Chapter 980: Laugh, don’t you like to laugh?
“Everyone~ are you all bandits?” My voice echoed once more.
The crowd stared at me, sweating profusely at my nonchalant demeanor.
The pressure of life force from dozens of people is a powerful force that crushes!
It’s not just small fries.
“In this day and age, being a bandit requires some real strength,” I said, as the Box of Books quietly settled into my hands.
At that moment, the atmosphere had plunged into a state of extreme tension, as if the slightest movement would ignite a battle!
Even they themselves couldn’t understand why the atmosphere had turned this way.
Nearly a hundred people facing one person.
There should be no outcome of sorrow and resentment.
But instinctively, they felt that they had to give it their all to secure even a glimmer of hope!
The previous waves of people were far more numerous than just two or three; they could easily send their opponents away with laughter, even mocking them without pressure.
But now… they couldn’t do that anymore, as if an invisible hand had grasped their unyielding roots.
This extreme contrast in the pressure was impacting the few rational individuals present.
Would they lose?
This was the only thought that emerged in their minds.
As this thought arose, the few who were still somewhat rational felt a wave of fear surging from within!
That kind of fear enveloped their cognition at an extremely unsettling speed.
Would they lose… would they die!
Unable to counter…
Faced with an intense fear that triggered a desire to survive, it almost forcefully dominated their rationality, altering their thoughts.
And just as these individuals reached their limit and were about to flee, an eerie laughter echoed.
“Hmph… hehehe… pfft pfft pfft… hahahaha…”
The eerie quality of the laughter was due to its transformation from a suppressed chuckle into uncontrollable laughter, reaching a state of ecstasy!
Such a natural transition, amid such serious confrontation, created an extreme contrast.
Why laugh?
What?
No one answered those who couldn’t laugh.
But those laughing knew exactly why they were laughing.
Because they were not facing a second-year student!
Such arrogance, such overconfidence, and they dared to spout such outrageous claims?
Isn’t that funny?
As the first person laughed, then the second… the third!
Laughter seemed to spread like an infection, radiating across their faces.
They laughed so joyfully! So foolishly.
“Haha… why aren’t you laughing? Haha… haha…”
“Why… umm… should I laugh… hahaha… it does seem quite funny, haha…”
Laughter gradually wove itself into a sea of joy… while those unable to laugh were like a lone boat adrift on the ocean.
Isolated and helpless.
Why should they laugh?
Why?
Shouldn’t they be feeling fear! That person… no, that witch… she would kill everyone!
Kill everyone!
“I don’t want to die… I can’t die… but I’m afraid, this world has become so unfamiliar, everyone around me has gone mad… gone mad!”
This was the witch’s tactic!
“Ahhh! Ahhhh……”
Those tormented by fear let out anguished howls! They wanted to flee from this hell!
“You’re all crazy… what are you laughing at!”
But their words had no effect, the contrast between joy and anguish only intensified the breeding of fear.
The emotional cycling balance within them was gradually being disrupted, with their bodies preparing for survival, adrenalines surging, keeping them shaking uncontrollably.
Their limbs convulsed as if prompted by stress.
But… this was the dilemma of being dominated by one’s own body; even your own body could be your enemy.
And so it was with emotions.
This was how the weak could be defeated in an instant; perhaps they would never understand why they died like this.
Life is like this, life is simple yet complex.
It’s simple enough to come into this world easily but complex enough that one small misstep can lead to the loss of precious life.
Those who feared too much and knew too much would be frightened to death.
Those who were joyful and knew too little would die suddenly.
When those laughing covered their mouths yet laughed uncontrollably, upon seeing their bloodied hands, they couldn’t even fear anymore.
Because they saw their own blood as ridiculous.
Laughing at their own weakness, laughing at the absurdity of it all.
Even when they recognized the problem, they still couldn’t stop themselves.
Until their immortality began to heal the internal injuries caused by laughter, until uncontrollable incontinence triggered by laughter, until laughter induced breathing difficulties…
The disaster had only just begun.
