.
However, Duan Chen hesitated and did not immediately move to slay these scarecrows and angel statues. This was a suggestion from his sixth sense. He had a feeling that if he killed the people in this church—no, not people, but the scarecrows and angel statues, or rather, the indigenous inhabitants of this church—something unpleasant would happen. Therefore, Duan Chen hesitated before choosing to cut open the large door in front of him.
But, as if aware of the power of his eyes, as he turned his gaze back to the door, Duan Chen clearly felt the entire church tremble. It was as if an earthquake had occurred. The church door instantly swung open, revealing everything outside, a clear image of the town, no longer a hazy, indistinguishable mess.
"Why did it suddenly open?" Bai Ye and Wang Zihao, though they couldn't see behind them, could hear the sound. Bai Ye exclaimed with a hint of surprise, "As expected, it still depends on you, Duan Chen, truly remarkable."
A flicker of surprise crossed Duan Chen's eyes. He said nothing, instead grabbing each of them by the collar and pulling them out of the church's confines. The moment they left the church's area, Bai Ye and Wang Zihao instinctively blinked. When they opened their eyes again, they saw the scarecrows and angel statues rushing towards the door at a rapid pace, as if trying to prevent them from leaving. Unfortunately, Duan Chen was faster, leaving them with only their contorted, ferocious faces trapped within the doorway.
"Finally out." Bai Ye let out a heavy sigh of relief. He could no longer hold on, closing his eyes and collapsing onto the ground. He rubbed his hands together until they were warm, covering his eye sockets. His voice was filled with complaint and helplessness, "If we didn't get out soon, I was worried my eyes would be damaged, I almost looked like a cross-eyed fish."
Who could say otherwise? Wang Zihao also rubbed his eyes vigorously, relieving their fatigue. Duan Chen watched the two of them, frowning and speaking with displeasure, "What's wrong with you two? How did you get so caught up?"
"Don't mention it," Bai Ye sighed helplessly. He stood up and dusted off his clothes, changing the subject, unwilling to dwell on such an embarrassing matter. "There will definitely be a great crisis in this area." His gaze fell on the closed church door, and he patted his chest with lingering fear, "Fortunately, we got out. If we had stayed inside, who knows what would have happened." What else could have happened? Of course, death and ruin.
Duan Chen took the lead, reaching out and lifting them by their collars. "Stop resting, we still have important things to do."
"Continue investigating this village?"
"No," Duan Chen shook his head, rejecting the idea. "Investigating the village is necessary, but it's not what we need to do next. Don't forget, just now I sensed that this church was also alive."
"Alive?" Wang Zihao and Bai Ye were both shocked. Bai Ye blurted out, "How come I didn't sense it?" Duan Chen was quite exasperated. He pouted, "By the time you sense it, the withered flowers will probably be long gone."
"Alright, stop joking. Since this is an eerie object, and it houses angels and scarecrows, then we need to fulfill our duty and contain these angel statues and scarecrows." How to contain them was a major problem.
Bai Ye opened his mouth, not optimistic about the task Duan Chen proposed. He looked down at the ropes on his body with some helplessness, "The two of us probably can't help you." The ropes had loosened slightly after they came out, at least allowing them to use their hands, but they were still loosely tied, and they had no way to untie them.
"I'll try," Duan Chen said. "But you two need to be careful, especially not to resist or struggle, otherwise, I can't guarantee whether I'll be cutting the ropes or you."