Damn it! Let’s smash the darkness together!
Chapter 493 - 126: Absurd Talk, The Old Gatekeeper (Seeking Monthly Votes)_3

Chapter 493: Chapter 126: Absurd Talk, The Old Gatekeeper (Seeking Monthly Votes)_3

Not a bad way to start the day, considering I had to wake up to a ruckus.

Xu Shu was ready to leave.

But the door of room 317 across the hallway creaked open.

An old man with salt-and-pepper hair poked his head out and looked over, his eyes bulging as he exclaimed, "Transcendent, I know, I know what that creature is!"

Xu Shu frowned, "Were you eavesdropping?"

The old man didn’t answer but whispered urgently, "Sir, I know where that filthy thing comes from, I truly do, and I’m about to be, to be... You can save me, right?"

Hmm, this person doesn’t seem quite right in the head...

Seeing the old man with his eyes and veins nearly popping out, Xu Shu pondered for a moment.

Soon after, he closed the door of 318, shutting off the bloody stench and acidic smell of urine and feces, and walked to the opposite room, entering and looking around casually, "What do you know? Let’s hear it."

"The old man’s been running the kitchen in this refuge for many years, lived here a long time, the basement is where the food storage is. Only me and a few apprentices are allowed to go in and out. The boss is kind, let me set up a room by the entrance to live nearby."

"But, but starting from a week ago, suddenly there’s something filthy! Something vile latched onto me, Transcendent, you must save me!" The old man spoke in panicked bursts, his eyes wide, almost going down on his knees on the spot.

Xu Shu raised a hand to soothe him, "Don’t panic, take it slow, what filthy thing?"

"It’s a terrible, filthy thing, first appearing on the outside of some cardboard boxes, sometimes on rice bags, unassuming at first." The old man recalled, swallowing nervously,

"At first, I didn’t think much of it, just thought it was too damp, breeding some dirty stuff, wipe it off and all would be okay.

"But then I gradually realized something was wrong, they were multiplying, appearing in the crack of doors at home, on the edge of the bed, inside pillows, even inside my, my wife’s, that!"

"More and more, they kept growing!"

Xu Shu asked, "What is it? Describe it in detail."

"It’s a slime, a kind of dark green slime! The slime was covered with white fuzz! They’re going to surround me, any moment now... cough cough... sir... save me, please save me..."

Halfway through, the old man began to cough violently.

He coughed and coughed, and coughed some more, collapsing to the ground and coughing as if his life depended on it.

He coughed up clump after clump of slime, chunk after chunk of flesh.

They were pieces of internal organs wrapped in thick gastric juice, translucent like amber, and reeked so fiercely that it turned one’s stomach!

"Hmm?"

Already affected, contaminated by some kind of erosive curse power, showing signs of bodily deterioration?

Xu Shu subtly shifted to avoid the spewed internal organs splattering onto him.

But after coughing up his organs, the old man didn’t collapse.

He sprawled on the ground, gathering the scattered chunks of organs, and like a rabid dog charging at excrement, he pounced on them, stuffing them frantically into his mouth.

Chomping, slurping.

Gulp, gulp.

The old man thus swallowed back all the vomited internal organs he had expelled.

Crap... Xu Shu jumped up, leaping several meters away.

He was about to restrain the old man on the ground.

However, the old man got up, "Sir, no offense, but only by eating these animal organs smeared with human gastric juice can one avoid contamination by that filth! I’ve put organs in everyone’s dinner, everyone is safe now."

He wiped his mouth dripping with saliva, chuckling eerily, his face nearly as green as moss, displaying a mouthful of disturbingly yellow-stained teeth.

So these weren’t his own organs, I thought he was going to die... Eating organs coated with gastric acid prevents contamination, what kind of logic is that? His brain must be broken... Xu Shu realized all at once.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.

Wait... everyone’s dinner? Everyone? Does that mean everyone in this shelter?

