“This place is strange,” Charles got out of the car and looked at the ruins in front of him, furrowing his brows.
David nodded, carefully sensing the chilling evil wind that whispered around his ears. Unlike the winds in other places, the malevolence in this wind was particularly heavy, as if it came from a pile of corpses. David looked up and suddenly saw a low figure slowly emerging from a thick mist.
“We have a situation!” Arnold was the first to notice the figure and immediately joined Duke in surrounding Sophie. David decisively drew out his alloy dagger, holding it tightly in his hand as he cautiously stared at the figure. The figure continued to approach the group and soon emerged from the dense fog.
As David looked closely, he realized that the figure was actually a hunched old man. The old man had white hair, wore an outdated suit, and his face was filled with wrinkles like a network of ravines. His old hands were covered with age spots, and his thick, elongated nails resembled eagle claws.
At that moment, the old man stopped, slightly struggling to lift his head and gaze at the group. “Cough, cough!” After a momentary pause, the old man suddenly coughed twice, then looked at David and asked, “Young man, how do I get to the funeral parlor?”
The old man’s voice was extremely hoarse, as if his throat had been wrapped in sandpaper, making it particularly uncomfortable to listen to. After speaking, the old man stared at David with his murky and hollow eyes, seemingly filled with sorrow.
Before David could respond, the old man took two more steps forward, sighed lightly, and continued, “My daughter was only eighteen years old, and she was bitten to death by zombies. It’s not easy for a lonely old man like me to survive in this world. To let her leave with dignity, I must take her to the funeral parlor. It’s my last wish.”
“Cough, cough…” The old man spoke as if there was no one else around, his coughing intermittently accompanying his words. While coughing, he slowly raised his palm to cover his mouth, as if afraid that the next second he would cough up blood from his body.
Hearing the old man’s words, Sally instantly felt a wave of compassion. She didn’t expect to encounter such a pitiful survivor in the apocalypse. The death of his only daughter must have caused immense pain to the elderly man.
Having experienced various separations and farewells, Sally could no longer contain her inner sympathy and quickly said to him, “Old man, there is no funeral parlor here. Let us see if there are other ways we can help you!”
Upon hearing Sally’s words, the old man looked up at her again, seeming to ponder for a moment before saying, “You are kind-hearted people. I thank you on behalf of my daughter. Then, please follow me. If we’re too late, my daughter’s body will start to decay.” Saying that, the old man coughed sadly twice, shook his head, and then turned to leave.
Seeing this, Sally couldn’t help but take a step forward and follow him. “Hold on!” David quickly grabbed Sally’s hand and said in a deep voice. But Sally seemed to be under some sort of spell, attempting to break free from David’s grip.
“Not good!” Sensing something amiss with Sally, David immediately activated a void space and pushed Sally inside, preventing her from approaching the old man.
David stared at the old man, his expression serious. Meanwhile, the old man seemed to sense Sally’s halt, so he stood still, turned around, and looked at David.
“Young man, won’t you help this old man? I only have this one daughter, and now that she’s gone, I don’t have much time left either. Grant me this one wish,” the old man said, staring straight at David, seemingly waiting for his answer.
“Old man, don’t play tricks here! I advise you to leave right away, or…” Arnold also noticed the strangeness of the old man and bluntly retorted. However, before he could finish his sentence, the old man once again covered his mouth and coughed twice. This time, Arnold stood frozen on the spot, mouth agape.
“I know you’re kind-hearted, so come with me,” the old man smiled at Arnold and spoke. 𝙚𝙙𝙤𝒗𝒆𝒍．𝒄𝙤𝙢
Following that, Arnold, just like Sally, couldn’t help but take steps towards the old man.
“Duke, stop Arnold!” David quickly said to Duke.
Upon hearing this, Duke immediately used shadow manipulation and instantly bound Arnold’s shadow, keeping him in place. Despite that, Arnold continued to mechanically step in place, his complexion turning pale and devoid of color.
“Hypnosis?” David looked at Sally and Arnold, who were both standing still and stepping mechanically, and said with confusion. He could clearly sense that both of them were in a hypnotic state, their bodies controlled by the old man.
This made David’s expression even more serious. He carefully observed the old man and noticed that he emitted not only a human aura but also a scent of decay. Charles also noticed this and spoke, “Necromancer?”
After a moment of contemplation, David shook his head. The term “necromancer” referred to someone whose body was infused with a certain power, causing them to exist in a semi-dead state. However, the old man in front of them, despite being slightly sluggish in his movements, showed no signs of being a corpse in his words or actions. Even the scent of decay emanating from his body didn’t resemble the stench of a corpse.
This immediately puzzled David, but the most important thing now was to find the source of the old man’s hypnotic technique. Otherwise, their entire team might become helpless pawns in an instant. He couldn’t afford to take that risk. So, he carefully recalled every detail about the old man’s behavior: his speech, coughing, and the moment they were hypnotized.
“I understand!” David suddenly looked up at the old man, and his eyes emitted a piercing cold light. The old man had been constantly asking questions, implying that he was waiting for their answers.
As soon as Sally and Arnold responded to his questions, the old man coughed twice, and they were immediately hypnotized. In other words, his method of hypnosis involved allowing the other person to respond to his questions, and then triggering the hypnosis through coughing, completely putting the person into a hypnotic state.
Realizing this, David quickly said to the three people beside him, “Don’t answer! Don’t answer any of his questions! That’s the trigger for his hypnosis!”
Upon hearing David’s words, the three immediately closed their mouths and stared fixedly at the old man. At that moment, David opened a void space, enveloping everyone inside, attempting to isolate them from any external sounds.
Seeing this, the old man hesitated for a moment, then a hint of anger appeared on his deeply wrinkled face. He glared at David with resentment in his eyes, and the veins on his forehead surged like coiling dragons.