Chapter 48: Chapter Forty-Eight: Unclean, Yet Eating It Brings No Illness

"Squeak, squeak."

Inside the abandoned house by the road, a strange squeaking sound came.

It sounded like someone was stepping on the long-neglected floor.

Dim yellow light, a shadow swayed inside the room.

"Let me see, what did we harvest today?"

The muttering voice came through the doorless "door."

The already sparse insect chirping around suddenly vanished.

This is the house K broke into in the evening.

But the scene on the first floor inside was completely different from what K had seen.

Indeed, there was no furniture.

But the walls, ceiling, and even corners were completely covered with corpses!

Half embedded in the wall, half protruding out of it!

Black mushrooms grew on the corpses.

Under the lamp light, they reflected iridescent colors.

Variegated black!

Some corpses had two or three, the size of a baby's fist, while others were covered with mushrooms the size of an adult's palm.

One could see a layer of spores surrounding the mushrooms.

They floated up and down in midair.

Any slight air current would make them drift.

At first glance, they looked like dust.

"Did they run outside?"

The person inside the house casually looked around, but didn't see the corpse that should have appeared.

This was a white-faced man, his face as pale as if soaked in water for three days and three nights, holding a kerosene lamp.

He walked outward.

It's fine if he ran outside; he also left a little something outside.

Upon leaving the house, even the cement road just ten meters away could not be stepped on; he would collapse.

"Huh?"

However, the situation exceeded his expectations.

Outside the house, there was no one.

There was no corpse that should have lain there as imagined.

The white-faced man hurried over, looking at the junction of the yellow earth and the road.

Beneath this soft soil lay hidden landmines.

A person carrying spores approaching would trigger a chain reaction.

The special corpse fungus underground would release deadly poisonous mist, causing the carrier to perish.

Obviously this is how the script should be!

For so many years, there has never been a mistake.

But this time...

The white-faced man crouched, touching the ground with his hand.

What he felt was not soft soil, but extremely solid ground.

Looking closely, one would find that the part where he buried the trap was lower than the surroundings.

It was as if a steamroller had fiercely pressed over it!

Not to mention releasing poisonous mist.

I estimate even the corpse fungus inside, and the "culture dish," have all turned into a puddle of mud!

The loss is huge!

"Who is it!"

A low growl came from between his teeth.

"Master."

Li Shufen stood behind Tang Luo, one hand still holding a bloody broom, her strong arm clamping K's arm, preventing the weak him from collapsing.

"Huh?" Tang Luo, who stepped in upon seeing injustice, did not turn back.

"Are we staying here for a night?" Li Shufen asked.

A bus full of corpses was right beside us.

Just thinking about it feels creepy.

"Well, it's a mission." Tang Luo said lightly, walking toward the gate.

Mi Ke followed closely behind.

"Go over there, close the door." Tang Luo pointed to the other side.

"Ah?"

Mi Ke blinked, wondering why they needed to close the door.

She isn't Chris.

"If there's danger outside, closing the door can slightly block it." Tang Luo explained.

"What if there's danger inside?" Mi Ke couldn't help but ask.

There's a whole cart of corpses, and even a corpse handler or something.

Could the corpses transform?

Could zombies appear?

"Our mission is to stay here for one night," Tang Luo said. "Since we've come, we definitely can't go out again, or the mission will likely fail."

"We've come all this way; it would be a shame if the mission failed."

"Being human, sometimes you can be hard on yourself, cut off your retreat, and then move forward without hesitation."

"I know, I know."

Mi Ke stuck out her tongue, ran to the other side, and shoved the door hard.

The iron door was a bit lighter than expected.

With some noises, the main gate of the terminal station was shut and bolted.

As for locking it, better not.

As long as nothing can push in from outside.

If danger actually comes from inside the terminal station, we should still run when it's time to flee.

How can a living person let the mission suffocate them?

After closing the door, Tang Luo carried the ominous thing toward the nearby hut.

Once the ominous thing is taken out in the mission world, it cannot be put back.

The hut's door had no lock; after turning on the light, one could see an old bunk bed, the kind used in dormitories.

Below there were wooden boards, lined with newspaper, plus a blanket.

Above, there weren't even any boards.

Two chairs.

A desk; sitting behind it, you just face the window.

You can see the iron door.

An electric fan, an electric kettle for boiling water, and a few disposable cups.

A typical guardroom, duty room.

A clock hung on the wall.

It wasn't broken; it was still running.

The time showed 7:13.

From the 6 a. m. deadline to complete the mission, there were still 10 hours and 47 minutes.

Below the clock, a few nails were driven in, with car keys hanging on them.

Shufen Auntie helped K onto the bed.

She took a disposable cup and drew some water from the faucet outside the door.

"Come on, come on, have a drink."

She brought the cup to K's lips.

K instinctively took it, drank two sips, then suddenly stopped: "Where did this water come from?"

"There's a faucet outside; I got the water." Shufen Auntie said, "Drinking a bit of tap water is fine for young folks—unsanitary, but it won't make you sick."

K violently threw the cup away and shouted, "You're crazy!"