Xu Shu suddenly remembered the "superior meal" he had eaten last night, recalling the mixed animal livers stewed in the mushroom and tofu soup.

And now, watching the old man spit out and swallow back those organs...

Xu Shu immediately understood something and felt sick to his stomach.

"Damn it, what the hell is going on here! Blargh~~"

He retched several times, wishing he could vomit everything he had eaten last night, but sadly, he had devoured quite a bit after Yue Ming assured there was no problem with the food, and having already digested it over so long, where could he possibly bring it up now?

Damn it! Xu Shu cursed internally.

The old man seemed to have recovered a bit, and continued staring straight at Xu Shu, "Sir, can you please save me? That filthy thing is in the warehouse, keeping me awake during the day and unable to work at night, and if this continues, no one will have their lunch sorted."

He seemed incoherent, confused between day and night.

Xu Shu rubbed his brow and, with fierce determination, said, "Go, go now."

"Thank you, My Lord, thank you! My wife can be saved!" The old man joyously kowtowed several times and then sprang up with surprising agility. "My Lord, I will lead the way!"

"Mhm."

Xu Shu’s face darkened.

This was too much, a gentleman cannot let such grievances go unavenged!

He didn’t say much, and simply followed the old man. They passed through the silent and desolate staircases, quickly descending.

After reaching the first-floor kitchen, they took several turns until they saw a disused elevator ahead. Next to it were sloped stairs, not many, and after going down another floor, a sealed door became visible, a very sturdy air-raid door.

Above, there were "No Entry" seal tapes and "Toxic Hazard" warning signs.

"Right here!" The old man pointed at the basement entrance.

"Good."

Xu Shu twisted his neck, deciding to go in and show that unknown creature a thing or two.

He wasn’t worried; from the old man’s description, that so-called "slime" must be some sort of strange species with corrosive properties, capable of causing objects around it to rapidly grow mold and develop blotches.

As long as it was a monster, on this Wasteland, Xu Shu had nothing to fear.

"My Lord, I dare not enter... but my wife is inside..." The old man hid not far from the doorway, his eyes filled with fear, holding a key in his hand.

Xu Shu waved his hand, saying, "It’s fine, leave it to me."

He took the key, and with the old man’s hopeful and expectant gaze upon him, he slowly strolled to the basement door. He unlocked the glass cabinet with the key; all that was required to open the door was to turn the wheel-like switch.

He stood quietly, motionless, as if turned to stone.

The old man: ?

"My Lord, why, aren’t you going in?" the old man asked, puzzled.

Xu Shu stroked his chin, scanning the surroundings.

After a moment, he said slowly, "No rush, let’s wait a bit."

Wait, wait for what? The old man became anxious. "My Lord, I’m afraid my wife can’t hold on much longer; she’s already covered in that filth."

Xu Shu nodded, "Alright."

Half an hour later.

Xu Shu stood silently like a statue at the gateway.

"My Lord? My Lord?" the old man kept inquiring.

Xu Shu checked the time and said, "Not yet, wait a bit longer."

Feeling helpless, the old man had no choice but to wait.

Another quarter of an hour passed.

"My Lord?"

"Wait."

"Ah, alright, my poor wife~"

This happened several times.

Finally, on the old man’s fifth inquiry.

Day broke.

In front of them, the Tai Chu Scroll slowly began to unfold.

[As the sun rises, everything is reborn; welcome back to the Tai Chu Scroll, great master!]

Xu Shu smiled broadly.

"Now we can."

He reached out, gently turned the wheel, and the sound of mechanical locks echoed consecutively. The door was about to open, following Xu Shu’s forceful turn.

But before that, Xu Shu, with concentrated willpower, fiercely injected the Tai Chu Scroll.

Just moments earlier, outside, the space was comparatively open, and Xu Shu felt more confident, so he had the guts to act rashly.

But this underground chamber gave him an ominous feeling.

Therefore, he opted for a more cautious approach.

"Expedition mode, activate!"