Chapter 64: Eavesdropping
The five of them briefly gathered in a small room. The last two to arrive were a little out of breath, clearly having had a less than smooth journey.
They exchanged their cataclysmic factor concentrations. Xu Xunyue and Zhu Hui’s hadn’t changed. Yu Yuan’s was 11%, Yi Chengli’s was 15%, and Cheng Tao’s was 12%.
“Thank you. If it weren’t for Student Yu, I might have been in trouble,” Yi Chengli only had the energy to speak after entering the house. He was now supporting himself on his knees. “You helped me once, but I couldn’t help you dodge the cataclysmic being in time. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been caught in the rain…”
“Those are two different things. It’s okay,” Yu Yuan said, not minding at all. “I sensed the presence of a cataclysmic being near you, so of course I had to warn you. You’re fast because you’re skilled. I sensed the presence of a cataclysmic being near me and couldn’t hide myself in time. First of all, my combat skills are not good enough. You were slow to arrive, but you still helped me.”
Yi Chengli was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, “…Thank you so much.”
Hearing their conversation, Cheng Tao, who was standing on the side and had his view blocked by Yi Chengli, took two steps forward and asked, “You got caught in the rain? How do you feel now?”
“I’m fine. It just dripped a little on my protective suit. It didn’t directly touch my skin.”
Yu Yuan closed her umbrella and pointed to the spot on her shoulder for Cheng Tao to see.
There was a black water stain there. The thick protective suit was dented by about two millimeters. It was still a long way from being penetrated, so no actual damage was done.
Cheng Tao breathed a sigh of relief. As if he had suddenly remembered something, he took out a small knife and a few pieces of special-looking cloth from his waist pouch.
“You want to cut off the rain-soaked cloth directly?” Zhu Hui immediately saw Cheng Tao’s intention.
In fact, his first reaction when he found that Yu Yuan’s protective suit had been corroded was also this. After all, the liquid would slowly spread in the cloth, and who knew what the final result would be. But Zhu Hui believed that he only had the ability to make precise cuts, not the ability to sew the remaining protective suit back together, so he couldn’t perform this entire operation.
“Yes,” Cheng Tao nodded, then looked at Yu Yuan. “Do you think this is feasible? If you trust my sewing skills…”
“Of course I trust you. I should be thanking you. It’s not good to have this kind of thing on my clothes.”
Yu Yuan also fumbled in her waist pouch and took out an empty sample collection bag.
“The cut-off pieces of cloth are still fresh samples. They can be put in directly and taken back to the White Tower for research.”
The two of them did as they said. Yi Chengli simply acted as a fragment collector on the side.
Watching his teammate use a small knife to cut off the black part of the protective suit, revealing the corroded, soft material, he couldn’t help but sigh again.
“What a strange rain.”
The main door of the single room and the glass door of the balcony were temporarily closed. The glass door curtain was half-drawn, allowing the people in the room to see the situation outside.
It was unknown if it was because of the heavy rain, but it was also getting dark quickly here. The dry fountain square had already melted into an unrecognizable state, and the long wooden bench had completely turned into a pile of mud, looking not out of place on the ground.
“This is the first time it has rained like this in Ghost Town,” Xu Xunyue said. “Before the Cataclysm, a rain like this would definitely have made the news. After the Cataclysm, a rain like this would definitely have been recorded in the data. In fact, there is nothing…”
As he spoke, his speech gradually slowed down, and his eyes became a little grave, as if he were sensing something.
“Brother?”
Zhu Hui was the first to notice the change in Xu Xunyue’s expression. He had just opened his mouth to ask when he heard Yi Chengli let out a soft hiss, and the hand holding the collection bag trembled.
This expression and action… he had seen it in the Sentinel Academy’s training room. This was what Yi Chengli looked like on the eve of his headache and loss of control. The process of endurance and struggle after that was extremely short, and he would soon have an episode.
Zhu Hui was already prepared to knock Yi Chengli out as soon as he moved.
But not this time, perhaps because there was a Guide present.
Yu Yuan supported Yi Chengli’s shoulder, and a golden light flashed in Xu Xunyue’s eyes.
“It’s that guy,” he said. “It’s here too. I attacked its extended spiritual feelers.”
Zhu Hui immediately understood what Xu Xunyue meant.
—It was that malicious creature they had encountered in the underwater city of the Endless Snow.
