40: Forty.

Sewer 40: Forty.

Sewer Coastal Street, one of Belfast’s streets closest to the coastline.

Or rather, it is the coastline itself, with a parade of varied houses on one side and a sandy beach fenced off with iron chains on the other.

Coastal Street is on the northern coast, covering the upper half of a crescent-shaped bay.

There was still some time before dark, and this was the busiest moment here.

Rhodest Port was bustling as the fishing boats that had been out all day returned, docking at the port while the sailors, smelling strongly of sea and fish, gathered on the long street close to the coastline, entering and exiting pubs and shouting without a break.

Coastal Street had numerous pubs, serving sailors from the ships all year round.

On other coastal streets, there were even more pubs, especially on Throat Street right in front of Rhodest Port.

The constant sea breeze blowing toward the peninsula had eroded the buildings and the railings, filling them with a mottled beauty.

At this moment, on the beach below Coastal Street, which was two or three meters lower, five young people huddled in front of a sewer grate, and occasionally a snippet of their conversation drifted upwards with the wind.

“Why did we come to this dirty sewer anyway…” Su Shan, her cheeks elaborately made up, hugged herself and looked disgusted.

When her good friend Daisy mysteriously invited her out and claimed that two tall and handsome guys would be there, she thought it was a party and dressed up for an hour, choosing her favorite knee-length lace dress.

But after she arrived, she discovered they were actually going to explore a haunted sewer.

Oh, and by the way, one of those “tall and handsome guys” was currently picking the lock on the grate’s door.

Sewage flowed out from inside the sewer, running along a specially-designed channel all the way to the sea, mixing with the nearshore waters.

She could almost smell that nauseating odor—although the sewage appeared rather clear.

“Actually, it’s not dirty.

The other end of this sewer connects to Agate Lake, preventing the lake from overflowing, and it’s not connected to the household sewage; you can see the flow of water,” explained a young man with gold-rimmed glasses standing beside her.

“This sewer acts to balance the water level.

Whenever the water level in Agate Lake exceeds a certain point, lake water will flow down the sewer to the beach.”

This explanation made sense, but he had misunderstood the girl’s concerns.

“Is that the point!” Su Shan stamped her foot in irritation.

A soft voice from behind added, “We came here for an adventure…

Do we really have to go in?

Simp Park just opened a new haunted house.

Why don’t we go there instead?

I heard it’s also pretty scary.”

The young man with the gold-rimmed glasses pushed up his glasses.

“Those are just staff in costumes, how is that scary?”

A pale clean arm affectionately wrapped around Victoria’s neck, a girl with short deep-red hair leaning close to her face and chuckling, “Ben’s right.

Those haunted house tricks can’t scare us anymore.

Apart from real ghosts, there’s nothing left to be afraid of.

Right, Su Shan?”

Su Shan didn’t know how to respond; she couldn’t admit in front of everyone that she preferred a party to crawling through a dirty sewer.

Though it wasn’t that dirty.

Clank—

The sound of chains rattling drew the attention of the four others; Reese stood up from the front of the grate, his palms covered in dark red rusty water.

“The gate is open.”

He gave a nod and crouched by the channel to wash his hands.

Yuck…

Su Shan instinctively showed her disgust, deciding to keep her distance from this unhygienic man.

The dark red rust spread out like ribbons in the water, drifting away.

After washing his hands, he turned to Ben and raised his eyebrows: “The gate’s open now, ready?”

“Wait a second, it’s getting dark.

Aren’t you planning on going back?” Victoria suddenly asked in a timid tone, looking quite fragile and fearful.

The sky was already growing dark, and the urgent sound of ship horns echoed over the near sea, the harbor crammed with vessels docked along the shore.

“Don’t worry, we have five people and torches, Ben, bring them out,” Reese laughed.

Ben took out the torches that were prepared earlier, ignited one, and led the way into the gloomy sewer.

The redhead Daisy, holding a reluctant Su Shan, followed with Victoria closely behind.

The noises from above the river disappeared, leaving only the sound of flowing water in the sewer that led to the depths.

The sewer was about two and a half meters high, its damp, uneven walls reflecting the shimmer of the water.

The slightly murky water flowed silently in the channel, while the wind, contrary to the water’s direction, blew from ahead.

Surprisingly spacious and clean.

It was still a while before the flood season, during which most of this sewer would be submerged, and the flow would not be as calm as it was now.

The group of five walked along the edge of the bank.

Having walked a few dozen meters along the sewer, they could no longer see the light from the entrance they came from.

The sound of their footsteps echoed in the emptiness.

After a while, they suddenly noticed a door on the wall ahead.

“Why is there a door here?” Daisy exclaimed in surprise.

“This is a maintenance room.

A lot of trash flows in from Agate Lake and might clog something.

The workers come in periodically to clear it,” Ben answered.

Su Shan suddenly asked, “So, the question is, why are we exploring this place?

Reese chuckled, his voice lowered a bit, “A while back, a few poor souls drowned in Agate Lake, and two of their bodies still haven’t been found.

Do you think it’s possible they were carried down…”

“Ah!

If you say anymore, Victoria and I are going back!”

Su Shan screamed, the echo painfully resounding in their ears.

“Alright, I’ll shut up.” Reese rubbed his ears in pain, clearly you were the one who asked…

Su Shan sighed, looking down at her beloved skirt with sorrow, “So why did we come to explore this grimy sewer…”

…

“Incomprehensible.”

Lu Li murmured to himself.

The barred gate was open, and the rusty chain lay to the side.

Boisterous voices from the street above resonated, and the sound of water flowed beside him.

At the entrance of the sewer, Lu Li squatted down, carefully examining the shoe prints near the barred gate.

The footprints were clear and chaotic, seemingly showing that a group of young men and women had just talked their way into the sewer.

Clearly, they were the group Reese had referred to.

Standing up, Lu Li looked around.

The gray-brown beach, devoid of any figures, felt oppressively silent and tranquil amidst the hustle and bustle of Rodest Port and the streets above at dusk.

Several streets close to the shoreline had street lights.

As the daylight darkened, the visibility started to decrease, street lights turned on, and offshore vessels also lit up one bulb after another, brightening the coastal line from afar.

It was hard to say whether Belfast was silent or bustling at this moment.

Shifting his gaze, Lu Li silently lit the oil lamp in his hand, lowered his head, and walked into the deep, shadowy sewer behind the barred gate.