The possibility of medicine in the clinic drove Wu Shuang to keep exploring. He carefully stepped down the "carpeted" stairs, nearly slipping several times, thankfully holding onto the handrail.
When he reached the bottom, Wu Shuang's nose was filled with a pungent smell like a wild beast's den or a pigsty, making him knit his brows.
What was certain was that this woman must have been trapped here for a long time, and her husband had fed her plenty. The floor was strewn with human bones, some even unrecognizable. It was likely that many villagers... and even heroes had ended up in her stomach. There were clear gnaw marks on the bones, showing just how starved she had been.
For that exact reason, the cellar was a total mess. Tables, chairs, beds, and cabinets were broken to pieces, mixed with bones and filth. Wu Shuang grimaced, feeling that rummaging through it would be quite troublesome. He hoped the medical supplies hadn't been eaten or contaminated by this doctor.
He did a rough check around the room and confirmed that aside from the foul stench and stale air, there were no other dangers in the cellar. Only then did he relax and prepare to start searching.
The only relatively intact objects inside were a low cabinet and a bed that resembled an operating table.
The former was very clean—even the surrounding floor was much cleaner, completely dust-free. On it sat an old wooden picture frame holding a yellowed photo of a married couple.
The man looked average, but he was tall and heavily built, probably around six foot three. He had clear calluses on his hands, scratching his head with a foolish grin on his face.
The woman was an undeniable blonde beauty with a shapely figure, wearing a white veil and looking somewhat bashful.
"Are these Paul and Helena?"
Wu Shuang picked up the frame to look. The contrast was far too jarring—he couldn't associate them with those two monsters at all.
What on earth had these two, as well as the other villagers... gone through to turn into such horrific monsters?
No one could answer, but it certainly wasn't anything good—and it might even fall upon Wu Shuang himself one day.
He looked at the lock on the cabinet and felt its material. It was made of wood, crafted with decent workmanship, but quite old and not particularly sturdy. It could be chopped open.
So he didn't bother looking for a key. He swung his axe twice at the padlock, loosening the nails, then pried it open with the side of the axe blade.
The musty smell of rotting wood drifted out, but mixed with the stench in the room, it was hardly noticeable.
Inside the cabinet were two small boxes. The wooden box fell apart at the slightest touch, spilling out several Kingdom "Gold" Coins.
There was also paper inside, very fragile, bearing fine hand-drawn patterns, stamped with seals, and printed with large letters: Issued by the Holy Kingdom Bank.
Although it was text from another world, Wu Shuang could understand it. They seemed to be banknotes, an early form of paper currency, in quite large denominations—500 each, two of them in total. Counting the heavy gold coins, the total came to 1,372, making it the first massive sum of money Wu Shuang had acquired so far!
Wu Shuang collected the money using the Appraisal Spell, turning it into a figure in the system that he could withdraw at any time, even in the form of banknotes.
This was probably the couple's savings. A few photo albums sat on the lower shelf; Wu Shuang glanced at them without flipping through, then pulled out the iron box. It was large, roughly the length of a forearm, and felt heavy and solid.
At first, Wu Shuang thought it contained money as well, but the moment he opened it, he couldn't help gasping in a deep breath, ignoring the foul stench, because lying inside was a gun!
Although wrapped in oiled paper and set inside foam padding, the outline was unmistakably a gun—and a large handgun at that!
Unwrapping the oiled paper, Wu Shuang couldn't help but doubt his own eyes, because the gun's design was absurdly strange—something he had never seen before.
It had seven barrels bundled together like a mini-Gatling gun, paired with a lacquered wooden grip and a vintage hammer firing mechanism...
He had only seen this type of gun in history books and related illustrations, but he had never seen one with so many barrels.
"Is this an antique? Have the people of this world not invented bullets yet?"
Wu Shuang wondered aloud. After deliberating for a moment, he couldn't help but use the Appraisal Spell.
【Name: Argus (Unique Weapon)】
【Quality: Fine】
【Lore: After surviving a perilous shipwreck, Paul's father—Old Henry—returned to his workshop and spent a tremendous amount of time crafting this bizarre firearm, exhausting almost all the energy of his later years.
Henry entrusted it to his son, Paul, instructing him to keep it safe and saying it would definitely come in handy in the future.
Its brutally crude multi-barrel design and heavy weight leave one wondering what on earth this thing was designed to hunt. Even for a bear, there's no need to bundle seven shotgun barrels together, right? That would just be a burden.
Yet Old Henry wouldn't listen, claiming it still wasn't enough—far from enough! Every time the matter was brought up, he would wear a terrified expression and remain tight-lipped.】
【Description: An old-fashioned muzzle-loading percussion firearm named Argus due to its unique appearance. It has never seen actual combat and was kept by Paul as a family heirloom before being gifted to Helena as a love token.
Although its technology is relatively outdated, its bold appearance and design give this gun impressive destructive power even in the present era. Loading it, however, is exceptionally troublesome.】
...
"A special weapon?"
Wu Shuang's eyes widened as he stared at the handbook. The text color for the name was different—it was an orange item!
Moreover, compared to ordinary items, it had an extra Lore section detailing the story behind it.
If this were a game, it would already count as legendary gear. Unfortunately, its quality was only Fine. Old Henry had done his best, but he was still using technology behind the times, requiring percussion caps to ignite the powder in the barrels and propel the lead balls.
Looking at it this way, the gun really was an antique.
"I wonder if there are bullets and gunpowder..."
Wu Shuang felt a hidden compartment in the iron box. Opening it, he found three rows of paper cartridges neatly arranged beneath the tray—21 in total. Though it seemed like a lot of ammunition, used with this gun, it was only enough for three full-power volleys.
There were plenty of percussion caps for firing, stored in a small pouch with over a dozen of them—a fairly generous amount.
He fumbled with it for a moment and got a general idea of how to use it. Though he had never used one before, he had watched videos about them many times and understood the mechanism, so operating it wasn't difficult.
After stuffing seven paper cartridges into the barrels and packing them tight with the ramrod beneath the barrels, Wu Shuang raised the gun and tried taking aim.
It was very heavy, much heavier than a hand axe, but he was thoroughly satisfied. It was a gun, after all; even if its range and accuracy weren't great, under the current circumstances, it was an incredibly formidable weapon—far more terrifying than a bow and arrow.
He definitely had to take this gun, along with the ammunition. To prevent moisture damage, it would be best to find a dry container to store them.
"I didn't find any medicine, but ended up finding a gun... Hmph."
Wu Shuang muttered to himself, turning his gaze toward the operating table. He walked over; he only had one use of the Appraisal Spell left, and he needed to save at least 1 point of mana.
Rate on N.U.
