“Okay. Treatment complete~”Only after tying two square-shaped bowknots did Lil’ Sha nod in satisfaction.
“You’d best not do any intense motion in the next 24 hours, otherwise it’s possible that the wound reopens… Well, even though you’ll completely disregard this advice anyway.”
“…Thank you.” Swiftly putting on his clothes and armor, Ji Bai stood up and nodded.
“I will pay you back.”
“Seriously, you’re making my blood boil for no reason…” Lil’ Sha puffed up her cheeks.
“Then, can you pay me back now? I’ve never allowed loans, so if you want to pay up, then do it now?”
“…I don’t have the money right now.”
“Why are you even talking about it if you don’t have the money to begin with? Hmph~”
“…” Ji Bai was somewhat at a loss for words.
“Well then. Great knight who has many things to do, I’ll allow you to do whatever you want to. I know you’re thinking of handling this matter all by yourself… You can go, I won’t tell anyone about it.” Lil’ Sha pouted,turned her body around and went into her bedroom.
“I still have to take care of Xiao’an. Oh, that’s right, be a bit more careful… Don’t m-misunderstand, it’s just a casual reminder, nothing more.”
“Thank you.” As his eyes followed Lil’ Sha entering the bedroom, Ji Bai no longer lingered around. Bringing his sword along with him, he closed the door and left the apartment.
“Tss… Dummy.” Muttered Lil’ Sha softly as she heard the door closing outside.
…………
Ji Bai looked at the large clock at the academy’s entrance. It was already past midnight, so he had to speed up his plans.
He remembered Xiao’an mentioning that the old orphanage head had handed the children over to the monsters in the small forest near the orphanage. From that, he surmised that there was a high possibility of an underground facility —something like a tunnel— existing underneath the orphanage. He had specially frisked the old orphanage head’s body, and had indeed gotten something out of it.
Before settling matters with Lan Yu, it’d be best for him to eliminate this hidden problem first.
…………
Night.
Ke’er was wandering the hallway clothed in a nightgown. Yet her innocent and pure face showed no trace of sleepiness.
She stopped in front of a room and pulled its door open.
Within, bed sheets had been tossed to the side in disarray, leaving the wrinkled bed completely empty.
The cool wind outside the window caressed her emotionless face.
“It’s not him, not him at all…” Muttering in an incoherent tone, her petite body unhurriedly laid down on the bed.
‘H-How exciting…’
Ke’er calmed the unceasingly undulations inside her chest. A blush surfaced on her white lustery skin, as her gorgeous pink pupils gradually lost their focus.
……………
Under an overcast white moon, the small forest near the orphanage that served to greenify the landscape.
‘Guess that this is it.’
Utilizing the dim moonlight, Ji Bai brushed aside a small tuft of branches and leaves that were obscuring a large tree trunk, revealing an irregular shaped groove.
Taking out an inscripted spell stone he had found while searching the old orphanage head’s body, he gently connected them together. The stone was a perfect fit for the shape of the groove.
With just a few minor differences, the principle behind the application of a magic key was virtually identical.
“Rumble…” A drawn-out noise, lingering in the listener’s ears, resounded as a dark red light emerged from incantations carved on a nearby rock.
“Crack, crack…” The soil began to cave in and gloomy noises of chains dragging the ground resounded.
Not far away, planted weeds had caved into the ground, revealing a series of stone steps that led underground.
Ji Bai looked around a little before casually picking up a small stone and tossing it inside the tunnel.
“Tap, tap, tap, tap…” The stone rolled into the tunnel and seconds, minutes passed by.
Ji Bai ignited the torch that he had brought along with him. Taking small steps, he carefully entered the hidden passage.
The inside of the tunnel wasn’t all that spacious, with the ceiling being approximately 2 meters high. It would be somewhat cramped for two people to walk side by side. To make things worse, there wasn’t any light source either. So, unless one brought a torch to light up their surroundings, visibility in here would practically be zero.
“Rumble” Suddenly, a muffled sound resounded and the tunnel’s entrance closed.
‘In that case, the only way left is to move forward.’
