Chapter 1613: Foreign Corpse

Foreign Corpse

"How many now?"

"Twenty-six, what about you?"

"Twenty-four."

"Sigh, these two blocks combined already make fifty today..."

On the desolate street, several figures dragged two wooden pushcarts, slowly moving forward.

It seemed the load on the pushcarts was too heavy. The old wooden wheels let out muffled creaking sounds. Accompanied by occasionally rolling over fine crushed stones, the two small mountains piled high on the carts swayed slightly.

One of the figures pulling a cart looked back and let out a long sigh:

"This world... alright, let's hurry and pull them to the Crematorium. Put on all the protective gear properly and be careful."

"Cut the crap. The more illnesses you contract, the faster you die. Do you want to lie on the cart in the back tomorrow too?"

Amidst this scolding, that person still reluctantly put on his mask properly. Right at this moment, his peripheral vision seemed to catch sight of something, and he pointed in a direction:

"Is there a person lying at the base of the wall?"

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed, only to see that beneath that battle-damaged and shattered black wall, there indeed lay a blood-colored figure, completely motionless as if dead.

The few of them exchanged a glance and walked straight towards that direction.

Only after getting close did they discover that it was a dying person missing more than half of their body. His face and body were completely covered in blood and grime, and the stump of his body was shockingly gruesome as if gnawed by wild beasts. Everyone could even clearly see half a section of intestines and bone fragments flowing out from within...

Even though these people collected corpses every day, this was their first time seeing someone die so tragically. Their faces began to turn pale, as if they were about to dry heave in the next second.

"Why did this person die so tragically?"

"It looks like they were bitten to death by a Calamity... They should be a refugee who ran over from somewhere else, wanting to enter the Hidden Clouds Domain to seek shelter, right?"

"Coming to the Hidden Clouds Domain to seek shelter? Hehe, then he really came to the wrong place."

"Are there still that many Calamities in the Gray World right now?"

"Whatever, since he came in, we can't let his corpse just be exposed in the wilderness like this... Let's drag him to the Crematorium and burn him together."

No one stepped forward to check that person's life status. After all, in their eyes, it was impossible for someone to survive after having more than half their body bitten off and being exposed in the wilderness for so long. They directly tossed that "corpse" right on top of the pushcart, and then continued creaking as they approached the Crematorium.

The Crematorium they spoke of wasn't truly a professional building for incinerating corpses, but a wasteland behind the block. Several thick logs formed a structure similar to a campfire enclosure, with buckets of gasoline placed right next to it...

Further back were dirt pits specifically used to store the ashes and other remains after the corpses were burned.

"Come on, let's divide the work. Strive to finish before the sun goes down today!"

Following an order from the leading person, the few people scattered. Some were responsible for fetching gasoline, and some were responsible for throwing the corpses from the pushcarts into the enclosure structure. Over fifty corpses was a massive project for them.

"It would be great if we could go to a proper Crematorium. The incinerators there seem to be more efficient."

"Stop dreaming. With how many people die every day now, the incinerators have long been operating at full capacity. Do you really want us to go line up... These corpses all have infectious diseases and must be incinerated as soon as possible. If we delay, everyone will die."

"Eh? Old Jia is here."

While everyone was busy, a figure wearing a dirty White Coat Wearer strolled over here.

Although called Old Jia, he only looked like a youth in the prime of his life. Holding a piece of Bread in one hand and with the other hand stuffed in his pocket, he seemed to still be chewing on something in his mouth. Seeing everyone busy here, he took the initiative to raise his chin:

"Still busy, brothers?"

"Yeah, more and more people are dying every day... We don't even have enough Corpse Collectors anymore. I plan to apply to the higher-ups tomorrow to recruit a few more."

"Still recruiting? Where can you recruit?" The youth chewed on his Bread, grinning. "There's only a bunch of old, weak, sick, and disabled left on the streets. Do you plan on having old people and children help you move corpses?"

"Sigh... Forget about the old people. Actually, children wouldn't be completely impossible."

"Doctor Jia, my mom's illness seems to have worsened again. Uh... could I get a bit more medicine from you?" A young man responsible for carrying corpses hesitated for a long time before still stepping forward, his voice carrying a trace of pleading.

Doctor Jia's mouth, which was chewing Bread, paused. He lowered his head to size up this young man a few times, chuckling lightly:

"What do you take me for, a turtle in a wishing well? How could there still be that much medicine in the Hidden Clouds Domain now... Am I supposed to conjure it out of thin air for you?"

The young man choked up instantly. He opened his mouth, stammering for a long time, not knowing what to say.

Doctor Jia glanced around, and after confirming that no one was paying attention here, he still sighed and leaned into his ear, speaking softly:

"Forget it. On account of the friendship between our two families, I still have a little medicine here..."

"Bring your mother to find me tonight. Make less noise, and don't let anyone else notice, got it?"

"Also... you know my fees have never been cheap."

Hearing these few sentences, the young man felt as if he had been granted a general amnesty. He immediately grabbed Doctor Jia's hand, nodding frantically in gratitude. "Thank you! Thank you, Doctor Jia. I understand!"

"Mhm, go get busy."

Doctor Jia stood in place and continued to unhurriedly gnaw on his Bread. It was as if the piled-up corpses in front of him hadn't affected his appetite in the slightest, calm as if watching farmers industriously harvest wheat.

Corpses were piled one by one into the enclosure structure. The vast majority were old people, with a small number of children. Since everyone lived in the same block, most of them were actually familiar faces.

"Tsk, the old man from the Li family really couldn't hold on past three days..."

"Why is his wife gone too... on the same day? Could it be they died for love?"

"It's a pity for the little kid from Old Sun's family. This year, I think? I remember his grades were pretty good..."

"Even Miss Qian... Forget it, it's fine. This way, the child in her belly won't have to come out and suffer. Even hell should be a bit better than this era."

"This one... hmm?"

When he saw half a corpse that obviously didn't die of illness being tossed off the pushcart, Doctor Jia froze slightly.

That person's face was already obscured by blood and grime, but Doctor Jia could be certain that it wasn't someone from their block... Moreover, looking at his wounds, they looked strange no matter how he looked at them.

Doctor Jia stuffed the last bite of Bread into his mouth, put on his mask properly, and then walked straight to the side of that corpse, probing his finger onto the other party's neck...

A moment later, his eyes widened in shock:

"What the hell..."

"Isn't this guy still alive???"