The next morning, 8:37 AM.
The cellar door opened, and a figure wearing a straw hat poked his head out to scan the surroundings, pulling back inside shortly after.
When he emerged again, he had changed into a raincoat woven from reeds and thick rope. Holding an iron shovel, he stepped out into the muddy backyard in the rain.
【Name: Crude Raincoat】
【Quality: Crude】
【Description: Simple rain gear woven from dried reeds, thick rope, and oilcloth, usually accompanied by a wide-brimmed straw hat lined with oilcloth to facilitate heavy outdoor work in the rain.
However, since it is woven from straw, water leakage is inevitable over extended use. It also easily absorbs water, becoming heavy and offering poor breathability. Still, it is far better than getting soaked in the rain.】
This mat-like raincoat was something already inside the cellar. After all, the job of digging graves and burying corpses sometimes required working in the rain.
However, this set of rain gear was a bit too large.
Standing just a little over 1.7 meters tall, Wu Shuang was quite small compared to the grave digger's towering stature of over two meters. Wearing it felt loose and heavy.
But for now, there was no better alternative.
The rain hadn't stopped since yesterday, pouring all night accompanied by thunder and lightning. Wu Shuang had even been woken up in terror during the middle of the night by violent gusts blasting through the door, rattling it so fiercely that he had been forced to wedge a shovel against it to keep it shut.
Even now, the rain continued to fall, though it had eased up considerably. Wu Shuang prepared to brave the rain and dig graves, as the downpour offered one distinct advantage: it helped muffle the sound of his digging.
He first headed to the front yard to confirm it was safe and to select two of the easier graves to dig.
Since these graves had most likely already been looted by the grave digger, with the valuables stored in the cellar and some lacking even corpses, Wu Shuang had no interest in them.
The only exception was likely the grave in the backyard, which definitely contained something.
After turning into a living corpse, the grave digger had probably been repeating the process of digging up and refilling that grave in an attempt to resurrect that corpse—until Wu Shuang arrived...
Having inspected the front yard, he found no new living corpses. The bodies on the ground remained where they were, unchanged.
This time, however, Wu Shuang had learned his lesson. An inspection had to be thorough to avoid leaving hidden dangers behind, so he walked toward the Sea God Sanctuary, a place where someone might be hiding.
This place had likely been a church-like place of worship in the past, dedicated to the Sea God. Though it was only a single story tall, its height approached nearly fifteen meters. It originally featured two towering spires on either side, but one had collapsed, bringing down half the building and its walls with it, leaving it a dilapidated hazard.
Wu Shuang stepped inside, leaving his shovel by the entrance. Summoning his handbook with one hand for light, he held a hand axe in the other as he cautiously ventured inward.
Upon entering, he could see the stone pillars supporting the structure arranged in two rows. Most of the pillars on the right row had fractured and collapsed, which was why the building had caved in, though it was unclear whether it was due to years of neglect or intentional destruction.
Wu Shuang hugged the wall as he moved deeper inside. Guided by the light from his handbook and the beams filtering through the hole in the roof, he navigated past shattered pillars and rotted pews until he finally reached the end of the sanctuary.
There were no living corpses inside; in fact, it was completely empty.
Only at the far end, illuminated by a skylight five or six meters above, stood a stone pedestal.
A divine statue should have stood atop it, but it had been destroyed, leaving only two lower legs behind amidst a pile of rubble.
Destroyed to such an extent, it was almost certainly deliberate. Hardly anything could be made out, with the only certainty being that this Sea God appeared to have two legs, making its form likely similar to a human.
Wu Shuang cast the Appraisal Spell on it.
【Name: Destroyed Sea God Statue】
【Description: In the past, people prayed to the Sea God to ward off maritime disasters and to seek bountiful harvests and peace (primarily referring to fish catches).
This faith was particularly widespread in coastal towns, where Sea God Sanctuaries were typically built with dedicated priests presiding over activities and statues of the Sea God enshrined within. However, this statue has been destroyed.
Sea God ②: The Sea God is usually depicted as a beautiful mermaid-like female or a muscular male wielding a trident, governing the entire ocean. It is said that all marine life are its offspring, and even humans were born from the sea.】
"Sea God..."
Wu Shuang read the description, not expecting to gain such information. This was the second deity he had encountered in this world. The first was the Goddess of the Night, who had nearly cost him his life.
This Sea God...
Wu Shuang recalled the hideous goblins. Strictly speaking, those creatures counted as offspring of the Sea God as well.
So the first deity that almost cost him his life... was actually the Sea God?
Wu Shuang scratched his head. Seeing no living corpses, he turned and left, intending to complete his grave-digging quest while it was still raining.
He had already chosen his targets while inspecting the front yard earlier: the grave that the grave digger had dug halfway, followed by the adjacent grave that had been freshly filled, its soil visibly much softer.
Unconcerned with epitaphs or who the deceased were, Wu Shuang started digging right in the moderate rain. In no time, he excavated the half-dug grave. There wasn't even a coffin inside—just a few bones and heavily rotted fibers, suggesting the body had been wrapped in cloth and buried directly without being set deep.
After finishing, he checked the progress of his side quest. Seeing the number change to 1/3, he finally felt at ease.
It seemed completing the quest didn't depend on obtaining specific loot. As long as he dug them up, it counted—whether there were valuables to collect or not. That made things much easier.
He moved on to dig the neighboring grave. This time, it required significantly more time and energy. Combined with the rain and the heavy raincoat he was wearing, his stamina drained quickly. He paused several times to rest inside the sanctuary and recover, ensuring his stamina remained above 40% at all times to handle any potential danger.
Whether because the rain muffled his digging noise or because the place was too remote, Wu Shuang encountered no danger whatsoever right up until the grave was fully dug open three hours later.
Inside lay a coffin filled with muddy water and pierced by a broken hole—which Wu Shuang had accidentally smashed open while digging.
Within the coffin rested a decayed skeleton. Only the upper body remained, with everything below the waist missing—clearly taken by the grave digger, along with whatever valuables had been inside.
Because the muddy water severely obstructed his view, Wu Shuang even groped around inside the coffin for a bit, walking away only after confirming there was nothing left.
He didn't bother refilling the grave, turning instead toward the backyard. Inside the cellar, he ate a quick lunch and rested for a while.
This time, night did not fall suddenly.
Setting off once more, he shouldered his shovel and walked toward the most peculiar grave in the backyard.
"Burying a soul... What could it be?"
"Humanity stored in a container?"
"Some kind of super powerful weapon?"
"It couldn't possibly be a living person buried inside, right?"
Wu Shuang felt amused by his own outlandish thought.
Buried underground for so long, how could anyone still be alive? They would have suffocated to death long ago.
Even if there were, it would only be a mutated zongzi—or rather, a zombie—and digging it up would probably cost Wu Shuang his life.
Rate on N.U.
