[Green Shadows Inn]
Due to years of neglect and lack of maintenance, the entire inn had only one guest, Yi Chen.
However,
Yi Chen didn't mind the dirt and disorder; he had lived in even worse conditions at the orphanage... Even if the damp bedding mingled with a peculiar sll, it still didn't affect his sleep.
However,
his first night's sleep was not particularly smooth.
It wasn't that Yi Chen himself had trouble sleeping,
but rather a series of slight noises from outside the room caused the plants inside his body to beco active, stimulating his brain and pulling him from a deep sleep back to reality.
When he opened his eyes,
he saw tender green shoots floating on the surface of his arm.
"Are the plants inside giving a warning?"
Just then,
Squeak~
a faint scraping sound of wooden boards ca from outside the door, clearly not made by the innkeeper.
"There's only staying in the entire inn,
there are two possibilities for such a sound,
one is the 'Sister' confined in the farthest room, and one is an uninvited guest coming from outside the inn."
Thinking about pushing the sheriff into the lake, it was quite possible he would encounter trouble.
However,
Yi Chen had no intention of getting up, but instead hid the Silver Axe under the covers and pretended to sleep.
Rushing out of the room to check could likely result in being trapped in the inn.
Conversely,
this enclosed and familiar guest room, along with the window that led directly outside, were both usable.
Although the sounds in the hallway were faint,
they could be distinctly heard in the quiet of the night, resembling sothing sharp scraping against the wooden floor.
Soon,
these moving sounds stopped before the door and were replaced by a tallic sound similar to picking a lock.
Click~ The old door lock was easily opened.
A silhouette with feminine curves stood outside,
she slid her slender fingers into her mouth, coated them with the slick saliva on her tongue, and then sared it on the surface of the rusty door hinges.
The amount of saliva was substantial and dripped down the hinges to the floor.
Once the hinges were fully lubricated,
the door was slowly pushed open without making any noise,
As soon as she stepped inside,
the silhouette flipped up, climbing the ceiling like a gecko... The mucus covering her body seed to easily provide the necessary adhesion to the walls.
In an instant,
she had crawled from the doorway to the top end of Yi Chen's bed,
her eyes like black crystals staring at this strange guest in the room,
her dangling black hair fell beside the young man's face, remaining still.
Perhaps it was affection for his handso face,
or perhaps she was simply hungry,
Drip~
a drop of saliva landed precisely on the bedding covering Yi Chen's neck.
This stare continued for a full five minutes.
It was almost certain that the young man on the bed was completely asleep,
the silhouette continued to move,
crawling from the ceiling to the vertical wall above the head of the bed, getting closer to the sleeping young man.
When she was a ter away,
a tongue longer than normal extended from her mouth, gently licking the young man's face.
At the sa mont,
Yi Chen had grasped the Silver Axe firmly, steadying his mind.
"Wait! This is not the best ti yet."
If the target ca any closer or made any harmful move, he would instantly open his eyes and decapitate her with one strike.
After a bout of licking,
the silhouette seed inclined to climb down further,
Yi Chen's mont of opportunity was about to arrive,
Clack!
A burst of footsteps suddenly broke the tension,
accompanied by the innkeeper's voice, trying to keep as quiet as possible.
"Cathy, stop now!
This is one of our few guests; don't disturb his rest... Just live as usual unless you get a clear directive.
If you're hungry, I'll bring you a fish later."
The low reproach made the silhouette pause,
no longer harboring thoughts about the young man on the bed, she slowly moved upward, like a child who had done sothing wrong, bowing her head and crawling back to the doorway.
By the ti his sister had completely left the dormitory,
the boss still stood at the doorway, staring intently at the sleeping Yi Chen as if to confirm sothing... About a minute passed before he gently closed the door.
Click~
Hearing the sound of the door locking,
the tension in his chest released in a sharp exhale, his palms sweaty from gripping the axe handle.
"What in the world..."
At that mont,
a tingling sensation spread across the cheek that had been licked, and to his touch, patchy fish scales had ford.
Yi Chen wasn't in a hurry,
and waited a while before quietly heading to the bathroom.
In the mirror,
small shimring scales had scattered across both sides of his cheeks, showing tendencies of further growth and spreading.
Just as Yi Chen was contemplating how to handle it, whether to forcefully pull them out,
Crackle, crackle~
Delicate plant sprouts grew from beneath the skin of his cheeks, pushing out the embedded fish scales and causing them to fall away.
"Hmm? Is my 'Pathological Traits' rejecting an external infection?"
Just then,
a little grape peeked out from his shoulder, evaluating the recent events in the room:
"Very strange~ To leave without attacking you.
Such 'Parasitic Pathologies' are supposed to lack 'Self-awareness', let alone when the target is right before them... It's unusual that they can restrain themselves from infecting living creatures by relying on conscious thought.
This pair of siblings from the inn seem quite special.
Their 'grapes' might taste very good."
Without saying much, Yi Chen made sure all the fish scales had fallen off his face before returning to bed.
Contemplating the recent events, he unknowingly fell asleep again.
...
Thunk thunk thunk!
A series of knocks awakened Yi Chen, and by now, it was the next day, with sunlight streaming through the window onto his body.
Dragging his groggy mind, he opened the door,
to find the innkeeper, who was holding a fully cooked fish that, though not particularly appealing, was very fragrant.
"This is complintary lunch.
Just to remind you, it's almost noon. If you are really here to investigate, you'd better hurry up."
"Hmm."
Taking the lunch, Yi Chen chose to feed the fish's eyes to the little grape first.
"This fish is 'clean', just eat it."
Only after getting a report from the little grape, did he dare to eat it.
Once a full stomach set in, and he had changed into a stunning outfit, it was already the early afternoon.
At this ti, the Green Lake area was offering free boating activities for tourists.
When Yi Chen arrived at the lakeshore, the place was already bustling with locals and tourists alike.
"Is it really this lively... It seems everyone is actively investigating the town's secrets."
The boating dock was lining up in long queues,
and Yi Chen had no choice but to stand at the end of the line.
Who knew,
a familiar voice ca from behind him,
"Oh dear, are we late? There are already so many people queueing... Oh, what a coincidence?"
Blond Edmund, and his two teammates had also arrived at that mont.
"Hmm."
Yi Chen responded faintly, not even turning his head.
Edmund did not cause any trouble or force a conversation, rely chatting leisurely with his companions during the lineup.
Another detail,
towards so tourists returning from their boat trips, Edmund actively approached them, engaging in handshakes or putting his arm around them as a form of physical contact.
These seemingly ordinary actions,
were actually his way of checking if the tourists were infected, to assess the risks associated with the boat rides.
When Edmund returned to the line, he ntioned in a low voice, purposely letting Yi Chen hear, "The boating seems safe, enjoy it without worry."
Coincidentally,
the boat's capacity was for four people, and it so happened that it was their turn.
Yi Chen was forced to board a pedal-operated small boat with this group, its body painted simply with white,
and aboard was a man in a green uniform and rubber boots, with a vacant look in his eyes... He wasn't the sa person Yi Chen had seen the previous night.
"Before we set off, please rember four things.
1. Everyone must participate in pedaling the footboard.
2. If during the boating you hear shouts that don't co from among the passengers, do not respond in any way.
3. Do not touch the lake water under any circumstances.
4. If soone falls into the water, the boat will not provide rescue and will quickly move away."
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