CHAPTER 968: CHAPTER 161: IN BELL AND BELFAST, TROUBLE AND OPPORTUNITY ARE EVERYWHERE

Even the chilling wind cannot disperse the mist shrouding the earth.

The slanting snow line breaks into the dim light of the oil lamp, merging with the footprints in the snow into the darkness.

There are some villages and farms around the polluted Himfast, but without more detailed clues, they can only search downwards from the city.

The detailed map recording Himfast was taken out by Merchant Anthony, with the nearest location being McKenzie Farmstead three miles away.

It’s not very far, but in the mist and perpetual night, even standing still would encounter unpredictable troubles.

The worms came in handy at this time, though it would enlarge the worm territory.

Worms cannot communicate or possess wisdom; they only understand simple instructions. The Big Sister communicates, dispatching their worms to start moving, the ground trembling as it forms a passage towards McKenzie Farmstead.

This worm is 800 meters long, and it takes just two moves for them to reach McKenzie Farmstead.

The Big Sister looks disgusted as she instructs Lu Li, who has eaten the Yellow Plum Grass, to smear the slime and drill into the hood.

Once Merchant Anthony’s backpack is covered with slime, they step into the warm and soft Insect Path, quickly tunneling underground.

...

McKenzie Farmstead.

Long ago, one would add the prefix ’abandoned’ upfront.

After the plant catastrophe, such useless buildings like farmsteads were abandoned, leaving only farmers unwilling to part with their homes.

Another piece of information brought back by Merchant Anthony, organized by the City Hall think tank, notes the farmstead’s scale. Besides the central farmhouse and basement, there is also a barn and woodshed.

The sticky, wet group appears outside McKenzie Farmstead.

As they wipe their bodies, Ophelia senses a murky atmosphere within the farmstead.

"I’ll go first... you... stay."

Ophelia intends to scout the way.

"Together."

Lu Li puts on a new cloak.

They step into the front darkness, where the worm will await.

The face-freezing cold wind carries a stench like manure sludge.

Alongside the stench arises the idle grunting of pigs.

Before long, closer now to the dark mist at McKenzie Farmstead, the silhouettes of pigs appear behind the fence.

They lie in semi-solid mud, lazily smacking their lips, oblivious to the uninvited guests outside the fence.

"Not... here."

This place is occupied by another group of anomalies.

Lu Li does not respond as his black eyes fixate on the darkness inside the fence.

At the edge of light, a pair of pale toes standing in the mud appears, seemingly immaculate, yet above the ankle, swallowed by the darkness, revealing a deep silhouette.

Anna stands in the darkness, gently waving this way.

"Where... next?"

Ophelia asks as she sees Lu Li reach to push open the fence gate, entering the farmstead.

She and the merchant follow, approaching the outline of the barn deep within the snow line.

Anna’s illusion vanishes before the barn door, a more pungent stench than mud wafts from within the barn.

The wind and snow noise is blocked outside upon entering the barn, where in its depths, a plump, massive silhouette emits a stench, resting with its oil lamp-illuminated belly rising and falling with each breath.

"Gululu..."

The silhouette emits a rumbling grunt.

"I understand! It’s asking why we’re disturbing it!"

"We’re searching for the Shadow Church, a group of heretics," Lu Li says as he gazes up at the enormous silhouette, speaking calmly.

"It says it’ll tell us but wants us to become food, or leave behind an equal weight of food..."

"Alright."

The silhouette continues to emit vague, rumbling sounds, translated by the Big Sister: "To the back..."

Lu Li unfolds the map, looking at the direction pointed by the silhouette behind.

There’s an area marked as Stone Forest, about a dozen miles away.

Gululu—

The silhouette emits a disgruntled mumble, as if urging Lu Li to hand over the food promptly.

Lu Li has the merchant bring 20 boxes of canned food.

These expired cans stored for twenty-four years at Seaview Cliff now have a use.

The silhouette, not fully revealed, expresses satisfaction, indicating that the transaction is complete, and Lu Li can wander freely within its territory.

Equivalent exchange, a rare quality for anomalies, like the presence Lu Li once encountered by the campfire, offering him Strange Currency.

Bidding farewell to the Lord of Pigs, they return outside the fence, allowing the worm to bypass McKenzie Farmstead and dig towards Stone Forest.

It’s on the outskirts of Himfast, once more renowned than the City of Art’s Stone Forest, or rather the origin of the City of Art.

Duke Valentin, exiled during a political upheaval to Ailen Peninsula, brought hundreds of sculptor masterpieces, establishing an underground estate here named Stone Forest, indirectly enhancing the Himfast populace’s appreciation of art, eventually leading to Himfast earning the City of Art crown, propelled by the MacDonald Family’s commercial motives.

Nowadays, those statues have likely been relocated, leaving Stone Forest bereft of its name’s significance.

Will Anna be there?

Lu Li suddenly thinks of Anna’s family. Her grandfather once served Duke Valentin as a butler and mentioned the statues gifted by Duke Valentin to their family...

A sticky expansion sound rings out as the closed Insect Path opens.

They can set out now.

Putting away the map and sundry items, they again eat the Yellow Plum Grass, jumping into the Insect Path.

The dozen miles keep them like fish surfacing during rain, frequently returning to the surface to wait.

Near afternoon, with the worm’s help, they approach the outskirts of Stone Forest, where frozen ground beneath the snow is replaced by an uneven cobblestone path.

"Nothing... feels... discernible. But... it seems... something... is here." Ophelia whispers.

Lu Li watches Anna beckon him from the edge of darkness, raises the oil lamp, advancing along the snow-covered cobblestone path.

At the end of the cobblestone path, a staircase leading down is revealed.

And at the underground threshold, a shallow line of footprints, almost buried beneath the new snow.

...

The antique oil lamp hanging on the wall slowly illuminates.

The slender, elegant shadow of the maiden appears clearer.

"The oil lamp has only fifteen minutes left."

She turns halfway around, white dress billowing.

Jon, who followed, shivers, his face and clenched fists inside his sleeves flushed red from the cold, toes curled inside his shoes.

"I... didn’t know where to go... but you saved me."

Trembling, Jon speaks intermittently.

He indeed considered giving up several times. The raw cold made him question whether he had ever died until he touched the icy, stone-like heart in the hollow of his chest.

Every time he couldn’t keep going and slowed down, the Shadow of the Maiden would halt, as if waiting for him to catch up.

"You can stay here."

"Here..."

Jon, neck retracted, glances around the oil lamp-lit surroundings, the passage’s ink-like darkness resembling murals depicting ruins he had seen before.

"Where is this——"

"He’s coming..."

At this moment, the Shadow of the Maiden seems to sense something, turning the elegant silhouette towards the entrance of the passage, whispering softly.

"Not hiding beneath the surface anymore..."