Laughing, killing an ordinary person is simple, but they were all students with immortality.
Their recovery kept them trapped in a cage of laughter and fear.
This gathering of nearly a hundred people unfolded an eerie scene in the Grail Rosen Wilderness.
And I was the little witch appreciating this picture.
This was the first time I had recklessly used and displayed the powers of Emotional Body Cultivation.
My previous uses had been demonstrations and guidance for Sister Bai or Xiao.
The first real confrontation was probably against that fallen spirit in the Game World, right?
That time, I nearly effortlessly led my opponent to fall into the abyss, transforming into a demon.
And this time… these people would also fall into the abyss, but it would be the abyss of death!
Their emotions gradually spiraled out of control until they completely collapsed, and no one knew how long it would last.
As they desperately resisted in this state, I could withstand their efforts even with my eyes closed.
They were so weak that they were like little demons just birthed from a pile of flesh, easily crushed.
Such a bizarre scene was not only appreciated by me.
The club members stationed in the Grail Rosen Wilderness, always monitoring the core situation, had long been on standby from a distance.
New club members recorded this scene, transmitting those heart-stopping images in real-time.
Whether it was those recording at this moment or those watching the images in the academy, all were silent.
The fear of the unknown made them uneasy.
They had never thought that laughter could be deadly.
Watching those who laughed like maniacs, concealing their cunning yet laughing heartily, while blood trickled from the corners of their mouths, too much blood flowed back into their trachea, triggering coughs but still laughing madly.
Even from afar, one could hear the faint sound of laughter through the recording devices.
Until their legs could no longer support their bodies and they collapsed to the ground, unable to resist this overflow stemming from their emotions.
In the end, the only figure still standing in the scene was the last one, the root cause of it all.
That little witch!
After about half an hour.
The disputes over the ownership of the secret realm had completely come to a close.
Immortality merely preserved their lives, but death was only a matter of time.
“What… what kind of method is this?”
After some time, within the Witch Academy club watching everything, an elder, a higher-up, finally opened their trembling mouth.
“Could it be some kind of major laughter kill created by a mentor?” The person posing this guess became confused by their own words.
They had never seen a proper spell that caused laughter, but in the realm of minor spells, there existed something akin to a smile spell, which could make one maintain a standard smile, yet how could a spell make someone laugh to death… how is that even possible?
Hadn’t they seen those people, especially the wizards, realize what was happening and cast spells like dispelling, curse-breaking, and so on, only to find them ineffective in the end?
The unknown always induces fear.
And seeing the tragedies of others, each person instinctively asks: “Can I withstand such a method?”
They didn’t even know what the method was, how could they resist?
“So… the secret realm was reclaimed just like this?”
After everyone fell silent, someone posed this question to change the topic.
Then a few people quickly picked up on the thread, completely discarding the previous topic.
After all… topics without conclusions were just asking for trouble; they had seen this little witch use incomprehensible powers before.
However, some were also secretly inquiring with their mentors, but even their mentors could only respond with uncertainty.
After all, this method was an emotional body cultivation technique deployed through the eighth sense of spatial sense.
Even speaking that line might trigger a dozen extraordinary witches to claim it as exclusively their own, and some might even be slapped in the face right on the spot.
Complexity without clear terms.
“Truly, our Witch Academy’s little witch teaching assistant resolved the troubles of over a hundred people in one fell swoop.”
“Yes, with this little Lian teaching assistant from the Witch Academy stepping in, reclaiming the secret must be inevitable, but… causing harm to so many students at once, will it bring any trouble?”
“I notice my little Lian teaching assistant doesn’t seem to have any intention of letting them off; could it be… she intends to kill them all?”
“She has the capital to do so; if she dares to do it, then likely there is a mentor backing her, such as… her girlfriend.”
“Ah… could it be more than that?”
And indeed, it was more than that.
After all, those paying attention to this incident included the Academy Head and a certain betraying witch.
