Chapter 234, Hell Room_i
Translator: 549690339 |
The old man cracked a smile, though unsightly, it was significantly kind- hearted and simple.
His eyes swept over the giant lizard and lizardman, asking Fang Hao, “Are you the leader?”
He perhaps mistook Fang Hao for a mercenary leader.
“Yes.” Fang Hao nodded and continued to ask, “Old man, are you the only one left in the village?”
Fang Hao surveyed the village again, yet didn’t spot a single soul.
“I just came here to check if anyone has shown up, I’ll return in the afternoon. I’m now living in the neighboring village; no one can live here.” The old man hastily explained.
“That serious?”
“Indeed, many people died, and the city’s officials just ignored us. If it weren’t for the fear that the other villages might also suffer, we would have overlooked this place as well.” The old man continued.
It seemed that the villagers had already evacuated.
They each found new homes in different villages, abandoning this one entirely. To the villagers, coupling the simple and quick nature of the solution was a relief.
“Old man, could you tell us more about the monster? The more detailed the better.” Fang Hao inquired.
“Okay.”
The old man squatted down by the wall and began to recite his tale.
Since the existence of the village, this well had always been there; the villagers depended on it for water.
However, who would have known that half a month ago,
Someone discovered that mud was frequently left at the well, and it had a foul smell.
The well is a crucial place.
Because it directly affects the health of the villagers, they take it very seriously. At first, they thought the village children were messing with it, so they collectively beat some of the mischievous children.
Despite their efforts, the mud reappeared the next day.
That’s when the villagers realized something was wrong, so they started to keep watch at night.
When night fell, strange noises began to emanate from the well. A bold villager went to inspect it.
A dark shadow emerged from the well, swallowing the villager whole. Afterward, a humanoid monster started attacking the other villagers.
Young and strong villagers organized to expel the monster, but instead, many of them died doing so.
They reported the situation to the nearby city, but no one cared about their life or death.
With their water source occupied and becoming increasingly dangerous,
People slowly began to move out, and the village became deserted.
Is it a ghost? A ghost that swallows a person whole?” Fang Hao asked curiously.
Normally, a ghost would refer to an undead.
Even Nelson, an undead of an orange grade, doesn’t eat people.
Consuming people sounded more like the actions of a wild beast or monster. “No, it’s more like its entire chest cavity opened up and it swallowed a grown man whole.” The old man recalled the scene, his face gradually growing fearful. Fang Hao looked at Anjia and Dimitrija, both shook their heads slightly. They couldn’t deduce what kind of monster the old man was describing.
“What about its attack mode?” Fang Hao asked again.
“What is an attack mode?”
“Um, I mean, how it attacks. Does it have any long-range moves?”
“It just swings its arms and swallows people. I haven’t witnessed anything else. No professional came to deal with it, so whether or not it has any other long- range moves, I wouldn’t be sure.” The old man pondered for a bit, but couldn’t provide a clear answer.
All battles with the monster occurred at night, discernible only by moonlight. Upon seeing it consume a person, everyone just focussed on fleeing. Nobody had the mindset to study its attack methods.
“Alright old man, lead us into the village for a look.” Fang Hao prompted once more.
The old man hesitated a bit, gritted his teeth and said, “I can lead you in and show you where the well is. The rest is up to you to handle. This village is uninhabited now. If you can’t handle it, you’ll have to wait for the City Lord to send troops.”
“Okay.”
Escorted by the old man, the group entered the village.
The deserted village was somewhat desolate, with baskets, furniture and collapsed buildings scattered throughout, roof beams and bricks strewn all over.
“That’s the well, I can only take you this far.” The old man pointed out, his body beginning to tremble slightly.
There was indeed a well in the direction he pointed at.
The stone-brick well was overrun with weeds and mud.
The scattered debris and various equipment gave off a strange feeling, like everything was being dragged towards the well.
It was like water gushing out after opening a floodgate, swirling towards the direction of the well.
“Alright old man, you can go back to the village. If we handle the situation we’ll send someone to inform you.” Fang Hao said to the elderly man.
Oh, okay.” The old man agreed and scurried away as if making his escape.
Everyone was watching the well, waiting for Fang Hao’s command.
Clearly, this matter had nothing to do with them, and meddling in this would just invite trouble.
It could even result in their lives being endangered.
“What do we do?” asked Anjia.
“No rush,” replied Fang Hao.
He opened his backpack and out flew the Skeleton Sparrow, flapping its wings. Watch me,” Fang Hao climbed up the cargo rail on the back of the Giant Lizard and lied down, invoking God’s Presence.
A Soul Fire ignited in the pupils of the Skeleton Sparrow, flying towards the direction of the well.
It circled around above the well. Apart from the abundance of silt and debris, no other anomalies were found.
Looking down into the well, the water was calm with no signs of anything unusual.
Fang Hao controlled the sparrow, retracting its wings and diving straight into the well.
The sunlight shone in, preventing it from being too dark.
Halfway through the flight, the sparrow spread its wings, hovering in the air.
On the wall of the well, there was a large crack.
Behind the crack was not mud or bricks, but a dark void, another space. Broken bricks still had the same accumulation of silt and weeds as the well.
It seems that the creature the old man was talking about must have emerged or escaped from this crack.
With a I’m-not-afraid-to-die attitude, Fang Hao flew into the aperture.
As his vision gradually adapted to the darkness, he could slowly make out the situation inside the cave.
This was a long stone passageway.
Precisely hewn stone walls, grey and worn, water marks clearly visible.
Moving forward.
He entered a room, the walls were illuminated by Nightstones, brightening the space.
But Fang Hao’s inner feelings grew heavier.
This was a room, a room constructed of human skulls. Fang Hao felt as if he
had entered a hellish fear, his body piercingly cold.
In the center of the room was a stone desk, on which were decomposing paper scrolls, a rust-green lantern, and several unidentifiable objects.
Someone had lived here before.
What kind of person would live in such a place, a room built of skulls?
It was outright sinister.
A Soul Fire flickered in his pupils, Fang Hao suppressed his astonishment and continued the search for his target monster.
Mud traces could still be found on the stone slabs beneath him, continuing all
the way to a large ceramic jar next to the stone desk.
“Could it be this ceramic jar?” Fang Hao wondered to himself.
But that didn’t seem right.
If the ceramic jar was the monster, he should be able to see its name.
The fact that its name wasn’t displayed meant it wasn’t his target.
Could it be inside the ceramic jar?
According to the old man’s description, the creature could open a cavity in its
body and swallow an adult human whole.
How could it possibly hide in a ceramic jar?
While thinking, he flew towards the ceramic jar.
The sparrow stood on the stone table, looking down into the ceramic jar from above.
Inside the jar, it was pitch black and seemed like some liquid was slowly writhing around.
Fang Hao peered intently into the jar, trying to make out what was inside.
Woosh!
A dark shadow surged out from the mouth of the jar, enveloped the sparrow like a giant net and swallowed it whole before retracting back into the ceramic jar.
Outside the well, on the back of the Giant Lizard, Fang Hao suddenly sat up, “Holy crap! That scared me to death.”
With his left hand clutching his chest, he tried to calm his racing heart.