Chapter 161: The Price

To directly transform oneself into a pigman through a wish was equivalent to altering one's DNA, and the cost of such a wish was obviously immense.

Furthermore, Qin Fei had no intention of remaining a pigman permanently.

Therefore, the wish he made to the wishing well was: "Grant me the transformation ability of the Ancient Herald..."

As Qin Fei made his wish, a flash of black light swept across the mouth of the well.

数十 seconds later, a plume of black mist drifted out from the wishing well.

This black mist moved through the air with terrifying speed. Before Qin Fei could even attempt to dodge, the mist had already plunged directly into his body.

At the same time, a flood of knowledge regarding "transformation" materialized in his mind.

It turned out that the skill "Shadow Form" Qin Fei had previously acquired actually derived its fundamental power from the omnipresent "shadows" of the Don't Starve world.

Moreover, the power of these shadows not only enabled Qin Fei to use the "Shadow Form" skill but could also be used to alter his physical appearance.

The boss he had encountered earlier in the royal capital—the "Ancient Herald"—had used this very skill to transform into the likeness of Queen Mafalafa.

With this newfound knowledge concerning the power of the "shadows," a glimmer of realization dawned in Qin Fei's eyes.

With a single thought, his entire body began to blur.

Seconds later, Qin Fei's physical form successfully morphed into a mass of black mist... this was his appearance after activating the Shadow Form.

Yet, it did not end there.

Immediately afterward, Qin Fei, now transformed into black mist, began to writhe and contort continuously in mid-air.

As the black mist churned, Qin Fei gradually took on the shape of a pigman... and judging by his appearance, he bore a striking resemblance to the Caesar Pig standing nearby!

When the black mist finally dissipated completely, a pigman virtually indistinguishable from the Caesar Pig stood within the temple chamber.

The stupid bird watched the entire transformation process unfold, its eyes lighting up instantly.

"Change me into one too! Turn me into a dragon!"

Having uttered these words, the foolish bird began chattering endlessly at Qin Fei, repeatedly emphasizing the undeniable fact that it was, indeed, a dragon.

However, Qin Fei paid no attention to the avian idiot beside him, merely waving a hand to signal the creature to shut its beak.

Qin Fei's expression was somewhat distorted, as though he were enduring some excruciating agony.

At that moment, Qin Fei could distinctly feel that he was losing control of his body, piece by piece.

This sudden and drastic change forced Qin Fei to revert from his pigman form back to his original human body... and immediately, countless black spots erupted across the surface of his skin.

These black spots were actually formed entirely of shadows.

Qin Fei frowned deeply.

It seemed that the side effects brought about by the wishing well's fulfillment of his wish were finally beginning to take effect...

These mysterious shadows, originating from some unknown source, were the price of the wish.

They were slowly eroding Qin Fei's physical form!

As time marched on, the surface area of the shadows spreading across Qin Fei's body began to expand. His physical form was actively transforming into a shadow creature...

And this transformation was completely irreversible.

Realizing this, Qin Fei immediately reached into his inventory, retrieved a dagger, and prepared to slash it across his own throat.

He was fully prepared to embrace death.

Yet, almost immediately, Qin Fei's movements ground to a halt.

For, as the shadows dug deeper and deeper into his flesh, an infinite number of memories that did not belong to him flooded into Qin Fei's mind.

These memories appeared to belong to the wishing well itself!

To be precise... these memories belonged to the "shadow entities"!

The shadow creatures within the Don't Starve world were all governed by a collective consciousness born from nightmare fuel.

This collective consciousness, birthed from nightmare fuel, was known as the "Corrosive Consciousness"—and it had bestowed upon itself a name: "Krasin"...

The memories overflowing into Qin Fei's mind originated directly from them.

These fragmented memories seemed to depict events that had transpired right beside the wishing well.

Within these memories, Qin Fei beheld two pigmen... though their appearances were somewhat hazy and indistinct.

One of the pigmen wore a crown upon its head and possessed a slightly shorter stature.

The other pigman was exceedingly corporeal and obese, clutching a scepter tightly in its grasp.

The two pigmen stood close to the wishing well.

