Translator: Cinder Translations
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Chen Ran's expression was intriguing. He held his wine glass but did not drink, instead occasionally rotating it as if more interested in the cup than in the story the blonde man was telling.
No one paid attention to Chen Ran; Jiang Cheng was deep in thought, considering the feasibility of the blonde man's story, while the Fatty was already deeply captivated by the oddities in the tale.
Taking a deep breath, the blonde man's emotions were slightly eased.
Although so much time had passed, when he recalled it, the terrifying and even absurd scenes were still vivid in his mind.
"They're all dead," Jiang Cheng repeated softly, almost as if speaking to himself.
The blonde man paused, turned his head to look at the endless darkness surrounding the town, and after a long silence, coldly said, "If they were dead, it would be better."
Hearing this, the Fatty pursed his lips, seemingly anticipating what was to come next.
Jiang Cheng took a subtle sip of the bitter wine and, after putting the glass down, furrowed his brow and asked, "What do you mean?"
"We tried to approach the stone slab and take the bodies of the townspeople," the blonde man answered. "That's when the mutation happened."
"Did those dead people attack you?"
The blonde man looked at Jiang Cheng, seemingly trying to read something in his eyes, but evidently failed. "Yes," he nodded, "they came back to life in an eerie way and then went mad, attacking us."
"Only less than a third of us escaped. What was even more terrifying was that they placed the bodies of the townspeople they had killed back on the stone slab."
At this point, the blonde man's breath quickened again. "You can't imagine it. Some of the townspeople had their limbs or even heads severed. These resurrected people were incredibly strong, able to tear a person in half with their bare hands."
"And what's worse, the bodies that were torn apart, after being placed on the stone slab, came back to life, as if the injuries never happened."
"What does this have to do with the building you constructed?" Chen Ran put down the wine glass he had been toying with and looked at the blonde man. "I don't understand."
The Fatty swallowed nervously and asked in a low voice, "Can that building resist... resist those things?"
"No," the blonde man shook his head. "The building was constructed with the help of a man who called himself a priest. His ship had sunk nearby, and he was the only survivor. We found him on a piece of wood by the sea."
"He said he was going to preach on the other side of the ocean."
"When we told him about the strange events in the forest, he directly said it was all destined. The reason he survived the shipwreck was that he was meant to help us; it was his mission."
"From our description, he judged that the stone slab in the forest was an altar, and it was meant to worship an unholy entity sleeping in the deep sea. Even more terrifying, he said it had probably already awakened."
"The resurrected people... they are the result of the curse spreading. If it continues, no one will be able to escape."
"Only relying on him and us was not enough to fight it. We had to build a grand structure he needed, and only with the power of the church could we truly resist it and break the curse."
"The church?" The Fatty thought back to the style of the building. While he didn't understand much, it did resemble the churches he had seen in his memory.
"Looks like you failed in the end," Jiang Cheng bluntly said. He looked around; this strange floating city seemed to be their last refuge.
Moreover, they hadn't seen this so-called priest.
"We managed to build the structure," the blonde man said, his gaze distant. "As long as... as long as the beacon light on the lighthouse keeps burning, we can be saved."
"But we didn't expect that on the final day, the last day! The priest had an accident."
"He was killed... eaten by the monster!" As if recalling the horrific scene, the blonde man's expression turned terrified. "No, not just killed, eaten! He was eaten!"
"A monster?"
The Fatty widened his eyes. He remembered that the last time the blonde man mentioned this term, it was in reference to a child—more specifically, a newborn from the town.
"It wasn't a child! It was a monster!" the blonde man growled. "It! It ate the priest! It ruined everything, and the curse couldn't be broken!"
"The monster first orchestrated the deaths of the parents. When the priest saw it was pitiful, he adopted it. But it took advantage of the priest's vulnerability as she was breastfeeding…"
"Wait!"
Almost simultaneously, Jiang Cheng and the ever-squinting Chen Ran both spoke up.
"The priest was a woman?"
The blonde man was stunned for a moment, then slowly spoke. "Yes, the priest was a woman. The monster used this to get close to her, and in the end, ate her."
Chen Ran glanced at Jiang Cheng, then turned back to the blonde man and nodded. "Understood. Please continue."
After a long pause, the blonde man emerged from his memories. The strong man now seemed much older, hunched over and staring at his empty wine glass.
"The priest died, the flames in the lighthouse went out, and the curse finally erupted. The ground collapsed, and the sea surged. Our town was engulfed by the curse and became a floating town on the ocean."
"Surrounded by eerie black mist, we could no longer see the sunlight. We had to hide in the shadows and dampness. Only under the cover of the black mist could we approach the shore."
"Like those damned sea creatures!" he cursed fiercely.
"So, you can only see us and come ashore when the black mist covers this area?" Jiang Cheng said, trying to understand.
"Exactly."
"So, what does your 'daytime' look like to us?"
"It's just a mass of black mist, covering only a small area around our town. Surrounding it is the sea, but not a real sea. No one dares to sail out because the boat and its passengers would disappear without a trace. We can only fish and catch some shrimp and crabs near the shore to barely survive."
The blonde man looked at the fish, shrimp, and crabs on the table with a sense of sorrow. "These are the best food we can offer."
He looked around, and Jiang Cheng and the others followed his gaze. The other townspeople's tables had far less food, some even just a few odd-looking fish.
It seemed the townspeople's lives had become incredibly harsh.
"The things in the forest... those…"
Before the Fatty could finish, the blonde man interrupted him, exhaling deeply, his tone a bit lighter for the first time. "We have to thank the priest for that."
(End of the Chapter)
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