Chapter 152: Hudson Manor

"Glowing?" Kraft diverted his attention, glanced toward the source of the voice, and found Martin had picked up the pendant embedded with an unknown mineral, walked into a dark corner, cupped his hands around it, and blocked the light to examine it.

"That's right, it's its own light; it's clear when viewed this way." The knight held the pendant up to his eyes with the candle flame behind him, confirmed his discovery, and immediately tried to hand it to Kraft for inspection.

Kraft, who was holding a knife and tweezers, instinctively shuddered, loosened his grip, and the peeled skin layer fell back into place. "Don't! Stay away from me, put that thing back!"

Although he still didn't know what it was, instinct told him it was best not to rashly approach any glowing object with an unknown principle. Moreover, this thing had just been taken from the pocket of a suspicious person whose subcutaneous tissue was full of mycelium; who knew if it had picked up anything.

"I suggest you clean your gloves thoroughly, wipe them with lime powder, otherwise I can't guarantee what will happen."

Wasting a pair of forceps, he held the pendant by its cord, lifted it into the dim interior of the room. Fortunately, he felt no symptoms of the rumored skin numbness, itching, or nausea, nor did he immediately detect any light.

"Why? Is there any danger in this?" Reacting to the doctor's extreme reaction, Martin felt a wave of fear. He knew that just now the inlay had been right before his nose; if something really were to happen, it would likely be too late by now.

"In my personal experience, a significant portion of minerals that glow on their own are often linked to certain incurable diseases."

While threatening Martin, Kraft stepped back and observed the ornament from a few paces away.

Under the bright candlelight just now, it was merely a poorly formed mineral, black with a faint reddish tinge, its transparency difficult to classify as a gemstone. Coupled with a setting made of ordinary brass without special patterns, it was truly hard to associate with any important object.

However, when the light dimmed, the kind of glow Martin described became easy to detect.

It was not the kind of fluorescence where the entire stone radiates light, like fluorite. Instead, it was a light originating from within, a dull, dark red, more like a light source at the bottom of a deep pool penetrating the turbid water layer to reach the air, or a pupil glowing red, staring motionlessly at the observer.

In the silent darkness, Martin couldn't help but ask, "So is this the 'significant portion' you mentioned?"

"I'm not sure; if I had seen it with my own eyes, I probably wouldn't have the chance to stand here." Kraft shook his head. He had suspected the thing might have radiation or something similar, but then he reasoned that the heretics must have had long-term contact with it, so a short while shouldn't cause any trouble.

"Find two lead boxes, thick ones; let's seal it up."

Although there was no cure for radiation sickness, the method for handling suspected radiation sources was quite simple. Lead, as a widely distributed, easily extracted metal with a low melting point, is soft and easy to shape, making it easy to find a lead container to lock it away.

Of course, just to be safe, the fact that the heretics had lived with it for a long time showed it wasn't a strong radiation source. As for what it actually was, it was hard to judge; perhaps it really was a particularly special piece of fluorite. They soon found a lidded lead bottle to use temporarily, threw the pendant inside, and ended this little interlude in the autopsy.

"Let's leave it at that for now, Martin. Go wash your gloves clean in the lime basin over there; don't touch anything until I'm finished, okay?" Kraft picked up the knife and tweezers again and returned to the coffin to continue his unfinished work.

Making a Y-shaped incision to enter the interior of the corpse, he quickly understood the reason for the loose skin. When the dry epidermis was pressed, it resembled pitting edema, leaving depressions that did not recover; the interior was almost entirely filled with cotton-like mycelium, inheriting the organic matter and moisture of the original tissue.

Even the costal cartilage connecting the sternum and ribs had been eroded, causing the overall structure to enter an unstable state, which saved Kraft a lot of trouble when dismantling the ribcage.

He cut through the already brittle costal cartilage relatively easily, severed the bone connections, and pried open a gap in the ribcage. He first tried to reach in with his hand, but then withdrew and switched to a pair of forceps, probing into the thoracic cavity along the right edge of the sternum, his face showing confusion. He then spread the forceps and twisted them a few times, appearing to encounter no obstacles at all.

"Something is strange... should you step back?" Kraft suddenly looked up without warning and asked. Martin shook his head, puzzled; since he had already watched everything up to this point, there was no need to step back now.