From the immense girth of the chubby pigman, Qin Fei was able to roughly deduce its identity: it was none other than the long-dead "Pig King" of the royal capital!

It required little guesswork to surmise that the crowned pigman standing beside it must have been Queen Mafalafa...

The well standing right beside the two of them was none other than the wishing well housed within the temple.

These two pigmen appeared to have uncovered the secret of the wishing well, each casting several gold nuggets into its depths.

Subsequently, the pair began to murmur incantations toward the well for a sustained period.

However, the exact words spoken by the two pigmen in the memory were not entirely clear to Qin Fei.

He could only vaguely distinguish that the King appeared to have requested "eternal life" from the wishing well.

As for Queen Mafalafa, she had put forth two demands: "eternal life and eternal youth."

A moment later, a flash of black light rippled through the well.

Countless shadows surged outward, enveloping the two pigmen entirely.

They burrowed rapidly into the bodies of the pair.

Within mere seconds, Queen Mafalafa, who had demanded "eternal youth and immortality," had her body completely hijacked and occupied by these shadows.

Following this, the Queen wore an ecstatic smile upon her face and strode swiftly away from the location...

……

As for the Pig King, the cost of the "eternal life" wish it had made was noticeably lower than that demanded by Queen Mafalafa.

Consequently, the black shadows emerging from the well failed to completely erode the Pig King's original consciousness.

The Pig King, infested by the shadows, seemed to suffer agonizing torment. Clutching its head with its remaining arm, it stumbled away from the area...

The direction in which it fled led straight to the mural-carved secret chamber situated beneath the summit!

After some time, the departed Pig King returned to the spot once more, but the crucial difference was that the scepter it had previously held was now gone.

So that was how it was!

Witnessing this, Qin Fei immediately began to analyze the events meticulously.

The constitution of the pigmen was exceptionally unique; under normal circumstances, shadow creatures were utterly incapable of inflicting any harm upon a pigman.

Pigmen required no defensive measures whatsoever, naturally possessing an innate resistance to the encroachment of these monsters.

However, the King and Queen of the Pig Kingdom had somehow acquired intelligence regarding the wishing well from an unknown source.

In pursuit of immortality and eternal youth, the two of them hadそれぞれ approached the wishing well with their respective demands.

In doing so, the shadow entities lurking within the wishing well seized the opportunity, thereby usurping and possessing their physical forms.

The Pigman Queen, who had wished for "eternal youth and immortality," was swiftly replaced and supplanted by the black shadows.

As for the Pig King, because its wish was merely for "immortality," the degree to which it suffered erosion by the shadows was considerably less profound.

Based on the direction the Pig King had fled, Qin Fei surmised that it must have headed to the secret chamber beneath the peak, the very room inscribed with the prophetic murals!

Under the dominion of the shadow consciousness, the Pig King had destroyed half of the prophetic murals within the chamber.

Yet, almost immediately, the innate consciousness of the pigman reasserted control, halting the Pig King's destructive actions.

To leave a glimmer of hope for the pigmen, it had concealed the "Emperor's Scepter" within the secret chamber in accordance with the prophecy on the murals, before hastily departing from the place...

With this realization, sudden enlightenment struck Qin Fei's heart.

No wonder the murals had not been entirely obliterated!

It was not that those shadow entities lacked the inclination, but rather that the shadow entity possessing the Pig King had been powerless to complete the task!

While Qin Fei was piecing all of this together, his body had finally reached its absolute breaking point.

As the shadow's corrosion deepened, excruciating pain wracked Qin Fei's head, forcing him to clutch his temples instinctively and drop to his knees on the stone floor.

The erosion of Qin Fei's body by the shadows had grown critical... save for his head, his entire physique had nearly turned pitch black, thick and dark as ink!

A rhythmic, murmuring whisper began to echo relentlessly in Qin Fei's ears.

The name invoked by these soft whispers was none other than Krasin...

"We communicate with one another by passing thoughts back and forth; after that endless chaos, when the ancients survived underground, we conversed with the sensitive among them;

Only by molding dreams can our language be spread among the fleshy minds of intelligent beings."