Even if this was a targeted act against non-extraordinary students, it ultimately led to such a conclusion.
Such a death made Mei Linde realize the importance of Emotional Body Cultivation.
She recalled that Ai Ai seemed to be guided toward the path of Emotional Body Cultivation as well.
She shared this scene with her and directly contacted the past; it was quite fortuitous that the rotation period was not during the Primordial Dream Laboratory.
“Jiao, in the Witch Academy, aside from little Liu and Japanese, you are one of the few who have practiced Emotional Body Cultivation; does this power work on extraordinary beings?”
Mei Linde straightforwardly inquired about this issue that concerned her.
Theoretically speaking, regardless of how laughter deepens, for those whose essence has transcended into extraordinary life, touching upon the realm of real time; they should not be able to die.
Because the extraordinary have already detached from the common immortality, anchoring their life essence at a deeper level of real time; beings who cannot touch that level of real time cannot kill such life forms.
Thus, “non-extraordinary beings cannot kill extraordinary beings” became a widely accepted notion.
“The ‘little Liu’ technique, I’ve only grasped a bit, but what I want to say is… ‘little Liu’ may not be able to kill the extraordinary, but can absolutely trigger emotions in them unawares.”
“Can it ignore the life barrier of the extraordinary?” Mei Linde respectfully re-asked.
“I’m not sure, the emotions I possess are neither of those two, but if I were to confront general extraordinary witches, I could make them mentally near collapse through such means.”
After all, she understood clearly that the emotion she wielded was “urgency.” When facing an urgent enemy, her mastery of body techniques would absolutely exploit any detail and strike down the opponent.
Emotional Body Cultivation… is fundamentally not used for frontal combat.
This had always been her insight into Emotional Body Cultivation, especially when combined with her body techniques, it demonstrated a horrific effect of 1 + 1 > 2.
But now, upon seeing the video sent by Mei Linde, watching Xiao Ling decimate so many people with just “laughter” and “desire to scorch,” without lifting a finger, she realized her understanding and development of Emotional Body Cultivation were far from the limit.
“So it’s still possible, but not as terrifying?” Mei Linde grasped the implications.
“No… Emotional Body Cultivation is more terrifying than you imagine; as long as it concerns life that can be swayed by emotion, it can end their lives through Emotional Body Cultivation, only I haven’t reached that level yet.” She frowned slightly.
“What about lifeless beings without emotion?”
“Lifeless beings… Hearing this question, she furrowed her brow but ultimately gave her understanding: this would be even more unsolvable because they lack any adaptability or resistance to emotions, thus would perish more tragically. The potential upper limit of Emotional Body Cultivation surpasses your imagination.”
“Is that so? I apologize for the disturbance… thank you for your answer…”
“Not a disturbance; if there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up. I gained new insights on Emotional Body Cultivation that require immediate practice for verification.”
“Alright… I won’t disturb you.”
Mei Linde hung up the call, then looked back at the imagery she was following.
Before all this happened, she had always thought Xiao Han’s “Emotional Body Cultivation” was merely a trivial affair.
However, Mei Linde had also selectively overlooked one thing: she had promptly dismissed the fact that Xiao Han had killed so many people in a single strike; instead, she was amazed by the terror that Xiao Han’s development of Emotional Body Cultivation possessed.
As if the death of those people could make her appreciate the value of Emotional Body Cultivation; perhaps, in the end, those people died meaningfully.
“Next, we’ll be entering the secret realm, I wonder what surprise you’ll show me this time, Xiao Han.”
Mei Linde zoomed in on the imagery; this perspective was intentionally left for her to view by Xiao Han. Even when entering the secret realm, she could still witness the events within.
She truly started to anticipate the three plans that were hindered by the Ice Snow Throne secret realm.
Such joyous developments made her feel that it was necessary for the entire Main World to tremble.
However… there was no need to rush now; as the betraying witch said, such a rare opportunity should be left for Xiao Han to experience personally, to see if she could turn the sky upside down!
