Chapter 14: Stroll by the Lake
As it was already evening,
The free boat ride activity had ended and would not resume until tomorrow.
The sun set behind the hills through the thin mist, and night fell.
Yi Chen came to the window,
Swoosh~ He tore off the newspapers covering the window.
His gaze followed the street towards the center of the town, where he could clearly see the glow of a giant bonfire.
Both town residents and visitors donned masks and headed to the bonfire party,
The bustling crowd, each holding candles or kerosene lamps,
Completely illuminated Green Lake Town as night had just fallen.
This included the group that had invited Yi Chen to join their team,
They wore masks of different styles while also concealing weapons.
"It seems most people who came for the assessment have chosen to attend tonight's bonfire party... Little Grape, let's go take a look too~ We might discover more information."
"Let's go, maybe there will be delicious grapes."
Before setting out, Little Grape instinctively retreated into Yi Chen's body, ready to emerge when needed.
Unexpectedly,
Just as Yi Chen pushed open the door,
The haggard-looking innkeeper happened to be passing by,
Notably,
The innkeeper was carrying a plate of 'raw fish dish', seemingly to be delivered to the room at the end of the hallway.
The so-called raw fish was simply an entire dead fish placed on a plate without any preparation, rotting and foul-smelling.
Their eyes met,
The innkeeper held the plate with one hand and put his index finger to his lips with the other.
In a voice only audible to the two of them, he whispered a warning:
"This town has long violated the [Rules], rotten to its core. If you want to survive, stay obediently in your room and don't attend the bonfire party wrapped in its glamorous facade.
Leave quietly early tomorrow morning..."
Yi Chen frowned slightly upon hearing these words,
Clearly, the innkeeper knew some secrets about the town.
Yi Chen also lowered his voice and quietly replied:
"I need to stay in Green Lake Town for three days due to some special reasons."
"Three days... Basically no visitor can stay that long and leave normally.
Even if you stay in my inn without taking a single step out... problems will still arise.
Tonight's bonfire party alone can permanently bind many outside visitors to the town.
Judging by your attire, you're here to investigate, right?"
"You could say that."
"If you really want to investigate something, you can take a walk by the lake tonight, you might discover something.
Remember.
Don't participate in any activities organized by this town, don't drink any water... Any interaction with Green Lake Town will thicken your 'ties' to the town."
"Thank you."
The innkeeper said nothing more,
He walked with nearly silent steps to the end of the hallway, placing the plate in front of the 'sister's' door,
Even when the plate touched the ground, it didn't make any noise.
Yi Chen finally realized that the innkeeper's 'silent nature' wasn't strange.
It was due to two reasons,
First, he had lived in the inn since childhood, stepping on each inch of the floor at least tens of thousands of times, knowing exactly where to step to avoid making noise.
Second, it was out of concern for his sister, creating a silent environment to the best of his ability, not to disturb her.
『Since I'll be staying here for three more days, there's plenty of time to have in-depth conversations with the innkeeper... There's no need to rush into asking about the 'sister' or town matters now.
Let's follow the innkeeper's suggestion and take a walk by the lake.』
...
Not long after Yi Chen left,
There was a noise from the locked room at the end of the second floor,
Click~
The locked door had a small hatch opening at the bottom, barely big enough for a head.
It was now opened from the inside.
First, a pool of foul-smelling liquid flowed out~
Then, an arm covered in fish scales suddenly stretched out, grabbing the dead fish from the plate.
Crunch crunch~
Strange chewing sounds came from inside the door.
...
[Green Lake Shore]
Due to the disease-ridden mist permeating the sky.
The light of the moon and stars was completely blocked out.
The process of the sun setting was like drawing a curtain over the world, instantly plunging it into darkness.
At the same time, because of the bonfire party, over 90% of the town's population was gathered there,
The lakeshore became unusually quiet, completely enveloped in darkness.
Yi Chen wrapped himself tightly in his black coat, hood covering his face,
Treading on fine gravel, walking along the damp soil.
