Chapter 105: Underground Cave

Giggle, giggle~ The plant-woven rag washed the pig head mask, meticulously cleaning every corner of it. Putting the clean pig head back on, along with Yi Chen’s completely naked body, the look was hardly gentlemanly, yet it fit perfectly with the position of Shebolt Village. Yi Chen’s lean body with oddly distributed muscles resembled a malnourished human-pig hybrid that had failed to be selected as the “Butcher” and was abandoned in the filthy underground area. Due to the loss of the “Moon of Slaughter,” he could only hold onto the meat-cutting knife issued by the meat factory, The knife’s craftsmanship and sharpness were decent enough to ensure the efficiency of processing corpses. “Until I get my weapon back, I’ll make do with this! I hope I can find my axe and gentleman’s clothes; otherwise, this investigative mission will be a big loss. Once I get out of this filthy underground area, I’ll try to go to the Village Chief’s house, maybe I can find everything at once.” Little Grape suddenly popped up: “William~ at least avoid direct conflict with the Village Chief before you retrieve your weapon… I’ve been thinking about the special state the Village Chief displayed at the end. Even though the Pathogen Core was destroyed, he could display an even stronger form. This ‘Power’ doesn’t belong to him personally; it’s likely derived from the Grey Zone or from the creature creating the ‘abnormal Grey Zone,’ sharing life through an ‘umbilical cord’ as a medium.” “To truly kill the Village Chief, you must harm the creature that bestows him with life, and that requires your weapon.” It was rare to see Little Grape so serious, and Yi Chen just slightly smiled. “Hmm, I’ll seize the opportunity. Let’s see what this place is all about…” Yi Chen’s brain was still burdened with many doubts, all of which needed to be deciphered and reasoned through subsequent information gathering. Following the only underground passage, walking in the direction of the water flow, they traveled about a hundred meters, squeezing past a narrow gap in the path. A natural underground river came into view, It was a complex underground pipeline system formed primarily through erosion, including underground corridors and caves, once the lifeline of Shebolt Village, which was built here because of this underground river. Now, due to the village’s Pathological state, the river was also polluted. seaʀᴄh thё NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The water surface was covered with various impurities, emitting a strong foul smell. “Hmm? Is there something living down there?” He referred to it as ‘something’ because Yi Chen couldn’t determine what sort of life form it was just by its appearance. It somewhat resembled the mass of rotten flesh seen in the villager’s homes, yet it was very shriveled, severely yellowed, and even gave off a ‘withered’ feeling. ṞАNöＢΕ???? The human facial structure on its surface was more pronounced, with one large and one small eyeball no longer ‘blinking’ and showing no gloss, seemingly awaiting the arrival of death. These ‘things’ either floated on the river’s surface, merged with the rock walls, or were themselves part of the setting like a pillar-like object. As Yi Chen, wearing the pig head, slowly approached these things, their previously lifeless eyeballs suddenly turned, and their nostrils began to sniff slowly. Perhaps it was the sight of the pig head or the scent of blood from the factory, A trace of instinctual fear appeared on their faces, followed by a sense of relief, Struggling to open their mouths, conveying messages with their eyes, they seemed to be requesting this passing pig-head Butcher for a premature grant of death. “These folks… were they once villagers? Unable to contribute to ‘Creation’ anymore and having never successfully produced a Holy Embryo, they were abandoned here to fend for themselves. As Jin said, they over-bred, their flesh quality is very poor, not even matching the lowest grade faux meat, naturally, they wouldn’t be taken to the meat factory,” Yi Chen simply walked past this group without giving nor taking anything; he was just a passerby. The scale of the underground lake was much larger than anticipated; it could even be described as sprawling. Making their way around several winding paths, stone galleries, Unexpectedly, deep in an underground cave, they discovered an old man who had killed himself before the village was infected, a decision that spared him from the subsequent “Combined Pain” and also provided Yi Chen with a set of “villager clothing.” Regrettably, the old man was short and frail, his clothes were too small to wear, and Yi Chen could only manage to put on the trousers as capris, but the straw shoes the old man had woven himself fit fairly well, After dressing up, at least walking wasn’t painful, and his private areas were covered, preventing others from seeing him as a pervert. Since the clothes didn’t fit, Yi Chen politely dressed the old man back. During this process of dressing, a sense of being watched suddenly came from behind, and Yi Chen sharply turned around. Although the cave environment was very dark, Yi Chen still saw a shadow that swiftly passed by, but he couldn’t determine what it was. “A villager with swift movement and vision in the dark? Could it be a watcher arranged by the village chief down here?” Yi Chen immediately let out a rather strong snort through his nose, to express his identity as the Butcher. If it really was a watcher arranged by the village chief below, they should reveal themselves to confirm identities… but as time ticked by, there was still no movement. The feeling of being watched from the shadows persisted and shifted positions continuously. “Not one of the village chief’s people?” Just as Yi Chen speculated about the identity, the feeling of being watched suddenly drew closer with a speed that could even match Jin’s… “So fast!” Yi Chen swung his slaughter knife in anticipation and shot out several plant roots with his left hand, trying to entangle the figure in mid-air. In the darkness, a slim figure, with a bone flexibility beyond human, dodged all the plant stabs in the air… and swiped a claw towards Yi Chen’s head. Clang! Sparks flew. The slaughter knife clashed with the claw, and the blade was left with two notches, shocking Yi Chen to the point of numbness in his palms. Moreover, the butcher knife he swung in anticipation only managed to block part of the claw, which left a huge slit in the pig-head mask, revealing the youthful face hidden under the mask. Just as Yi Chen prepared to counterattack, the attacker suddenly stopped their assault, and their killing intent also dissolved simultaneously. In his view, a ragged-dressed girl with black hair, barefooted, stood in front of him, Her body appeared extremely frail due to long-term malnutrition, her cheeks slightly sunken, and her legs as thin as bamboo poles… Her dirty and messy hair partly hung in front of her, covering one eye and forehead. Her other eye gleamed with the luster of a black gem, moist and bright, staring intently at Yi Chen, full of curiosity. “You… you’re not from the village, are you?” Yi Chen could tell immediately that the girl was not wearing the ‘hypocritical mask’ like others, He also concluded from his probe as a Butcher that she was not working for the village chief. “Yes, I came from outside, trying to cure Shebolt Village. Unfortunately, I encountered some troubles on the way and was nearly killed, just escaped from a factory to here.” “I see! I thought you were one of the bad guys from above. Especially since you’re wearing the Butcher’s hood, and were stealing Mr. Taijas’s clothes.” “Who are you?” “Lene Histera, sixteen years old this year! My mom always told me to host well those who come from outside to help our village and try to become good friends with them. The village has been able to exist this long because it once accepted the help of someone who claimed to be a ‘gentleman’.”