‘No time to waste; let’s check what I have here that I can work with.’
Ambrose tossed his black cloak back into his inventory and then rolled the sleeves of his shirt.
He started by checking all the drawers in every room to see if there was anything useful.
In the bedroom of the elderly couple, he checked the drawers of the bedside table and found cotton thread. It was very thin and felt like it could snap very easily.
‘Thread, thread…’ Ambrose frowned and found a bundle of needles in the drawer. It looked like the elderly couple used them for sewing or knitting.
He grabbed both the threads and needles, then returned downstairs. He placed them on the kitchen table beside each other.
There was also a baseball bat in a corner of the room, which he picked up and placed on top of the table as well.
“Hmm…” Ambrose suddenly felt a stinging sensation on his neck and quickly slapped at it. He looked at his hand and saw a dead mosquito on it. He took a napkin and wiped it away.
At the same time, he noticed a heavy-looking shelf that was leaning against the wall of the room. It was empty, as the family had grabbed everything they could carry from it.
‘A shelf, thread, and needle.’ Ambrose rubbed his chin and walked out of the house into the open air of the farmland. He then saw the wooden barn with its doors wide open.
“They’ve got to have rope somewhere, right?”
He walked to the barn and entered it. There were haystacks, a few pitchforks, and tire marks from the old wagon on the ground.
Ambrose checked for rope but couldn’t find anything. Then he found a long ladder in one of the stalls.
He grabbed them and moved them to lean against a wall, which he then used to climb to the second floor of the barn.
There was an open window where he could see the entire farmland and the surrounding area.
He could even see the far-away corn and wheat fields. It was a peaceful sight, but unfortunately, it was not going to last.
Ambrose sighed at the sight and then turned nonchalantly to the right.
At that moment, he saw something he was looking for at the corner of the second floor.
It was rope, around two meters in length, piled up on the corner.
“Yes…” He took the rope, wrapped it around his neck, and then climbed down to the second floor. He then rushed back to the farmhouse.
After slamming the door open, he rushed to the kitchen table and tossed the rope on top of it. He then looked around the ceiling with one eye closed.
‘Let’s do it like that.’ Ambrose grabbed the thread and rope. With the help of the needle, he connected them to each other. The thread looked fragile, and it was clear that it was almost snapping in half.
Ambrose then went to the side entrance of the kitchen, which was rarely used. He grabbed two kitchen knives and stabbed them through the wooden floorboard beside the small, arc-shaped doorway. 𝑜𝒱𝓛xt.𝐂𝔬
He then tied the ends of the thread around the knife handles. Now, the thread was acting as a tripwire.
If anyone happened to walk through this entrance, they would accidentally snap the thread in half.
The rope was still connected to that thread.
Ambrose dragged the heavy-looking shelf towards the tripwire, then wrapped the rope around it before uttering all the strength from his biceps to lift it into the air with the help of the rope.
Every time he pulled the rope, the heavy-looking shelf got closer to the ceiling.
Soon, the heavy-looking shelf was right at the top of the ceiling, hanging from the rope.
“Aaargh!” Ambrose groaned and reached out to the corner of the kitchen table. He then pulled the rope closer while the heavy-looking ceiling smashed into the ceiling. He then wrapped the rope around the kitchen table’s leg.
After letting go of the rope, he breathed heavily and looked at the heavy-looking shelf near the ceiling.
It wasn’t very hidden, and anyone walking into the kitchen could see it. However, if someone used the side entrance, they wouldn’t know what hit them.
“Whew…” Ambrose took a deep breath and was about to leave the house to find any more useful items when he suddenly saw an ajar door with stairs going to the basement. ‘Basement, I didn’t see that before.’
He opened the door and went down the stairs into the dimly lit basement.
The basement was very warm, as if it were a sauna, but then he found a bucket in the corner of the room.
He approached it and checked its interior.
It was some kind of black liquid.
He dipped his finger in the liquid, then smelled it and exclaimed. ‘Gasoline… this could work.’
Taking the bucket into his arms, he returned to the house and placed the bucket beside the kitchen table.
He then looked around the kitchen and suddenly kicked the bucket over, causing the gasoline to spill everywhere.
Ambrose then found a small cloth, wrapped it around the baseball bat, and then dipped it in the gasoline before grabbing the matchsticks from the drawer and leaving the house.
He looked towards the dirt road, but it looked empty, as if he were the only person in the world.
‘I am done with my preparations. Now, I just have to hope…’ He walked towards the barn, entered it, and closed the large doors.
…
A group of six crouched behind a small hill. They saw an empty-looking farmhouse with flourishing fields and a red-painted wooden barn.
“Jock, we have already wasted plenty of time. Shouldn’t we already do this?” An impatient-looking Death Blade member asked.
“Quiet!” Jock whisper-shouted. “We are doing this my way!”
The impatient-looking member rolled his eyes, not understanding this carefulness.
“Let’s go; move stealthily.” Jock said to them, and they then walked over the hill before starting to jog towards the farmhouse.
Once they reached the farmhouse, they hid behind it and tried to peek inside the house through the window.
The tallest person around, Miguel, looked from the window and saw an empty house.
“It’s empty…”
“Empty, what?” Jock frowned, thinking it was strange.
“It’s empty,” Miguel repeated. “Maybe they heard what happened in Tonshen and decided it’s not worth it to risk their lives?”
“Why are you speaking like they are real?” The impatient-looking player asked with a scoff. “I don’t think they can think for themselves and just follow the orders of the code!”
“Doesn’t matter!” Jock stopped them before they erupted in an argument. He then looked at a brown-haired man and a black-haired woman.
They were standing next to each other and looked close.
“You two, go check the barn. We will check the house.”
“Roger!” The man and woman replied and began walking towards the wooden barn while holding hands.
They didn’t look like they were in a hurry, as they walked rather slowly while whispering intimately.
Jock shook his head, annoyed that no one was taking this mission as seriously as him and Miguel. They left Leroy behind in Tonshen and took four relatively strong members as backup.
“Let’s enter!” Jock said and nodded to Miguel. They split into teams of two, and one entered through the front door while the other two entered from the back.
At the barn, the couple opened the large doors and looked around the messy barn with an uninteresting gaze.
“Hmm, those haystacks look comfy.” The man grinned and spun his girlfriend around while holding her by the waist. “Since we have time to waste, what do you say?”
“Close the door at least, dummy.” The black-haired woman blushed and shoved her boyfriend towards the doors. The man rolled his eyes with a smile and closed the heavy doors.
He then turned to the black-haired woman, grabbed her by the waist, and planted a kiss on her lips. They hugged each other and fell on top of the haystack.
As they shared an intimate moment, the black-haired woman opened her eyes and saw the face of her boyfriend.
She was about to again close her eyes and enjoy the kiss, but then her eyes widened in shock as a black-cloaked figure appeared behind her boyfriend.
She tried to scream, but her lips were sealed by her boyfriend.
The black-cloaked figure raised a black-bladed sword.
‘Black blade!’ The woman screamed inwardly.
“High Pain.” Ambrose whispered coldly and slashed down.