To facilitate memory management, the periphery of a cataclysm zone was divided into different areas by humans and given different names. However, the depths of different cataclysm zones were interconnected, and the living things inside could move freely.
It wasn’t impossible for his brother to sense it here.
It had emitted a spiritual fluctuation, and Yi Chengli’s headache symptom was triggered again.
But his brother’s mental attack had come very quickly, so Yi Chengli’s complexion was much better now…
“It’s not just these.”
Capturing Zhu Hui’s thoughts, Xu Xunyue added in a low voice, “Something is spreading, but it’s not a cataclysmic factor—”
“Look, the room is changing.”
Cheng Tao, who had finished sewing the protective suit and put away his small knife, said.
“…”
The few of them had all discovered the abnormality in the room and fell silent. Even Yi Chengli, who had just recovered, restrained himself to avoid making any strange noises by panting heavily.
The world fell silent, and only the objects in their line of sight were quietly changing.
They were becoming newer and newer.
The tissues were white and without wrinkles, the oil-based pen was black and shiny and dry, the four corners of the memo were no longer curled, and the adhesive was stronger. The newspaper on the top of the table had not accumulated a single speck of dust.
The rain outside began to get lighter.
It seemed as if the entire room, the entire Ghost Town, had come to life, shedding the lifelessness of the past fourteen years and once again being filled with vitality and the smell of life.
Xu Xunyue and Zhu Hui exchanged a look, and a certain thought arose in their minds.
In the underwater city, the malicious creature had targeted them. It was even more impossible for it to be friendly to them here.
Yi Chengli’s headache symptom was just a side effect. The purpose of the other party extending its spiritual feelers was actually to spread or activate the influence of the contamination core.
That’s right, the contamination core.
Only within the range covered by the contamination core would objects turn into their old-day appearance.
They had come to Ghost Town to determine if there was a contamination core here, and if so, whether it could be destroyed.
Before, everything in Ghost Town had behaved no differently from a common cataclysm zone. Xu Xunyue had even thought that they would have to go a little deeper. Just like the underwater city of the Endless Snow, they had to get close to a certain distance to enter the range of the contamination core.
He had never thought he would encounter it now.
It was unknown what power it had used to achieve this.
“I’m fine now, thank you…” Yi Chengli refused Yu Yuan’s continued support and stood up straight, rubbing his temples.
Xu Xunyue looked at the new newspaper on the table.
He flipped through it again.
The handwriting on the new newspaper was easy to identify, and the content was indeed consistent with the content of a local newspaper. There were only two short articles on it that attracted his attention.
One was a report on the environment and weather. It had been raining acid rain in the town for several consecutive days, and this year’s crop yield was expected to decline.
The other said that Lord Huang Shao’s manor was recruiting physically strong volunteers. Those who were interested could sign up with the butler according to the contact information in the newspaper, and those who were successfully hired would receive a considerable bonus.
Pat-pat, pat-pat…
Suddenly, a hurried sound came from the stairwell, from top to bottom, from far to near.
It wasn’t the texture of a plastic bag rubbing against the ground, but the sound of slippers frequently contacting the steps, like a person coming down the stairs.
But there were clearly no living people nearby. The five living people were all in the room.
Yu Yuan only felt that her hair was about to stand on end. The number displayed on the contamination assessment meter on her waist silently increased by one.
Yi Chengli, who was standing closest to the door, glanced at her, rubbed his arms, gritted his teeth, and took a step toward the door.
Although Cheng Tao was a civilian in the intelligence department, he was not a student who had just graduated from the White Tower. He appeared more composed. Although his brows were tightly furrowed, he still stood in place.
Xu Xunyue and Zhu Hui also didn’t move, but they knew what was going on.
The influence of the contamination core had enveloped this residential building, and the old shadows left by the residents of this building would be replayed again.
Pat-pat, pat-pat…
The footsteps were getting closer and closer, and also more and more hurried. They were clearly made by two “people.” It sounded like they had already reached the corner of the first and second floors of the stairwell.
Their voices came into the room.
“Stop talking, don’t follow me. I’m not going to live at home anymore!”
This was a youthful voice with a bit of immaturity. The volume was very loud, and because of the shouting, it even seemed a little shrill.
“Shh, shh—be quiet. It’s so late, the neighbors are all sleeping, you child.”
This was a middle-aged man’s voice. He was clearly speaking in a low voice, as if he were afraid of disturbing the other residents of the building. He sounded very gentle.
However, his reasonable words made the listener react violently.
