As Gu Xiang Kai followed Xu Youci into the back kitchen, Nan Yue and Zhu Xi Ning tacitly began searching the small establishment.
They combed through every inch but found no traces of anything. When Gu Xiang Kai emerged with the noodles, he gave them a nearly imperceptible shake of his head.
He hadn't smelled anything; there was no scent of blood in the kitchen.
Either Pu Yuan hadn't died here, or she wasn't dead yet.
Gu Xiang Kai had personally supervised the cooking of their noodles, ensuring they were clean. Having not eaten hot food for several days, the three of them ate their fill before heading out.
Even after walking a great distance, they could still feel Xu Youci’s venomous gaze lingering on their backs.
“That guy definitely has a problem, and it's not just the food.”
If he simply couldn't tamper with their food, he shouldn't have shown such a sinister expression.
It was already the final day, and everyone had more or less become targets for the ghosts. At this point, even if they stopped eating the tainted food, it wouldn't delay their deaths.
Nan Yue was more inclined to believe that Xu Youci truly wanted to do something to them.
“He’s human,” Gu Xiang Kai said in a low voice. “I touched him. For now, he is human.”
Xu Youci was just a person, not a ghost. What could he possibly do?
“We must leave today. We can’t wait until the day of the sacrificial rite.”
Nan Yue made up her mind. She didn't know if the taboos would still apply tomorrow, and their remaining time for survival was running out.
“That well...”
Zhu Xi Ning still remembered Nan Yue investigating the well yesterday. At the time, she had said they would wait for daylight, but she hadn't expected the arrival of the Polar Night.
“We’re going there. Even though there’s no sun now, the rules won't change.”
They had to find a way to leave before midnight arrived.
The three of them didn't stop walking. When they reached the alley where the well was located, they discovered others were already there.
Dongfang Yuelai and Lu Jiao stood by the well and looked back. Lu Jiao waved happily when she saw the three of them.
Nan Yue stepped forward, and Dongfang Yuelai nodded at her with a smile. “Chang'an has already gone down.”
Nan Yue secretly sighed that the abilities of veteran scavengers were not to be underestimated. Although they didn't share clues and acted independently, the leads they discovered were by no means fewer than her own.
“There’s a question I want to know the answer to.”
Nan Yue remained silent for a moment. “You noticed it too?”
The others didn't know what riddles they were playing at. Gu Xiang Kai was about to speak when his ears twitched and his expression changed.
Something was coming.
Nan Yue made a gesture. Gu Xiang Kai and Zhu Xi Ning jumped into the well one after another, and Lu Jiao followed close behind.
After they left, Nan Yue and Dongfang Yuelai stared at each other in silence. From the corners of their eyes, they saw three or five child ghosts slowly approaching.
“People?”
“I think I smell people... so fragrant...”
“In the well, someone entered the well.”
The child ghosts clapped their hands, giggling. “The well is full of dead people. They will all die.”
Their hollow eye sockets faced the direction of the well. After laughing and playing for a while, they vanished.
Nan Yue breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat worried about Gu Xiang Kai and the other.
But there was no movement after they went down. Moreover, she didn't think her own reasoning was wrong, so she didn't act rashly.
Both Nan Yue and Dongfang Yuelai turned their gazes toward a desolate, dilapidated house next to the well.
They walked toward it simultaneously. Nan Yue’s steps were as light as a shadow, and while Dongfang Yuelai’s movements were also light, her stride was exceptionally elegant, looking like a cat from a textbook.
Nan Yue tilted her head, looking at her and then at herself, feeling that she looked more like a ghost.
Dongfang Yuelai didn't know why Nan Yue suddenly seemed a bit listless, but she had already reached the house and smelled the thick scent of blood inside.
Nan Yue smelled it too, and her spirits lifted. Was Xu Defu dead?
A voice in her heart told her it was impossible.
No one in town had died yet. As the town mayor, it was even less likely for Xu Defu to be dead. However, the fact that he had moved from the scholar's residence to this place was definitely for self-preservation, meaning he was certainly a primary target for revenge.
The two exchanged a glance and peered inside through a crack in the dilapidated door.
The room was a mess, with a man’s corpse scattered all over the floor. Dongfang Yuelai took one look and withdrew her gaze.
Nan Yue rubbed her nose. The scent of blood was mixed with the stench of decay; the person inside had been dead for more than two days.
There were no traces of child ghosts nearby, so Dongfang Yuelai whispered, “It’s not him.”
Nan Yue nodded. Although the corpse had been torn apart, she could still see some clues.
That half of a palm was very rough, whereas Xu Defu had the hands of a scholar. Nan Yue had noticed they were well-maintained and lacked calluses.
This was Tan Hao, who had been missing for a long time.
Tan Hao hadn't encountered child ghosts on his way to find the town mayor; he had been found by the townspeople.
As expected, as the town mayor, he was the one most targeted by the child ghosts. Even if he hid in a remote place, he wouldn't be spared.
So they had captured Tan Hao to take the attacks in the mayor's place.
But even though she had also been taken, Nan Yue still hadn't found Pu Yuan.
The two confirmed there were no traces of Xu Defu nearby. The doors of the other houses were tightly shut, and they had no way to force their way in. Making too much noise would draw the child ghosts.
Into the well.
Both of them wanted to earn some performance points before leaving the mission, but they wouldn't risk their lives for it if it wasn't appropriate.
Nan Yue descended into the well. The underground still emitted a thick scent of blood, just like her last visit, mixed with the sound of animals crawling.
Dongfang Yuelai followed behind Nan Yue. Neither made a sound as they landed. The infant ghosts crawling around in the darkness like some kind of insects did not notice them.
No one was here; the three who had descended earlier must have already left.
Dongfang Yuelai had brought a windproof lighter, and its flame was much larger than the one Nan Yue carried.
Nan Yue turned her head to look several times, determined to update her mission equipment once she got out.
The tools one could bring into each mission were different, so scavengers generally prepared for every possibility just in case.
Dongfang Yuelai noticed Nan Yue’s small movements. It was as if a normally serious little animal had finally revealed its curious nature.
The smile at the corners of Dongfang Yuelai’s mouth deepened.
The two walked silently through the underground filled with infant ghosts. The tunnel Nan Yue had seen before, which was manually constructed, was barely wide enough for one person. The ground was covered in slimy, wet soil that emitted a fishy stench because it was soaked in too much blood.
The tunnel went deeper and deeper, giving Nan Yue the feeling of walking into the center of the earth.
The atmosphere was eerie and terrifying, becoming more oppressive the further they went. But Nan Yue couldn't feel such ordinary fear, and Dongfang Yuelai didn't seem to mind it either, perhaps having experienced too much. The two continued inward without stopping.
Nan Yue thought that missions were actually quite interesting. A scavenger's life was very dull, but she had seen so many different worlds within these missions.
Although the relationships between people and the social systems in the missions were very strange, Nan Yue always found them quite intriguing.
Dongfang Yuelai, who was walking in front, came to a halt. Several people were standing ahead. Judging by their silhouettes, it was Gu Xiang Kai and the other two who had come down earlier.
For some reason, the three of them stood frozen in place.
Nan Yue and Dongfang Yuelai exchanged a glance and stepped forward. What met their eyes were countless, dense, and innumerable eyeballs.
Rate on N.U.
