Deep in the Living
Chapter 352 - 340: Rainy Night, Inn, Death Incident

Chapter 352: Chapter 340: Rainy Night, Inn, Death Incident

A once-a-year sulfuric acid rain poured down in the dead of night, drenching the parched hellish wasteland,

like the strange thunderous rumble of the hungry ones echoing through the darkness,

with occasional flashes of lightning cutting across the sky.

In such a rainy night, a metal horse carriage was speeding along.

The horse was completely covered with metal plates, or rather, its skin had been completely replaced with metal.

Each heavy iron hoof left deep imprints in the wet scorched earth, with the special symbols of the Great Monastery visible between them.

The horse dragged the carriage, the cast iron hubs rolling over the uneven, water-filled, scorched earth, causing the carriage to sway up and down.

Inside the carriage sat only two people.

One was Agatha, wearing standard monk apparel, a strong build, and a head of white hair, with the iconic metal tube at her neck breathing steadily.

The other sat across from her, a unique sinner.

Hands clasped together in front, pierced and fixed by an iron pillar.

The main restraint was the sinner’s attire, a restraint suit produced by the Great Monastery, looking like a gray bodysuit, allowing various needles to lock acupuncture points into the flesh.

On top of the attire,

was a young girl’s face that did not belong to a demon, beneath dirty, disheveled hair, staring with a pure, clean brown eye.

"It seems we won’t make it back tonight... Such a rainy season is indeed rare."

The Iron Pillar Nun responsible for escorting was looking at the raindrops pounding on the window, capable of leaving corrosive marks. Unfortunately, a glimmer was reflected over.

[Hotel]

A few brightly lit huge characters came into view.

Considering the worsening weather, and the high likelihood that continuing the journey would damage the carriage, Agatha immediately directed the carriage towards the hotel.

It was only upon approaching,

that the dilapidated architectural style of the hotel, the rundown environment, and its sinister, deep design, evidently came from Evil Play’s craftsmanship.

Though she didn’t wish to stay in such a hotel, the sharp crack of thunder forced her to park the carriage before the building.

Already several different types of carriage vehicles were parked here,

and the wet scorched earth at the entrance was full of footprints in various shapes,

indicating that quite a number of guests had come to this hotel seeking refuge from the rain tonight.

Ding ding ding!

The hotel door was pushed open, the bell ringing.

Dim candles burned atop the stone table,

an owner with a blindfold over his eyes, a bell hung from his tongue, wrapped in a rat fur coat, smiled at the entrant, but his demeanor became serious upon seeing the monk’s metal structure.

"Honorable nun, welcome to our hotel. The building materials of the hotel can effectively shield against acid rain, we hope you have a wonderful night here.

You seem to be escorting a special prisoner, here’s a room arranged for you at the end of the top floor, how does that sound?"

Agatha nodded, directly pressing a monk’s silver coin onto the table.

As the owner skillfully curled the silver coin with his tongue, a nerve-entwined key was placed on the table.

Just as Agatha was about to take the key, the owner gently held it down with his finger.

"Honorable nun, this hotel is a property of Evil Play, and according to the rules, I need some information about this prisoner to minimize security risks."

This did conform to the rules, but Agatha merely responded in a low voice with a few simple keywords.

[Outer Realm Apostle], [Unknown Origin], [Small-scale Death Events], [Captured Alive Warrant].

"Understood, enjoy your stay."

Just as Agatha was about to leave with the special sinner in tow, the hotel door opened again, and a green-haired youth, soaked with acid rain and with clothing corroded into holes, entered the establishment.

The nun’s professional sense of smell made her aware of this person’s distinctiveness, prompting her to turn around and observe closely,

the green-haired youth had a delicate face, with no pustule proliferation, only the metal sheen beneath the rain-eroded clothing sparking her curiosity.

"A special Lumper?"

After confirming the other’s gaze harbored no malice, Agatha went directly to her room.

Due to the restraint suit the sinner was wearing and the metal tether piercing her palms, she had to stay within two meters of Agatha or suffer the effects of suffering.