“Get lost! Get lost, get lost, get lost! It’s useless no matter what you say. I’ll never believe you again. Don’t even think about stopping me!”
“I don’t know what you’re thinking? Are you fit to be my guardian? Drinking, gambling, domestic violence, and even reading my diary. If I don’t leave, I’ll die in your hands sooner or later!”
“What are you pretending for? You’re a good person as soon as you go out. Do your drinking buddies know what you’re like at home when you close the door?”
The voices were closer, and they should have already reached the first floor.
The five of them remained silent.
The single room they were in was directly opposite the stairwell, which meant that the source of the sound was very likely standing right outside the door.
Yi Chengli swallowed, and the number on the contamination assessment meter jumped up by one.
Zhu Hui tugged on the corner of Xu Xunyue’s clothes. After the other looked over, he pointed to the peephole on the door.
The meaning was very obvious. He was preparing to look.
Xu Xunyue thought for a moment, held him back, and pointed to himself.
Zhu Hui paused, then nodded.
Seeing this, the other three also knew what to do.
They all moved aside, and Xu Xunyue quietly and silently went to the door, opened the peephole, and looked out.
At this time, it was already very dark. The two “people” were standing at the entrance of the residential building, blocking what little light there was to almost none.
He couldn’t see the faces of the two “people” clearly. He could only barely identify that the youth had his back to him and was facing the main door, while the middle-aged man was like a wall, blocking most of the main door, and was facing inside the building.
Their argument was still going on.
The youth said, “Don’t block me. I’m not going back with you!”
The man said, “If there’s anything, let’s go home and talk properly. It’s not good for everyone here. Don’t be too excited. I’ll talk to you slowly when we get back.”
Xu Xunyue left the door, and through the mental link, he transmitted what he had observed to Zhu Hui and Yu Yuan, and Yu Yuan then transmitted the information to Yi Chengli and Cheng Tao.
In addition, he indicated that his night vision was not good enough, and that a Sentinel could go up and take another look.
Zhu Hui and Yi Chengli almost lifted their feet at the same time—
Yi Chengli silently took a step back.
After Zhu Hui had finished looking, he then went up.
And the argument between the youth and the middle-aged man also came to an end at this time. There was only a muffled sound, and the latter exclaimed. Both sets of footsteps went away from the building.
It was obvious that the youth had taken advantage of the other’s inattention and had knocked him away, then ran out.
Yi Chengli had to return dejectedly, just as Zhu Hui was adding a description.
“Because of the position, I could only see the middle-aged man’s appearance,” he lowered his voice. “His eyes were very bloodshot, his eye sockets were sunken, and there was a scar on his left cheek that was probably from a wine bottle. He was wearing a long, brown cotton coat, was about 1.82 meters tall, and had a lean build.”
“They ran out,” Xu Xunyue said. “My idea now is to take advantage of the fact that these two are not here and go to their room to look for clues. After all, the conversation just now mentioned a ‘diary’.”
“They… could they come back at any time?” Cheng Tao asked hesitantly. “What if we’re trapped in the room?”
“Make them disappear.” Zhu Hui’s solution was very direct.
Xu Xunyue smiled and held his hand. “There is indeed this possibility. It’s enough for the two of us to go look. You guys can provide support here.”
“How can we do that—”
Yu Yuan immediately felt that this arrangement was a little too considerate.
“Teacher, we are inexperienced, but since we decided to come here, we were mentally prepared not to be comfortable.”
Yi Chengli nodded in agreement.
Zhu Hui’s hand was held, and his mood became very good. He was also willing to say more to outsiders:
“That’s not what I was thinking. If there’s danger upstairs, it’s not good for too many people to retreat. This kind of residential building has a small space and is not suitable for a multi-person melee. If there’s no danger upstairs, then there’s even less need for you all to go up together.”
Xu Xunyue continued his words.
“And now, they are in a state close to normal people. If they come back, they will definitely have to go through the first floor. If you observe them, you can still report in time.”
“That’s true…”
After all this, the three of them were convinced. Only Yu Yuan still had a small worry.
“Teacher… you’re in a wheelchair. Will it be inconvenient to go upstairs? Why don’t I—”
“It’s convenient.” Xu Xunyue waved his hand at her.
Zhu Hui took out the dagger from his waist and spun it around his fingertips, opening the door a crack.
A cool breeze blew in from outside.
“We cooperate very well,” he said. “And I won’t let my brother face any danger.”
