Chapter 544: [A Godless World] (12)
Lotus Park was now bustling with "people" coming and going. Compared to the desolate scene from that morning, it was like night and day.
Adrian instinctively moved closer to Ember and muttered,
"Don’t we look a little too... normal?"
After all, everyone else seemed abnormal in one way or another.
There was a young woman whose long hair completely covered her eyes, her neck stretched unnaturally far forward, yet she still walked without the slightest difficulty. A child sat atop a coffin, drifting back and forth through the air without ever touching the ground. There was also a man who continuously coughed up blood into a bowl he held in his hands, yet no matter how much blood poured out, the bowl never showed any sign of filling.
Clearly, that bus had brought them to an entirely different Lotus Park...
Or perhaps not an entirely different Lotus Park.
Adrian couldn’t help recalling the residents’ complaints—that ever since the incident in Room 601, they had been hearing countless footsteps and other strange noises every night.
Before they boarded the bus, it had been nighttime.
Now that they had gotten off, it was daytime.
Perhaps Lotus Park was still the same Lotus Park. The bus had simply carried them into another world.
A world that did not belong to them.
"Ember... why do you two have shadows?"
Just then, the drowned man’s voice suddenly rang out. It sounded strangely distorted, every word accompanied by a wet, gurgling glock... glock... as though he were speaking with his lungs full of water.
At the same time, Adrian felt that all-too-familiar chill run down his spine.
His eyes widened, and he immediately darted to the side.
At that very moment, the man who had appeared relatively normal only seconds ago transformed into something utterly monstrous.
His eyes and nose vanished completely, leaving only a grotesquely gaping mouth lined with razor-sharp fangs growing from blood-red gums like those of a demon. His skin became paper-thin, stretching and trailing behind him like layers of seaweed.
With his maw wide open, he lunged at Ember and Adrian.
"You’re still alive! You haven’t died! Lend me your skin... lend me your skin!"
Clearly, no one wanted to die—not even this man. It was difficult for anyone to accept the fact that they were dead.
But before he could do anything, a massive staff swung down from above and smashed straight into his head.
The snow-white staff was so enormous that it flattened him into nothing more than a puddle of water.
Its owner then stepped into view.
It was a skeleton draped in a voluminous robe, its skull hidden beneath layers of brilliantly colored fabric. With every step it took, tiny bells chimed cheerfully, producing an oddly pleasant melody.
"You’ve already come down here, yet you’re still showing off such an ugly appearance. What if you scare the children?"
Adrian couldn’t help wondering whether this great Skeleton had ever taken a look at himself before saying something like that.
Still, it was obvious that the skeleton held considerable authority here.
The drowned man quickly reformed from the puddle into a human shape and lowered his head. Even so, he protested unwillingly,
"There are humans! Living humans are here!"
The moment he finished speaking, clusters of blue flames burst into existence around the skeleton, drifting in every direction as they searched the surroundings.
Hidden in the tree, Ember and Adrian instinctively held their breath.
Just then, one of the flames floated toward them, hovering right in front of Adrian and Ember.
Ember frowned. Raising a hand, he summoned a small stream of water that swirled around his palm, though he wasn’t at all sure whether ordinary water could extinguish this kind of flame.
Before he had time to think further, Adrian suddenly opened his mouth...
...and swallowed the blue flame whole.
Ember: "..."
He stared at Adrian in horror, genuinely tempted to grab him by the throat just to see if he could make him cough the flame back up.
Adrian simply made a swallowing motion.
Then a puff of smoke streamed out from his ears and nose.
After that...
Nothing.
Ember: "..."
Although shocked, Ember quickly convinced himself that this was simply one of Adrian’s abilities.
Meanwhile, the remaining blue flames drifted back toward the skeleton.
"Why is one missing?! I knew staying near water was bad luck! Get moving! Don’t think you can fool me again!"
A shrill, disgruntled voice echoed up from below as the skeleton dragged the drowned man away to be processed.
"You think this job is easy? I’ve already lost several nights of sleep searching for those people from Room 601 and still haven’t found them. And now you’ve gone and given me even more work!"
Still hasn’t found the people from Room 601? Perhaps they really had become vengeful ghosts.
That was Adrian’s thought. Only after confirming that the skeleton had gone far enough away did he and Ember climb down from the tree.
The moment Ember’s feet touched the ground, he couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He pried Adrian’s mouth open to inspect it, fixing him with an icy stare.
"Stop swallowing everything you see. Understood?!"
Adrian brushed Ember’s hand away and stretched his jaw, which was feeling a little sore.
"Why are you suddenly getting so handsy? And why are you shouting? You’re really hurting my feelings."
A vein twitched at the corner of Ember’s eye. Pressing a hand against his forehead, he felt a profound sense of helplessness for the first time.
He glared at Adrian.
"Stop saying such disgusting things. And besides, your heart isn’t made of paper."
Adrian shrugged.
"Alright, alright. I’ll listen to you, okay? Why do you always have to get so angry?"
Ember slapped away Adrian’s hand, which kept patting him on the shoulder, then strode into the apartment building.
When he looked back and saw Adrian still glancing around in every direction, Ember frowned and said coldly,
"If you’re not coming, then I’m leaving you behind."
Unexpectedly, Adrian simply waved a hand.
"Then go ahead. I want to—"
Before he could finish, Ember charged straight at him, lifting one leg as though he were about to kick Adrian flying.
Adrian instinctively dodged. He opened his mouth, ready to complain, but before a single word came out, someone grabbed him by the back of his clothes.
The next thing he heard was the rush of wind past his ears.
Ember had simply hoisted him up and sprinted toward the apartment building, disappearing into the crowd in the blink of an eye.
...
Unlike Ember and Adrian, however, John and the others outside were facing something entirely different.
The darkness of the second night had arrived.
The events foretold in the dungeon description were beginning to become reality.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"I’m here to view the house! Is anyone home? Open the door! Open up!"