“Gwuf, gwuf, gwuf…” Jumbled and uneven footsteps echoed through the still darkness.
Like an apparition, a ball of flames hovered within the humid corridors.
“Uhm, obscene middle-aged man— We’ve already walked for nearly an hour! If this sewer was a dinosaur, we would’ve already reached its internal organs by now!” Signs of activity began to appear around the deathly still flame ball.
Lil’ Sha pinched her legs while grudgingly speaking to Ji Bai, who was walking ahead without the slightest bit of pause.
“Mhm, I got it.”
“What kind of reply is this? If you got it, then show some real actions! Everyone is tired, alright?” Pouted Lil’ Sha unhappily.
“In that case, let’s rest here then, everyone.” Ji Bai turned his body around while holding onto the torch.
“This TOTALLY doesn’t look like a place where one’s able to rest though?” Flicking her heels, Lil Sha felt a wave of chilliness coming onto her as light-fearing cockroaches under the torch-lit area dispersed in confusion.
The thought of this place surrounded by cockroaches, centipedes, and large rats… The likes of which were capable of climbing up clothes and even up to her hair caused Lil Sha’s scalps to turn numb.
“We’ve been exploring for quite a long time now. If a demonic species such as goblins truly exists, they would have already appeared a long time ago. Why would they wait for us to head deep down into the bellies of the sewers?” Lil’ Sha was extremely dissatisfied with Ji Bai, whose thought processes were as muddle-headed as a robot’s.
“That might not necessarily be so. It might be a trap.” Stated Ji Bai in a calm tone. It was unknown what sort of expression he was wearing behind the cross-shaped visor of his iron-grey helmet.
“Ob—scene— middle-aged man! Can you give that persecutory paranoid brain of yours that’s filled with thoughts of demons a good washing, please? There is nothing here except cockroaches, centipedes, ticks, and large rats, alright?? When will your head clear up?” It was unknown where Lil’ Sha had fished out a stick-like cat toy from, but she was incessantly hitting Ji Bai’s iron helmet with it, causing ‘dong dong’ noises in the process.
“Sister Sha, it doesn’t seem to be very polite to speak to brother Ji like th…” Interjected Xiaomu in a somewhat shy manner from the side.
“I don’t mind as long as I am able to knock this guy’s muddle-headed brain awake!”
“Thud!” As Lil’ Sha continued hitting him, her unsteady grip caused the cat toy-stick to come flying out her hand
‘This is bad! This is the one that Xiaomi loves the most… That won’t do!’
Lil’ Sha hurriedly ran after the stick and left the illumination range of the torch.
“Hey! Don’t run too far from us.” Before Huo Lei finished his words, Lil’ Sha’s silhouette had already disappeared from his field of view.
“Huff… Phew, fortunately, it didn’t slip into the turbid water. Lucky, lucky~” Lil’ Sha breathed a sigh of relief as she squatted down and picked up the cat teaser stick.
‘Eh?? Strange, did the exterior of this cat toy break from the fall? Why does it feel so much more stiffer? It feels a bit like…’
As the light behind her got all the more closer, Lil’ Sha gradually came to realize what the object she was grabbing in her hands was. Her first response was a momentary shutdown of all mental functions; And when she fully understood what it exactly was…
“Waahhh!…” If a cat truly has nine lives, then in that instant, Lil’ Sha already lost four of hers.
Throwing away the ‘cat toy’ in her hands, she recklessly sprinted in the opposite direction.
“What’s wrong??” Everyone immediately rushed over when they heard Lil’ Sha’s scream.
“O-O-O…Over there…” Lil’ Sha didn’t care about the facts of the matter anymore. She made her way behind Ji Bai’s back and, with shaky fingers, pointed at where she came from.
In the direction Lil’ Sha pointed at, a person was seemingly leaning against something. That person was clad in chain armor, with hair draping down from their head, covering their features; From the style and model of their armor, it seemed like the person was a man.
Ji Bai’s eyes momentarily lingered on the man lying against the wall before he raised his torch and slowly walked towards him.
“Looks like a stranded knight. Be careful.” Huo Lei raised his brows slightly as he followed closely behind.
“Mhm.” Responded Ji Bai.
“U-Uhm, Mister. Are you alright?” Xiaomu, who was accompanying Lil’ Sha at the back cautiously asked the man leaning against the wall in a solemn manner.
“…He’s probably already dead… Because the thing I picked up just now seems to be his…”
Ji Bai crouched beside the man, yet didn’t get any reaction out of him. He then stretched his hand and moved away the hair that was covering the knight’s face.
“It’s his hand…” Lil’ Sha slowly covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes widely opened.
Below the long hair was a light-green human skull full of cavities.
As if they had felt the light from the torch, the instant the hair was moved aside, countless small black bugs and cockroaches emerged out of the two large cavities where his eyes had originally been.
“I-Is that…” Xiaomu was given a serious fright as well. Her complexion resembled the color of a frosted eggplant. She couldn’t help but to take a step back.
“His flesh has already been completely decomposed. The time of death was roughly three months ago, but I can’t make a definite conclusion. I think his identity belongs to the advance investigation squad that the Chivalric Order of Radiant Knight had sent out.”
“Did he die from being poisoned?” Huo Lei frowned as he analyzed the strange color of the skeleton.
“No, there are very few venoms that are capable of making their way deep into a human’s skeleton. The poisons goblins create are not strong enough.”
“I am guessing the corpse had been thrown here and left to its own devices after its owner had been killed. It was then eroded by the poisonous bugs here.”
“Poisonous bugs?! Those black bugs from earlier?” Lil’ Sha turned pale with fright and her scalp turned numb. She felt as if the scary bugs that had dispersed in confusion earlier had crawled up her ankles—
She somewhat regretted not wearing a set of armor when coming here.
“Luckily, these bugs aren’t afraid of dead people but live ones.” Ji Bai used one of his feet to squash an escaping black bug into dregs and shot an indifferent glance at the green fluid flowing out of it. “However, these poisonous bugs shouldn’t appear in this place.”
“Those bugs… seem to have the same blood color as trolls…”
“It’s different. Our blood is dark-green in color, while theirs is light green.” Corrected Huo Lei him.
“O-Obscene… This place is very strange. W-We’d best head back…” Said Lil’ Sha while gulping with difficulty.
“No, this has coincidentally proved that there’s indeed something fishy happening in these sewers.”
“B-But…”
“It seems like there’s a fork in the road ahead of us.” Continued Ji Bai calmly.
“I’ve brought some beans with me, how about… we scatter some to mark our route? It will also help us find our way when we head back.” Suggested Xiaomu to Ji Bai after somewhat overcoming her fear a little.
Unknowingly, the calm and competent-looking Ji Bai had become the backbone of the team.
“Did you see these small drainage holes along the way?” Ji Bai didn’t directly answer her questions.
“I did… Is there anything wrong with them?” Asked Xiaomu in a puzzled manner.
“Are you worried that someone will stab us from the back, brother? But, those drainage holes are all pitifully small and couldn’t fit humans nor demons. Because of that, I don’t believe that any type of ambush would occur here.” Said Huo Lei, stroking his chin, in a somewhat ruminative manner.
“While ‘those creatures’ wouldn’t be able to enter it, it’s still possible for some unfriendly tiny midgets to hide in there.” Said Ji Bai meaningfully as the visor of his crossed helmet turned towards Xiaomu.
“It isn’t only just us who can recognize the markings. The creatures living in these sewers can do the same as well.”