Blind Spot

Sigh.

Sigh...

Sigh....

Vision blurring, shaking.

It felt as if something sticky was oozing out of my eyes.

Li Chengyi reached up with the back of his hand and wiped away the viscous liquid that had flowed to one side of his cheek.

Red.

A smear of thick crimson suddenly appeared on the back of his hand.

'I'm bleeding...'

He bent over, his chest scorching and piercing with severe pain.

He didn't know where his body had been injured.

But... he had survived.

Survived.

Li Chengyi straightened up, gasping for air, looking at the huge face that had now completely vanished from sight.

After being torn apart, the face disappeared like an illusion, leaving no trace behind.

It was as if it had never appeared in the first place.

He looked down, attempting to find any remaining fragments on the ground, but oddly, there weren't just no remnants—it was as if the black smoke previously emitted by the face had also dissipated entirely.

If not for the fallen ceiling dust that could still be found from the vibrations of the sound, he would have even suspected that everything he had just experienced was an illusion.

'Now, it should be safe.'

'No, I haven't left this place yet!' Closing his eyes, he eased the stinging, resting in place for a moment.

Having rested only for a few seconds, he began to feel something was off.

The Floral Armor he had just donned was slowly becoming lighter.

'What's happening!?' He hurriedly opened his eyes and looked at the armguard on his hand.

Indeed, the scales of the Wisteria Floral Dress were slowly fading, becoming translucent.

Only then did he notice the Wisteria Floral Dress was already covered with numerous tiny cracks.

Clearly, the armor had also sustained damage during the confrontation with the giant face.

But it had held up until now before showing signs of wear.

Whoosh.

Finally, after several seconds, the entire Floral Armor completely disintegrated, shattered, turning into countless Wisteria Petals which faded away.

Li Chengyi fell to the ground with a thud. While wearing the Floral Armor, he had felt full of energy, as if everything was effortless.

Now that the Floral Armor had disappeared, all the fatigue in his body seemed to surge out all at once.

A sense of emptiness, having lost protective shelter, surged in his heart.

In such an environment, having just faced danger, the sudden loss of the Floral Armor's protection caused the slight relaxation in his mood to tighten up again.

'Did it posses a temporary amplification ability?'

He wasn't panicking; instead, he analyzed the situation calmly.

Now that the immediate danger was temporarily averted, the need for the armor wasn't as critical.

The key was that the Wisteria Divine Flower Position on the back of his hand conveyed a message: The Floral Armor was damaged, and repairs required absorbing new Wisteria Flowers.

After resting on the ground for a while and feeling slightly better, he stood up and started to collect the scattered bags from the ground.

Some of the compressed biscuits inside the bags had spilled out and were rolling everywhere.

As he bent down to pick them up, he vigilantly watched his surroundings.

Especially the maintenance door through which the face had emerged, which was his focal point of attention.

Soon, everything was collected and put back in the bag.

He breathed a sigh of relief, felt the dried blood on his cheek was hard, and carefully peeled it off with his hand.

Carrying his belongings, he looked to the left and right and quickly found a spot to sit against the wall.

With his back against the wall, his gaze swept to the left and right in front of him.

The recent outburst had drained not just his physical strength but also his emotions. Moreover, since he had sprinted upon entering earlier, his energy was significantly depleted.

Li Chengyi felt exhausted, waves of sleepiness looming over him.

But he dared not sleep; in such an unfamiliar place, he didn't know what could happen if he fell asleep. If by chance a face appeared again while he slept and finished him off with a single bite, that would truly be an injustice.

Under the cold, white light, he sat crouching at the base of the grey-white wall, on the black ground, donning the hood of his sports jacket overhead to ensure warmth.

Cool breezes flowed through from time to time, cold and quiet.

He took a chocolate nut bar from his pocket, ripped open the wrapper, and stuffed it in his mouth.

The black plastic packaging was printed with random letters and miscellaneous logos. He took a bite, frowning slightly.

The taste was awful; too sweet, cloying, with a pitifully small amount of nuts.

He ate one piece and stopped, then unscrewed a bottle of distilled water to eat with it.

The faint smell of the cement wall, carried by the flowing air, irritated his nose, making it itch.

Now calm, Li Chengyi had the leisure to reflect on everything that had just happened.

'Although I'm not sure how powerful that face was. But now as long as the Floral Armor can save lives, that's enough! Unfortunately, the Floral Armor is shattered now, and I can only repair it after finding the Wisteria Flowers once I leave.'

Raising his hand, Li Chengyi looked closely at the ring on the back of his hand.

Although the Floral Armor was shattered, he could still feel that the affiliated Flower Language Ability seemed usable.

With a mere thought, his right hand would quickly be covered with an invisible, unseen film.

This film, according to the information provided by the Flower Language Technique, would cause a temporary state of obsession with a specific thing upon contact with any living being.

But without the amplification of the Floral Armor, the Flower Language Ability could only be partially effective.

'Drunken Hand...'

'If I can make that face temporarily focus its attention elsewhere, then even without the Floral Armor, if I move quickly enough the next time I encounter it, I can ensure safety.

