595: One hundred and fourteen.
The new resident 595: One hundred and fourteen.
The new resident The clouds enveloping Belfast had not yet dissipated.
Although with the arrival of dawn, the Mist of Strangeness receded back into the deep sea, leaving the streets without the wandering monsters of the mist, only a haze ford by a whole night of burning made the city appear blurred.
But the crisis still existed.
A significant number of monsters had not vanished with the Mist of Strangeness.
They hid in dark alleys or deserted houses, waiting for opportunities to strike.
The carnage would continue for a few more days, until there were hardly any human survivors left in the city.
Anna could feel the murky presence of the monsters gathering over the city—it was like a city of monsters.
Therefore, she didn’t think it was a good idea for Lu Li to go back for a look.
“Elm Street is on the outskirts of the city, it shouldn’t be too dangerous there,” Lu Li, held in Anna’s arms, replied.
The groceries that Anna had brought back were handed over to Raimy to deal with.
Anna was sowhat regretful that she couldn’t cook them herself, but she had more important tasks to take care of: protecting Lu Li as they headed to Elm Street.
Elm Street was not far off, and Lu Li could faintly see through the thin mist the ruins of what once was the most glittering prospering city on the Ailen Peninsula.
To the northeast of the city, near the direction of Elm Street, many ships were stranded, so crushed on a pile of houses, so broken, and more plunged straight into the ground, standing like tombstones hundreds of ters high.
“Survivors call that area the Shipwreck District, saying that many sea monsters co to that area,” Anna, who was constantly watching over Lu Li, answered.
“Have you seen them?”
“There are many survivors.
They usually run away in fear when they see , so of them too weak to run beg for rcy…
I asked about what happened last night.”
This was exactly what Lu Li wanted to know: “Tell about it.”
“Even if you hadn’t asked.”
The carnage wasn’t solely the beings from the Mist of Strangeness.
It also included the presence of evil spirits and even the Evil God, like Shadow Thief of Fire, Uninvited Guests, known to Lu Li.
Although the city had been tornted throughout the night, there were still a not insignificant number of lucky ones who miraculously survived, if one ignored the fact that from nearly a million people Belfast now only had a few thousand survivors.
Most of them hid under beds, in closets, in basents, and in attics all night long, only daring to co out at dawn when the mist cleared and the wandering monsters had disappeared, planning to flee the city together and head to the mountains behind.
The survivors knew very little, mostly what they had heard and seen while hiding, or information gathered from other survivors after congregating together.
The city had been divided by those survivors into dangerous areas where they had hidden.
Although monsters road everywhere in the city, these zones were particularly hazardous.
The Shipwreck District was one such area that Lu Li saw.
The unfortunate individuals living there were the first to encounter disaster.
Last night, as soon as the church bells rang, countless beings from the sea, whether they were stationed in the port or not, were inexplicably thrown into those few streets.
More than half of the residents had just been awakened by the church bells when they were instantly turned into minceat.
Then many monsters with fish-like features and a strong fishy odor, similar to guests from the seabed, erged from the fallen ships and took over that area.
Only a few quick-reacting residents managed to escape the Shipwreck District before they surged in and found places to hide.
Now, there should no longer be any living people there.
Another dangerous area was called the Ashes District, and its original na was familiar to both Lu Li and Anna: Naless District.
Before everything had arrived, Lu Li had directly faced the peculiarities there—occasional ash falling from the sky like snowflakes.
Now the Naless District, along with the surrounding streets, had ash continuously and endlessly falling like snow.
The Ashes District held no silhouette of any monster, and so survivors with nowhere to hide tried to enter it to escape from the monsters, with obvious results.
Monsters would not actively enter that area, but anyone who entered the Ashes District was lost deep in the streets covered in falling ash, never to be seen again.
“There might be more dangerous areas than these two; those survivors know very little,” Anna concluded.
“Hmm,” Lu Li agreed.
The Shipwreck District and the Ashes District were all they knew.
Anna had learned to actively interact with the surroundings.
If Lu Li were not so indifferent, he might have felt relieved by Anna’s growth.
“Furthermore, many saw bizarre beings roaming last night.
Cloaked figures enshrouded in black robes, chanting strange invocations, walked down the streets.”
“Cultists?” Lu Li pondered.
“Unsurprisingly.
Only those who worship monsters can remain unattacked.”
To so extent, those who worship the bizarre posed a greater danger than the bizarre itself.
Unrelated to wisdom, there are beings within the bizarre that are far smarter than humans.
The true danger of those cultists is that they were once human and know everything about humans.
The structure of humans, the character of humans, the…
gathering places of humans.
What is terrifying is that their minds, contaminated by the consciousness of the Evil God, harbor no compassion, no guilt—all their actions are justified, for their master.
“Do not let them know our hiding place, do not make contact with them, unless they discover us.”
Lu Li had dealt with the Evil God and knew every follower was the Evil God’s eyes.
When Lu Li was exposed before a follower, he was likewise exposed before the Evil God.
Lu Li would not underestimate any Evil God; the conflict between the Mother of the Marsh and the Old Mother had left a deep impression on him—he even couldn’t stare too long at the petrified body of the Mother of the Marsh sealed by the Seal Stone.
Anna’s voice, chilling and somber, perated the air, “If any strange creature dares to approach the forest, I will send them where they belong.”
The dead trees receded, revealing the road of the Elm District.
What erged before Lu Li’s eyes was a swathe of charred ruins.
Last night’s fire near the district had spread to Elm Street, sparing no buildings, and even now wisps of blue smoke rose from several collapsed ruins.
No living person could be seen on the entire street, nor any sound heard.
Silence pervaded.
Not far away, the “ho” Lu Li had prepared for the children had also not been spared.
As Anna held tight to Lu Li nearing the burned warehouse, a rustling sound ca from the collapsed gaps.
Soon, a charred, ugly, small silhouette crawled out from the gap.
It resembled a human skeleton but was only as tall as Lu Li’s waist.
The seams of its bones were filled with a mud-like blackened matter, its lower jaw protruded, revealing a row of sharp teeth.
If its form were similar to that of an average person, that row of sharp teeth would definitely have been exceedingly ferocious.
More charred, small figures crawled out from the gaps, tilting their heads as if sensing Lu Li’s presence.
Suddenly, the largest one moved closer but recoiled back to its peers, startled by so accidentally kicked charcoal, wanting to approach Lu Li yet fearing sothing.
The children’s instinctive fear of strangers seed ingrained.
Yet, mixed with an affinity for Lu Li.
“What do you plan to do?” Anna asked the silent Lu Li.
These…
children clearly wouldn’t harm Lu Li, even though they had beco monsters.
“Take them back.”
“Elm Forest?”
“Yes.”
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