“Clack, clack. Crack!” He had just taken two steps before a crunching sound resounded from below his feet.
“Mhm?” Ji Bai‘s eyes turned slightly incisive as he looked down. Moving his soles aside, he spotted a few shattered beetle carapaces in a puddle of green slurry.
These were the black insects he had previously encountered in the sewers. He had never seen this type of poisonous bug before, yet vast masses of them had been flourishing there.
Was this incident somewhat connected to the one in the sewers??
Ji Bai raised his head to take a look at the area ahead of him filled with endless darkness. He tightened his grip on his sword, raised his torch and continued ahead.
Traversing the unchanging small corridor for an unknown period of time, he frequently caught sight of groups of black insects that had scattered away from the masses. He could faintly make out a vague mauvish color ahead of him. At last, the end of the tunnel was nigh.
Ji Bai instantly went on the alert and lightened his footsteps.
The scene unfolding before him stood in a complete dissonance to that of the tunnel.
The surrounding walls were covered in soft, pink, fleshy walls that made it seem as if he stepped into the oral cavity of a giant monster.
Light emanating from mauvish flames brightly illuminated this incomparably bizarre place. Ahead of him, he could faintly see a stone door embedded into one of the fleshy walls.
‘What a strange place… I’ve never been anywhere similar to this before… Could the mysterious formation inside the sewers be somewhat connected to this here?’
Ji Bai touched the flesh on one wall. It had a very soft texture, and emanated warmth similar to the body temperature of an ordinary creature.
The step he cautiously took forward caused the extremely rubbery-like floor to sink down a little.
After confirming that there were no mechanical traps, Ji Bai reassuringly stepped onto it.
He slightly inspected his surroundings to make sure that there was room for him to retreat in case of special circumstances.
Anchored at every wall in the cramped room, there was a torch burning in purple flames. When combined with the flesh strands that were on the ceiling and the ground, they resembled pillars that held up the weight of the heavens.
Ji Bai extended his fingers and poked at these ‘flesh strands’, feeling a viscous sensation from it.
“Ssst…” Actual water flowed out.
“Shoosh…” At this moment, a series of disturbances rippled through the meat wall. Like sewing a sweater, the extending strands of flesh had sealed the entrance shut.
‘Did I trigger some sort of mechanism?’
His helmet slowly lowered downwards, as his fang-shaped two handed sword stabbed at the flesh strands that were sealing the exit. They were soft, of strong flexibility and extremely sturdy.
“Rumble, rumble…” Just when Ji Bai was contemplating, the area underneath his feet suddenly sank downwards.
The flesh floor below had seemingly turned from solid to a semi-liquefied state. His body was currently sinking downwards continuously… If this was the body of a monster, then its goal was to eat him.
Like a quagmire in the marshes, the more one struggles, the deeper they fall. Ji Bai tried his best to avoid any body movements, yet was unable to stop the meat floor from becoming more and more fluid. Eventually, he was completely submerged…
A sense of asphyxiation overwhelmed him. He was unable to take in air… Wouldn’t he be relieved of his burdens if his body were to die here? However… if he were to be drowned to death by a pile of flesh, it would be pathetic indeed.
“Plop!” Just when Ji Bai was about to fall unconscious from a lack of oxygen, a feeling of weightlessness arrived.
The meat wall had spat him out by seemingly tossing him into a room below.
“Ugh.” Ji Bai rubbed his swaying iron helmet, and got up from the ground using his sword as a support.
‘I’ll have to take a shower when I get back.’
Thought Ji Bai, covered in a mysterious liquid from top to toe.
From the position that the meat wall had tossed him out of, there had still been a certain amount of height to the ground. This had caused his head to be smashed to the point of being somewhat dizzy.
Where was he now? There was nothing more terrible than a situation where one couldn’t see their outstretched fingers in front of their eyes. Trying to head back at this point would probably be a somewhat difficult task.
“Tssss…”
Not waiting for Ji Bai to readjust himself, an inharmonious voice broke the silence.
Turning his eyes towards the source of the sound, he caught sight of a dense crowd of small red eyes flickering within the darkness.