Thus, he saw Kraft open half of the ribcage like a hinged window; half of the barrel-shaped dome was flipped open, with the ribs arranged like church beams on the inside. Light shone into the right chest, which should have been filled with lungs, but it was empty inside, containing only a collapsed mass adhering to the back wall, growing various protrusions resembling bubbles in a milky lake, cauliflower, or small corals.

And within the deep tissues between the ribs on the inner chest wall, lush mycelium supported stacked, shingle-like layers; they grew parallel to the ribs like some soft scales, with bundles of filaments extending horizontally resembling the dense pairs of legs of a scaled ridge worm.

At first glance, it looked like opening the Devil's treasure box, with creatures of various forms vying to display their bodies. The two steps Martin took back to avoid the visual impact prevented him from seeing the true appearance of those things; he only saw the contours of the tangled growths, which seemed to be moving with the rough opening of the chest.

His body reacted before his chaotic brain could process it; he felt his stomach contract, a burning sensation refluxing up his esophagus, involuntarily hunching over as sourness flooded his mouth.

Martin had seen how enemies and allies died under different weapon injuries, but witnessing such a scene still shattered his understanding of the upper limit of the most terrible encounters a person could face in this world; it was as if a corner of hell had been unfolded before him, a spiritual baptism that even cruelty and malice were insufficient to describe.

"Ugh!" He clutched his own throat; the lime powder used to wipe his gloves drifted into his nostrils, making him sneeze twice, which inevitably triggered vomiting, while a distant voice of concerned inquiry floated to his ears.

"Are you alright, Martin? These are just... mushrooms; don't be nervous." Kraft wanted to help him up, but his hands, which had just touched the thoracic cavity, were unsuitable for touching anything else.

【The problem of slow updates for new chapters has finally been solved on apps that allow source switching. Download huanyuanapp, the source-switching app, here to view the latest chapters of this book on multiple sites simultaneously.】

Indeed, he shouldn't have let outsiders in; he hadn't expected such a scene to be too stimulating even for someone like Martin. To be honest, this was the first time he had seen such a scene himself; among the pathological lesions he had encountered, it would at least rank in the top five, a strong contender for the runner-up throne.

The knight humbly crouched nearby for at least two minutes before his brain restarted and he understood what Kraft was saying. "Mushrooms?"

"Indeed, although they also belong to the 'fungi' I mentioned, it is truly surprising to see them growing like this inside the body." The dissector, captivated by the strange sight in the thoracic cavity, extended an invitation to Martin, "Do you want to take a look?"

"No." Martin held the edge of the table, glanced at the coffin, and quickly averted his gaze. "Uh, I mean wait, let me recover."

He forced himself to wipe the sour fluid from the corner of his mouth, calmed his breathing, and stood back at the table. Together with the professor whose impression had undergone a fundamental change, he observed this rare spectacle, reluctantly admitting that these might, just might, be of the same kind as the common food usually seen on plates.

"Truly incredible, Martin." Kraft picked up one of the pieces; the typical texture of the fungus made Martin's stomach contract again.

"I think the 'Mushroom Forest' you saw was not a coincidence; this heresy must have some connection with it. I don't understand the specific principle yet, but this might help us find where they are."

"Thank you, Professor." This thank you was somewhat forced; Martin waved his hand to signal him not to continue. "If that's the case, I probably know which place you're talking about."

"Ah?"

"Hudson Town; the Duke has a manor there, famous for producing various mushrooms, especially the White-Belly Mushroom, which has the best texture." Speaking of texture, the acid reflux and nausea made him pause for a moment; he almost wanted to slap himself.

"White-Belly Mushrooms are not easy to preserve, so during almost every inspection, we pass through there."

"Excellent. Then let's tell the Duke what we've found, and take some people with us to go have a look." Kraft closed the thoracic cavity, preparing to temporarily end the investigation. Remembering there was still a small bottle found nearby, he changed his gloves, pulled out the stopper, and used the light to examine the contents inside.

A very small amount of liquid; whether due to insufficient light or other reasons, the bottom of the bottle was pitch black.

"Professor?" Martin noticed Kraft's expression gradually becoming heavy and solemn; he had not seen Kraft wear such a serious expression even when opening the thoracic cavity.

"Martin."

"What is it? Do you need anything else?"

"Bring more people, ones with enough courage." Kraft pressed the stopper back in, picked up a candlestick, melted the wax, and dripped it onto the perfectly sealed bottle opening to completely seal it. "And kerosene."