551: Seventy.
Return to the old place 551: Seventy.
Return to the old place The sound was not like any language, monotonously repeating the sa segnt over and over, akin to the sound of waves during the tide.
With the echo of the waves, the breeze blowing from the depths of the passage seed to carry the unique scent of the shore.
He was not far from the end of the passage.
The other side was the coast?
Lu Li wondered, biting the handle of the oil lamp, gripping the edge of the stairs, following the trail of blood down to the next level.
If Anna had been here, he wouldn’t have had to move so laboriously.
The blood traces that Richard had left began to be no longer even lines but rather mottled across the steps.
An injured Richard must have had an even harder ti climbing over.
Snap—
Stepping down to the next level, a sticky sensation ca through his shoes.
A layer of muddy sedint appeared underfoot, mixed with seaweed and scales, and a rich fishy sll invaded his nostrils.
Taking a half step back, Lu Li crouched down holding the oil lamp to examine the sedint.
The sedint was a long way from drying out but hadn’t just been left there.
At least, it had been present before Lu Li and Richard ca down.
The ink-black mud and those scales seed to co from the deepest part of the sea; otherwise, where would the thick fishy sll akin to a fishing boat’s hull co from.
Lu Li did not touch the strange scales and mud left on the steps by so creature, rubbing off the mud from his sole on the steps and moving down to the next level.
Carried by the breeze, the sounds of the waves grew clearer in his ears, and Lu Li was not far from the end of the passage.
Thud—
As his foot touched down and his legs bent to absorb the impact, gravel flew up, leaving two pits in the sand.
At so point, Lu Li truly reached the end of the passage, standing on softer gravel.
The sound of the sea unobstructed, the ceaseless roar of the waves filled his surroundings.
With the oil lamp in hand, Lu Li turned to face the sea.
He found himself on a dark beach, the sky black, void of stars or anything else.
It was as if a child just learning to paint had filled the entire sky with a black brush then used the sa brush for the beach and ocean.
The dense blackness should have made it impossible for Lu Li to see anything, yet he could see the entire beach under the cover of darkness.
It was like an underwater sea.
Whether it was the passage extending downward behind him, the rugged rock walls with no end in sight, or the pitch-black sky void of any light spots, they all gave Lu Li the illusion.
The sand beside him unnaturally dipped downwards, bloodstains clotted on several pieces of gravel and a trail of footprints continued into the distance.
Lu Li seed to see Richard falling onto the gravel, his body rubbing against the sand, then with an injured leg, walking away—
A few hundred ters down the beach stood an outline of a shadow.
There was a small cabin.
Lu Li was sure it was his first ti here, but everything around him gave him a feeling of déjà vu—especially that cabin.
It seed as if he had just seen it not long ago.
Following the footprints that Richard had left behind, Lu Li walked toward the cabin and more details beca clearer as he approached.
It was a stilt house just a few dozen ters from the sea.
During high tide, the foundation of the house would mostly be subrged in the seawater.
When he was about a hundred ters away, Lu Li finally recognized the cabin, understanding where the familiar feeling of the surrounding environnt ca from.
It was the coastline of Seaside Town.
Suddenly, Lu Li turned his head to look towards the shore, where there was only a rock wall that seed to connect with the sky, with no trace of the original streets and cabins.
Staring for a long while, Lu Li withdrew his gaze and looked towards the cabin a hundred ters away.
Then that cabin is…
…
The faint sound of footsteps stopped in front of the cabin’s steps.
His shoes sinking into the gravel, Lu Li looked up, silenced by the familiar scene.
There were bloodstains on the wooden steps; Richard was inside, or had been through here.
After a brief pause, Lu Li stepped onto the wooden stairs.
His right hand lingered in front of the unbuckled holster, ready to draw and shoot at any mont.
Creak—
The sound of the old, damp wooden stairs was masked by the waves.
Amidst the creaking, Lu Li stepped onto the final landing and pushed the wooden door.
Creak—
Louder than the stairs, a cringe-inducing noise erged before abruptly stopping.
The swollen wooden door, damp with moisture, scraped against the floor, making it difficult to open.
Wardrobe, bed, desk, window—all remained as Lu Li had seen them before.
Only the floor in front of the bed had changed, a dark hole that seed both painted and scorched was now a tangible abyss, deep with no end in sight.
Light poured upon it as if swallowed by the hole, completely vanishing.
A rope was bound to one of the wooden legs of the bed, extending into the hole with patches of not yet dried blood scattered around.
Richard had also visited this cabin and seemingly not long ago, had used the rope to descend into the hole.
Lu Li entered the cabin and closed the door behind him.
The sound of the waves from the outside world diminished and, between flickers of the oil lamp’s fla, shadows in the cabin swung in sync, unavoidably reminding Lu Li of the diary with its disturbing content.
But there was no room for anyone to hide in the cabin, apart from the dark hole by the bed.
There seed to be a breeze blowing up from the abyss.
Lu Li walked around the hole to the bed where the rope was tied and pulled at the hemp rope.
The other end of the rope in the hole lacked weight, and quickly, just one ter of rope was pulled out from it.
Richard was not down there.
And he wanted to mislead Lu Li.
However, the fact that Richard had the ti to set up traps ant that this place wasn’t as dangerous as Lu Li had imagined.
At least, nothing unavoidable and dangerous would co up.
Knock knock knock—
Then, three slow, deliberate knocks sounded from outside the silent cabin.
Lu Li stood still, his eyes rising to et the door where the knocking was coming from.
Fortunately, Lu Li had closed the door, but the troubleso thing was that the door was rely closed…
As the knocking faded, silence enveloped both inside and outside the cabin.
Maintaining quiet vigilance, Lu Li suddenly lifted his head slightly and sniffed.
A faint fishy scent wafted from the direction of the door.
Thinking of the muddy scales seen in the passage, could this an there was sothing related to them outside the door?
Knock knock knock—
Seconds later, the knock sounded again.
The presence outside had not left, evidenced by the increasingly intense sll of the sea.
Lu Li seed to peer through the gaps in the wooden door, envisioning the deford, scaly figure standing behind it.
It knew there was soone inside the cabin.
No longer paying attention to the abyssal hole, Lu Li moved cautiously around it toward the window behind the desk and gently pushed it open.
The sound of the waves beca clear once more, while Lu Li turned back, waiting for the knocking to resu.
Knock knock knock—
When the knocking sounded for the third ti, Lu Li used the noise still lingering as a cover to climb out the window and jump onto the sandy beach.
The oil lamp flickered, warping the surrounding shadows.
Lu Li looked up from below towards the front of the cabin door, but he could see nothing clearly.
Lu Li intended to observe the entity knocking at the door, but before that, he wanted to distance himself from the cabin.
Moving backward slowly, Lu Li’s heel suddenly kicked sothing hard.
With a strong fishy odor and a sudden chill, sothing from behind enveloped Lu Li completely.
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