Squeak~

The heavy door at the end of the top floor exuding the scent of rotting wood was opened.

A twenty-some-square-meter old guest room,

with three candles and a handheld oil lamp as the only available lighting tools.

The rain continuously battered against the cracked glass, seeming as though the window could shatter at any moment.

Faced with such terrible lodging conditions, Agatha didn’t mind, as she only needed to stay until the rain stopped before leaving.

Swipe!

A newly grown iron pillar pierced through the sinner’s ankle and was inserted in the corner of the room, further restricting his movements.

After two days and nights of escorting, along with the rare humid conditions, Agatha was quite exhausted and had to get some sleep tonight. It would be a light sleep, of course, as she would wake immediately if there was any metal detection on the girl.

She was ordered by the Great Monastery to capture this strange sinner.

When she arrived at the Hell Town where the girl was, the town, which should have been bustling, was eerily quiet, as if all the demons had disappeared.

The girl hadn’t left either, instead, she was hanging her head back and forth on the gallows in the town center, seemingly swinging carefreely.

Capturing her was effortless, and now she just needed to bring her back to the Great Monastery alive.

Throughout the journey, she hardly spoke to the girl, or perhaps the girl simply didn’t understand the Hell language.

"Stay honest, if you have any intention of escaping, even the slightest thought, it will be detected by the metal. The Great Monastery only requested a live capture, they didn’t require your body to remain intact."

The girl seemed to understand this, smiled, and nodded, she also seemed tired, snuggling into the corner and slowly closing her eyes.

Agatha too was overcome with drowsiness, collapsing onto the bed and slowly drifting off to sleep.

Uncertain of how much time had passed,

Ding!

The sharp sound of metal clashing inside her jolted her awake, and at the same time, a flash of lightning streaked across outside the window. The storm had not abated, instead becoming more intense.

She immediately looked towards the room’s corner.

The girl was still there, asleep, not having moved at all, fully bound by the metal restraints, everything was secure.

The danger she sensed seemed not to come from the girl, but from another area of the inn.

She rose and approached the door, placing her ear on its surface.

Yah!

A piercing scream from far away reached her ears, filling Agatha with confusion, "Is the Evil Play acting up, or has something really happened?"

She couldn’t just stay in the guest room; if she wasn’t aware of any intelligence when trouble struck, it would be truly dangerous.

The metal within her and the girl could sense each other precisely within a kilometer’s range, she could quickly apprehend the girl if she attempted to escape.

After confirming that the straitjacket was still effective,

Agatha opened the door, heading towards the source of the scream. She left the top floor of the inn, descending the stairs.

When she arrived at the first floor of the inn to inquire from the innkeeper,

The innkeeper, eyes covered in black cloth, had his head severed and placed on the table. His mouth was stuffed full of pens used for signing registrations, completely filled, his Game Brain damaged.

His body was almost completely fractured, thrown on the ground like a pile of sludge.

...

At the same time Agatha left the guest room,

The girl opened her eyes, smiling.

Without using her hands, she opened her mouth for the first time.

A strange tongue slithered out from her pink lips, a soft tongue inscribed with a trident symbol at its tip.

She began licking along the corner seams, any area her tongue touched turned even darker, the scene appearing to exhibit spatial interference, becoming unstable.

The candles lit in the guest room flickered wildly,

A connection pathway, not belonging to Hell, seemed to be opened.

Snap!

A hand covered with pulsing blue veins reached out from the gap, gripping the girl’s neck. With immense force, it lifted her into the air.

Then,

A mask capable of inducing deep fear emerged from the darkness,

A knife glowing with cold light raised above the head,

Without any mercy,

The hand swung the knife down,

With one stroke, it decapitated the girl, completing the beheading.

Yet the girl’s head in the hand did not show any pain or panic, instead, it smiled.

The girl seemed not to have died,

On the contrary, being beheaded seemed to have freed her from the restraining straitjacket.

The masked man who stepped out of the dark corners hung her head at his waist, sniffing out the lingering metal scent in the room, attempting to locate his next target, formally commencing tonight’s extraordinary operation.

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