Yang Tao quickly returned to Zhang Qiang's side.
Seeing him back, Zhang Qiang asked, "What happened, boss? I saw the fog fading away. Is it all settled?"
Yang Tao nodded and gave him a brief explanation of the situation.
"So you're saying that some kind of entity was trying to come into our world through that crack in the sky?"
"That's probably the case. But for some reason, it just took one look at me and vanished."
Zhang Qiang was extremely grateful to Yang Tao for solving the issue.
Meanwhile, sitting in the car, Yang Tao frowned as he thought about the whole situation.
What caused that crack in the sky? Was it man-made, or something else? And what kind of world lay beyond it?
Before long, they arrived at Zhang Qiang's home.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
The eerie rhythm immediately reminded Yang Tao of the paper figure from before.
Zhang Qiang let out a helpless laugh. "Here we go again…"
Then he explained, "I think I've been targeted. Every two days, a paper figure shows up at my door."
The figures weren't very strong. Zhang Qiang could easily deal with them using talismans.
But having to do this every two days was getting really annoying.
When they opened the door, sure enough, there was another paper figure.
It looked exactly the same as the one Yang Tao had encountered before.
Wanting to test out his staff's abilities, Yang Tao quickly stopped Zhang Qiang.
"Wait! Let me handle this!"
Hearing this, Zhang Qiang immediately stepped back.
"Boss… since when did you become a Taoist priest? Your style changes way too fast!"
Just as he was about to test out his skills with the wand, the paper doll watching him suddenly started changing in a strange way!
Cracks spread all over its body, and a large amount of eerie purple liquid began flowing out of its hollow form. The doll, which wasn't supposed to make any sound, let out a chilling scream from deep within its soul.
The purple liquid dripped onto the ground and quickly formed patches of purple fungus.
Yang Tao was stunned by the sudden transformation and didn't act immediately. Instead, he carefully observed the changes in the paper doll.
"Has this happened before?" he asked Zhang Qiang, who was standing beside him with a grim expression, staring at the doll.
Zhang Qiang felt a whispering voice echo in his mind as the doll mutated. The more it changed, the stronger the voice became. His instincts told him that if the whispering became clear, he would turn into something terrifying as well.
However, the moment Yang Tao spoke, the whispers in Zhang Qiang's mind disappeared instantly.
Sweat covered Zhang Qiang's face, and he looked exhausted. "No! The other paper dolls were just normal ones!" he replied.
Now, looking at the indescribable, twisted form of the mutated paper doll, he suddenly found the previous ones almost… cute in comparison.
But the transformation wasn't over yet. The once lifeless paper doll was now growing writhing lumps of flesh.
Yang Tao's face darkened. A Corruption-type invasion?!
Damn! If this really was a Corruption-type invasion, his only option was to grab Zhang Qiang and escape this world immediately!
There was no saving it. Time to run!
But looking at the current situation, he felt there was still a chance.
He pulled out two Arceus Poké Balls, ready to throw them at any moment.
With a sickening pop, the fleshy lumps on the paper doll split open, and long, wriggling tentacles burst out, flailing wildly. The tentacles were covered in glowing spots that looked like tiny, staring eyes.
Zhang Qiang's sanity took a huge hit. Even though the whispers in his mind had stopped, the sight before him was just as terrifying.
Yang Tao, however, frowned and studied the tentacles carefully. He had a feeling he recognized them.
The tentacles growing from the paper doll were made up of small cubes—exactly like the Corrupt Tentacles found in the corrupted areas of the Mysterious Era mod in Minecraft!
And now that he thought about it, the purple liquid earlier was obviously Corrupt Sludge!
Understanding the situation, he quickly removed his gear. As expected, the paper doll immediately stopped mutating, but the corrupted fungus on the ground kept spreading—though very slowly.
Without hesitation, he raised his wand and destroyed the mutated paper doll.
Zhang Qiang let out a relieved sigh but still frowned at the purple fungus creeping along the ground, unsure of what to do next.
"Group leader, I've never seen anything like this before. It feels even worse than the usual eerie stuff!"
Yang Tao scratched his head, feeling a little guilty. After all, it was his gear that had corrupted the doll.
"No worries. I'll go grab something to clean up the contamination."
He quickly returned to Minecraft, grabbed a Curse Purifier and Celestial Flowers, then came back to Zhang Qiang's world.
After cleaning up the corruption, he turned to Zhang Qiang. "If anything else happens, contact me immediately! I'm heading out."
Having nearly destroyed Zhang Qiang's world, Yang Tao didn't stick around—he bolted.
---
Read 10 advanced chapters on my patreon
patreon.com/GustinaKamiya
---