The kerosene lamp once again became the only source of light,
Little Grape, hidden in his sleeve, also peered ahead,
Walking along the lakeshore for over ten minutes without seeing a single person,
The fog settled on the lake's surface also prevented any creature from peering into Green Lake, even Yi Chen with his enhanced vision was similarly limited.
Additionally,
Warning signs were posted every ten meters along the shore.
[No Swimming]
[No Unauthorized Water Collection]
[No Contact with Green Lake Allowed]
"This lake is really quite large..."
Just as he was musing,
A small tour boat slowly emerged from the mist on the lake surface, sailing towards Yi Chen's position.
A man in a blue uniform stood at the edge of the boat, smiling and waving.
"We're currently offering free boat rides, would you like to tour Green Lake?"
"No, thank you."
Yi Chen waved in refusal and turned to leave without looking back.
As he moved away from the boat,
Little Grape quietly moved to the back of his neck, peeking out with half an eye to observe the situation behind.
The rejected staff member didn't pursue.
Instead, he maintained an extremely exaggerated and incongruous smile,
His bulging eyes seemed about to fall out of their sockets,
Not blinking at all,
This eerie feeling made Yi Chen quicken his pace, only relaxing slightly when completely out of sight.
"There really are night boat tours, the problems in this town are truly extraordinary... Let's check the lake water."
After confirming no more boats were approaching the lake,
Yi Chen stepped on the gravel, close to the shore... extending his right hand towards the calm lake water.
Just as he was about to touch it, his fingers stopped.
Crack crack~
The skin at his fingertips split lengthwise, growing a thin, long rootlet mixed with the scent of a graveyard.
This was precisely the "disease characteristic" Yi Chen had acquired,
He had figured out how to use it during the boring carriage ride.
Although he couldn't use the rootlets as 'appendages' like zombies, or pierce like spears... the most basic growth was not a problem.
The rootlet touching the lake water became increasingly plump.
The lake water absorbed by the rootlet didn't enter his body's circulation, but was merely stored in the root section.
After collecting the "lake water sample",
Yi Chen tried to fully activate the "disease characteristic", continuing to grow the rootlets at his fingertips, attempting to reach deeper into the lake.
Five meters,
Ten meters,
Just as it was about to reach its growth limit, the tip of the rootlet suddenly felt a soft sensation, as if touching something alive.
At that moment,
A burst of firelight came from behind, accompanied by a stern questioning.
"What are you doing here?"
Yi Chen hurriedly retracted the rootlet, turning around as if nothing had happened.
The newcomer was a middle-aged man in uniform, similar to a sheriff.
Yi Chen pretended to look innocent as he explained:
"I just arrived in Green Lake Town today, felt bored staying at the inn so I came out for a walk. I don't really like crowded places, so I didn't attend the bonfire party."
The man didn't respond,
Instead, he showed his sheriff's badge, then stepped forward to search Yi Chen,
After a thorough body search,
He didn't find any evidence of water collection or contact with the lake water,
It seemed the matter would end there.
Unexpectedly,
At the end of the search,
The sheriff's hand also landed on Yi Chen's shoulder,
And pushed hard!
Most people wouldn't be able to react to such a sudden push.
But...
Yi Chen had sensed something was amiss from the beginning,
His mind had been in a state of high alert,
As his body tilted backward, he grabbed the sheriff's collar.
Using the force against him,
In that instant, he could even feel the synergy between his arm muscles and plant vascular bundles, directly throwing the other person into the lake,
After completing the throw,
A rootlet shot out from his palm, anchoring to the shore, stabilizing his body.
Splash!
A huge splash rose from the lake surface four meters away,
The sheriff who sank into the lake seemed to be under some sort of restriction, not struggling, quickly sinking.
Yi Chen steadied himself, pretending as if nothing had happened, and quickly returned to the inn.
Many, many thanks to the ally [Jie Sheng Ruo Meng] for offering the covenant lord sacrifice, the body has been filled with tentacles.
(End of Chapter)
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