Chapter 497: Old Chen
Lu Tao looked towards the surrounding houses.
"Doesn’t that mean the villagers are filled with those eggs?"
"Keep your voice down," Lu Hao warned.
The barrier prevented outsiders from hearing, but becoming careless was never good.
"None of us should have physical contact with the villagers unless necessary," Leng Pan instructed. "Do not consume their food or water. If a confrontation occurs, avoid spilling their blood."
They did not know whether the parasites could spread through bodily fluids.
Until they understood them, extreme caution was necessary.
"What about the meat Chief Gao served?" Silk asked.
"It is stored separately inside my space," Lu Zhen replied. "We will investigate it later."
In reality, Leng Pan had moved the dishes into a sealed section of her own space when Lu Zhen pretended to store them.
Her space preserved everything exactly as it was. If the food contained parasites or other substances, they would have enough samples to study.
The sky gradually darkened.
There was no electricity in the village, and none of the houses lit lamps.
The surroundings fell into an unnatural silence.
Even the ordinary sounds of people moving inside their homes disappeared.
"It is too quiet," Vanish said.
"Everyone is waiting for midnight," Sonny replied.
He had been standing near one of the windows, monitoring the village through a small gap in the curtain.
"No one has left their house for the past hour."
"Is anyone watching us?" Lu Zhen asked.
"Two people are inside the house opposite ours. They take turns looking through the window."
"Chief Gao’s people?"
"Most likely."
Leng Pan checked the time.
It was a little past ten at night.
They still had nearly two hours before the young woman’s warning.
"Should we pretend to sleep?" ZaiZai asked.
"Yes," Lu Zhen replied. "But no one should lower their guard."
They unfolded several beds and sleeping bags.
The lantern was extinguished, leaving the house in darkness.
However, no one actually slept.
Leng Pan spread her mist across the floor and walls. If anyone approached, she would sense them immediately.
Half an hour passed.
Then another.
At eleven, a faint rustling came from outside.
Someone was approaching through the darkness.
Lu Hao and Blaze gripped their weapons.
Sonny silently disappeared into a shadowed corner while Vanish activated his invisibility.
The figure stopped outside the doorway.
"Don’t attack," Leng Pan whispered. "It is Old Chen."
She recognized his uneven footsteps.
The curtain moved slightly.
Old Chen slipped inside, holding the same empty water bottle Lu Zhen had given him earlier.
His eyes widened when he realized that everyone was awake and waiting.
"You knew I was coming?" he asked.
"We knew someone would come," Lu Zhen replied. "Why are you here?"
Old Chen glanced nervously towards the houses outside.
"I came to return your bottle."
"You risked sneaking here at night to return an empty bottle?" Lu Tao asked.
Old Chen lowered his head.
Of course, no one believed that excuse.
Leng Pan created a mist barrier around the entire house.
"No one outside can hear us now," she said. "Tell us what is happening."
Old Chen’s body stiffened.
"You are an ability user?"
"That is not important."
Old Chen looked at the calm expressions around him and seemed to realize that these travellers were far stronger than he had initially believed.
Hope appeared in his eyes.
However, it was quickly replaced by fear.
"You need to leave," he whispered. "If you stay until midnight, it will be too late."
"What happens at midnight?" Ouyang Jin asked.
"I cannot tell you."
"You brought us into the village," Lu Zhen said coldly. "Now you are telling us to leave without explaining the danger?"
Old Chen’s face filled with shame.
"I had no choice."
"Everyone has a choice," Blaze replied.
"No, I truly didn’t!"
Old Chen’s voice rose before he hurriedly covered his mouth.
Tears gathered in his eyes.
"My granddaughter is sick. Chief Gao said that if I stopped bringing travellers into the village, he would never give us food or water again."
"The girl inside your house is your granddaughter?" Leng Pan asked.
"Yes. Her name is Chen Xiaoyu. She is fourteen years old."
Old Chen clenched the empty bottle.
"She is the only family I have left."
"Why doesn’t the chief allow you to use the well?"
Old Chen’s face turned pale.
For a moment, Leng Pan thought he would refuse to answer.
Then, his shoulders collapsed.
"Because Xiaoyu saw something she wasn’t supposed to see."
"What did she see?"
"She saw Chief Gao throwing people into the well."
The room became completely silent.
"How long ago?" Lu Zhen asked.
"Several months."
"Were they alive?"
Old Chen slowly nodded.
"What happened after that?"
"I don’t know. Xiaoyu became terrified and refused to drink the well water. She told me something was moving inside it."
Old Chen’s hands trembled.
"I didn’t believe her at first. But a few days later, her mother drank the water and started behaving strangely."
"Strangely in what way?" Leng Pan asked.
"She stopped sleeping. She would stand beside the well at night as if listening to someone. Then, one night, she walked out of our house and never returned."
Old Chen wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
"After that, Xiaoyu and I stopped drinking the water. Chief Gao discovered it and cut us off from the village supplies."
"Why didn’t you leave?"
"Where could we go? Xiaoyu became sick, and the roads were filled with zombies. I thought that if I obeyed Chief Gao, he would eventually give us medicine."
Old Chen looked towards the entrance.
"But he never did."
"Why did you repeatedly mention the chief when you brought us here?" Sonny asked from the darkness.
Old Chen flinched because he had forgotten Sonny was present.
"I wanted you to realize something was wrong. I hoped you would leave after seeing the destroyed road."
"But when we returned, you still brought us into the village," Lu Tao said.
"I am sorry."
Old Chen bowed deeply.
"I wanted to save my granddaughter. I knew it was selfish, but I had no one else."
Leng Pan did not comfort him.
Desperation could explain his actions, but it did not erase the fact that he had helped lure travellers to their deaths.
"What happens at midnight?" she asked again.
Old Chen looked at every person in the room.
His lips trembled.
Before he could answer, a deep bell rang from the direction of Chief Gao’s house.
Dong!
The sound travelled through the silent village.
Old Chen’s face lost all colour.
"It’s starting early."
"What is starting?" Lu Zhen demanded.
Old Chen stepped backwards.
"You must not let them take you into the house beside the chief’s residence."
"Why?"
Old Chen looked towards the dark outline of the two-storey house.
"That house eats people."