'It's just that this Flower Language Technique can only be used at close range, which is extremely dangerous. And whether it actually works on that face remains to be tried later.'

He actually hoped he would never have the chance to try again.

Because a close-range attempt was tantamount to playing with death.

The creature's face… whether it was biologically alive or not, if it had been useless...

Sitting in place, Li Chengyi rested for a while, replenished his food, and regained considerable strength. He also used a prepared dry towel to wipe the sweat off his head to avoid getting sick.

'Next... it's time to find an exit. I can't just stay here forever, standing still won't get me out.'

He wiped his hair, combed all his strands back to avoid blocking his vision.

Picking up his bag, he looked left and right.

To the left was where he had entered, as well as where he had just fought the creature.

However, what made his heart skip a beat was that the footprints and traces of the sonic vibrations on the ground had silently disappeared without a trace.

On the left side of the open space where the face had vanished, there was only a space of about ten meters, ending with a white wall—a dead end.

Li Chengyi shifted his gaze to the right, looking towards the distant end of the garage that seemed to go on forever.

'It seems there's only this way to go, there's only one choice.'

He flexed his ankles, lifted his things, and took big strides toward the right.

As he walked, a sharp fruit knife was already quietly held in his right hand.

The tap-tap of his footsteps echoed continuously in the empty garage.

Passing one white-lined parking space after another, the solid feeling underfoot, coupled with the slight confidence from having just killed a creature, lessened the panic in his heart.

Of course, the most critical factor was his ever-ready Flower Language Ability: Drunken Hand.

When used properly, this ability could be life-saving.

Following the path through the garage, he kept a vigilant eye on the small maintenance room doors as he passed them.

Passing door after door, finally, after the fifth, a corner appeared before Li Chengyi.

The corner was a right turn slope, extending upwards to a higher level, appearing to be a vehicular access point.

In the center of the black ground, a large white arrow was painted.

The arrow pointed towards the spot where Li Chengyi stood.

On both sides, at the base of the wall, was alternating bright yellow and black warning tape, rough and conspicuous.

Li Chengyi stood at the center of the road, looking forward.

'Should I go up? Since the underground garage is located below ground, there must be a surface level. What will it be like above here??'

Curiosity mingled with extreme tension flickered through his mind.

Gripping the handle of the knife tightly, he took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Ahead of the corner, the ground reflected the vague white light from the bend above.

Light also casts shadows.

When the light from the dim and bright lamps intertwine, such shadows always appear.

This is a natural phenomenon caused by different light intensity.

With light steps, Li Chengyi slowly approached the corner, step by step, getting closer, turning the bend.

Quickly, his eyes narrowed slightly as he entered the upper level of the underground garage.

Nothing had changed.

Standing at the entrance of the bend, he looked forward as when he first arrived.

It was still a garage.

Two types of cold-toned tubes ran like two long guiding lines, splitting the garage space in half and stretching towards the end of his vision.

The scene before him was identical to the one below.

The positions of the tubes, columns, and maintenance doors, their sizes, were all exactly the same.

'.....' Li Chengyi felt a bad premonition looming.

He continued walking along the floor, quickening his pace this time.

Before long, he came to another corner with another upward slope.

In the center of the black ground, an identical white arrow was in plain sight.

The sides were still marked with the black and yellow warning colors, to prevent vehicles from missing the position and distance of the walls.

Li Chengyi didn't pause, and continued up the slope.

Passing the bend, he saw the same scene as just before.

Another long straight stretch of garage space, with an upward sloping bend at the end.

'This place!' He began to jog, and this time, it took him only five minutes to run to the turn, then upwards, bursting out of the bend.

For the third time!

Before him, it was still the same garage!

Li Chengyi panted heavily, standing still with his bag, not moving an inch.

Standing at the entrance of the bend, his face turned pale as he felt his energy beginning to deplete.

Taking out a bottle of water, he unscrewed the cap and took a sip. The cool liquid soothed his dry and sore throat, helping him calm down a bit.

'It seems that the blind spot isn't so easy to escape. It's not just the danger of that monstrous face, finding an exit is also challenging.'

Having confirmed that there was no way to leave, Li Chengyi took a seat with his back against a wall corner and placed the big bag beside him.

The corner sheltered from the wind and could reduce the loss of body temperature.

Moreover, the spot he chose faced directly at a maintenance door in front, allowing him to keep a close watch on this dangerous direction.

After resting in place for a while, he began to feel his bladder swell and the urge to urinate arose.

Immediately, he looked around and aimed for a column.

In this garage, there were two grey white cylindrical pillars stationed at intervals, seemingly for load-bearing purposes.

Li Chengyi went to the shadowed side of a pillar, pulled down his zipper, and began to relieve himself.

Just as he was enjoying the release, a slight noise from the small maintenance door beside him broke the silence.

Click.

Even while urinating, Li Chengyi kept his gaze fixed on the nearest door.

At the sound, his body jolted, he hastily zipped up without thinking, and dashed forward a few steps.