459: Three hundred sixteen.
Do not let yourself regret it.
459: Three hundred sixteen.
Do not let yourself regret it.
Lu Li crouched at the table, observing the pile of intact human skins beneath it closely.
The oil lamp he held in his hand cast a yellow light on the accumulation of skins, which seemed to come alive; yet, the empty eye sockets diminished the horror.
The skins were clothed in loose garments, deep brown work pants, and a blue jacket, consistent with Jojo’s description, but he was not Oliver.
“Did your servant do this?” Lu Li asked the Mother of the Marsh.
[Its servants…] A whisper audible only to Lu Li arose.
“Tell me about its abilities.”
impersonating people…
“What about the abilities of its other servants?
Tell me all of them,” Lu Li said, turning his head towards Jojo, who sat paralyzed at the doorway, “Oliver might have changed clothes, or might have been dead in Shadow Town already.”
Lu Li, who knew nothing of tact, stated the facts bluntly.
Jojo was in a daze, seemingly recalling and contemplating something.
Lu Li didn’t disturb her, took out the Spirit-Calling Gun and touched the human skin with sequence 1.
With no change occurring, he withdrew the gun, stood up, and while listening to the whispers of the Mother of the Marsh, he checked the cabin.
turns those who see it into its own kind…
but the screams of the dead will summon more servants…]
The cabin walls were overrun with withered moss, resembling dark brown coal slag.
It was somewhat miraculous that the floor, neglected for decades, still supported a person’s weight—though it was at its limit.
Walking inside the cabin, one could clearly feel the softness and caving of the wooden boards, seemingly about to break through at any moment.
appears where people gather…
women will become like her…]
Lu Li stopped just before the floor beneath him collapsed.
Unable to advance further, the floor had become even softer, as unsettling as walking on wet mud.
He retreated back to the doorway, his gaze landing on the dining table beside the door.
On the dining table lay wooden bowls holding a greenish-gray tentacle-like viscous substance that was certainly not left over from abandonment; whatever was in it, decades would have been enough time for its contents to dissipate completely.
Bringing the oil lamp closer, beneath a shallow layer of clear water lay the remains of moss and fungi.
a servant wearing a human skin…
lures people into traps with its speech…
those who are skinned will become like it…]
[It can imitate the voices it hears…]
Lu Li looked down, towards the floor beneath the table.
There was a large hole in the floorboard; Lu Li crouched to inspect it and found a small piece of fabric on the edge of the break.
The break was limited, just wide enough for a skinny person to squeeze through, but when Lu Li extended his arm holding the oil lamp into the hole, the light fell on the smooth mud underneath, which showed no trace.
the most powerful servant…]
“What about the Eyeball Lighthouse on the streets of Shadow Town?”
The fabric hanging off the edge was only as large as a thumb, and apart from the color, it was impossible to distinguish where it had been torn from.
bewitching its servants…
“You’ve been targeted,” Lu Li stood up and declared.
Jojo’s gaze focused and landed on Lu Li.
“All of its followers are in the process of seeking, killing, and converting.
Its number of servants will grow.”
This was why Lu Li and the others, who crossed through Shadow Town, rarely saw bodies, only bloodstains.
The bodies here were all converted into servants by the unknown Evil God.
With a population of at least four to five thousand in Shadow Town at the time of the incident, even if half were converted into servants, it was a despairingly large number.
“Will your servants be converted into theirs?”
That wasn’t as bad, then.
Lu Li stopped his movements and looked down at a section of the tabletop that was a darker shade.
Upon closer inspection, there would be a subtle scent of kerosene lingering at the tip of his nose.
The kerosene trace had appeared not long ago, as it had yet to evaporate.
Lu Li turned his head to look at the corpse under the dining table, as if in deep thought.
“Has anyone else been here?” Lu Li asked.
[My eyes are spread throughout the swamp… but there are always corners that escape my notice… within the fragments… I saw someone come out… came here… then went to Marsh Road… Its followers were chasing it…]
[That person was very powerful… but he went the wrong way… he fled deep into the swamp… everywhere there were my followers and its followers… he hid on a steamship…]
“Where did the ship come from?” Lu Li inquired.
The depth of the water in Shadow Swamp and the interlocking dense dead trees made it difficult for even small wooden boats to navigate, especially during the rainy season, let alone a steel ship.
[Brought by the hurricane… on the day you relayed my invitation to others… fleeing back to Marsh Road.]
Lu Li clearly remembered the hurricane he had encountered in the swamp cabin—it was the day the contrived mysteries of this world truly unveiled themselves to him.
“What happened to those two people afterward?”
Mother of the Marsh paused, perhaps deliberating whether to tell Lu Li.
In the end, it chose to be as forthcoming as before, sharing everything with Lu Li: [She passed through the forest like smoke… barged into my feast… rescued the human who was about to be transformed into a follower… and escaped…]
But the figure in the Bird Beak Mask and the Seeker were never seen again after that.
Lu Li also followed the instructions in the letters she had sent, selling everything that could be sold from her home, except for the items in the basement designated for the investigators’ organization.
After briefly understanding what had transpired, Lu Li began to inquire again about the characteristics of the person who had fled deep into the swamp on the steamship.
[His height was the same as you mentioned… the mud on his body made it impossible for me to see clearly… he had an oil lamp…]
Whether or not that person was Oliver, he had most likely been to the abandoned village.
Lu Li conveyed the information whispered by Mother of the Marsh to Jojo.
Jojo had never let her guard down when it came to Mother of the Marsh.
Perhaps Lu Li was too, but he never showed it.
If one were to interpret Mother of the Marsh’s actions with malice, they would seem like prey approaching a trap, from Shadow Town to the edge of the swamp, then cutting off their own retreat into the swamp, and now they must venture deep into it.
They were stepping into the intricately woven net of Mother of the Marsh.
And the truth might be just that, as she was an Evil God, and she coveted Lu Li.
Deception was rife among humans, let alone a presence that incited fear and trembling.
Jojo suddenly raised her head, her eyes reddening, and said with a trembling voice.
“I’m very grateful for the effort you made for my brother, but… let’s stop here… no more risks.”
“What if that’s Oliver?” Lu Li countered, calmly looking at Jojo.
A steady voice rang in Jojo’s ears, “Don’t make a choice you’ll regret.”
Following a brief silence, Jojo thanked Lu Li for what seemed like the umpteenth time.