Normally, drinking a bit of tap water is indeed fine.

But what place is this? The mission world!

Who knows if the water here has some problem.

What if drinking it kills you?

After shouting, K lay weakly on the bed, staring at the mottled ceiling.

I, a venerable veteran, feel like I'm about to be screwed over by a rookie auntie.

"If you don't want to drink, then don't; young people these days have such tempers." Shufen Auntie muttered, then turned to Tang Luo to appease him: "Master, I'm not talking about you."

Tang Luo casually put the ominous thing on the table, sat in a chair, gave a slight nod, and paid no heed.

Shufen Auntie then plopped down beside K's leg.

Making the wooden bunk creak.

K reluctantly shifted a bit inward, unwilling to have any further contact with this auntie.

What he needs most right now is rest.

Only after resting for an hour or so could he possibly recover.

Mi Ke had originally wanted to get some water to rinse her mouth, to relieve the unpleasant feeling.

But seeing K's fierce reaction, she gave up that idea, pulled over a chair, and cautiously sat down near Tang Luo.

Obviously, she regarded him as her sole reliance.

As for the other veteran… let's not mention him.

Tick-tock.

Only the sound of the second hand continuously moving.

Time flowed by minute by minute, second by second.

Soon it was midnight.

K had slept a round and woke up; although he still felt a bit weak and his limbs were a little limp.

But at least it wasn't like the beginning, when even standing was difficult.

His skills had long since cooled down, and he now had the strength to fight again.

Mi Ke had already fallen asleep lying on the table.

The makeup could not conceal the weariness.

Shufen auntie, on the other hand, was full of energy, looking left and right, occasionally getting up to move around.

Tang Luo closed eyes, like an old monk entering meditation.

In this mission world, the vital energy was a bit more abundant than in the previous dead person's world.

It likewise reached the standard allowing Tang Luo to regulate breath and heal injuries.

"Dong dong dong!"

Outside the iron door came a muffled knocking sound.

K jumped up suddenly and stood in the middle of the room.

Mi Ke slept very soundly and was not awakened.

Shufen auntie, meanwhile, grabbed her broom, brandished it like a sword, and was just short of shouting 'Come get killed!'

"Dong dong dong!"

"Dong dong dong!"

The knocking continued without pause, once every second.

Tang Luo finally opened eyes, picked up the ominous object on the table, and walked straight toward the outside.

"What are you doing?" K asked.

"Go see who it is." Tang Luo said.

If they are bad people, we can punish evil and promote good, gaining merit.

Then, how do we determine whether they are bad people?

It's simple: anyone who makes a move against Master Xuanzang is definitely a bad person.

"We need to buy time." K said.

Actually, there's nothing much to see.

Whoever is knocking outside is either an ordinary villager or a dangerous enemy.

The former needs no attention.

As for the latter, we should drag it out as long as possible, ideally another six hours until six in the morning, which would be great for everyone.

"That can also be checked."

Tang Luo walked past K.

"Damn it." K muttered under their breath, walked to the window, and watched Tang Luo go to the iron door.

Opened one of the small windows above.

As mentioned before, this swing-open iron door resembles a castle gate and also has this kind of small window that lets one show a face and can be opened from inside.

To clearly see the situation outside.

"Bang!"

The impact sound became clearly audible.

Tang Luo saw a face stuck exactly in the small window, its mouth opening and closing frantically as it lunged forward.

It seemed as if it wanted to completely squeeze itself into this small window, or to enter the terminus through the small window.

No pupils, eyes completely white.

On its bluish‑black face were spread the marks of livor mortis.

Its frantic posture was like that of a mad dog.

Tang Luo could even hear the sound of its claws scraping against the iron door.

It easily gives one gooseflesh.

"Another corpse; there must be a corpse‑chaser too!"

Not far away, the moonlight was bright again, and K inside the room also saw clearly the face appearing in the small window.

At the same time, he also saw it clearly.

Xuanzang stepped back two steps, raised the black revolver, and aimed at the corpse's head.

Under the moonlight, the monk wearing a mainly white, splendid monk's robe held a gun as exquisite as a work of art.

Aimed at a person's head.

It gave a feeling of dissonance, yet harmony coexisting, an eerie sensation.

"You——"

"Bang!"

The gunshot cut off K's words.

The head disappeared from the small window, but the corpse did not fall; it continued to clutch the iron door.

Moreover, a hand reached in through the small window.

"What are you doing!"

K ran out.

The gunshot, in such a quiet night.

It was practically like a signal light, announcing their presence to the whole village.

As for what dangers Fengmen Village actually holds, everyone is completely unaware.

"If the corpse‑chaser isn't dead, the corpse probably won't stop moving," Tang Luo said. "So blowing the head off is ineffective; you can break their limbs to stop them from approaching."

"They?"

Shufen auntie and Mi Ke, who also ran out, did not understand what Tang Luo meant by 'them'.

That's them.

Tang Luo said.

Boom boom boom!

A loud banging on the door suddenly rang out.

A head took the place of the hand that had reached in from the small window, letting out a silent roar toward Tang Luo and the others.