CHAPTER 982: CHAPTER 175: THE ENIGMATIC DAQI ESOTERICISM

"Perhaps this isn’t your true purpose, but remember my advice no matter what. Don’t go near the seaside; the farther away, the better. The farther, the better."

With the elderly man’s reminder ringing once more, Lu Li opened the room door and stepped out of the inn. He walked towards the northern part of the town along the damp alleys, guarded by the hostility of locals.

The eerie aspect of Insmouth Town didn’t stop there. Lu Li didn’t see a single cat or dog or any other animal; not even a single rat was in sight. The Insmouth-looking locals he encountered not only gazed with discomfiting looks but also brought an omnipresent sense of being watched, only temporarily alleviated by diving into dim, deserted alleys.

Heading straight towards his destination, Lu Li had to take a few detours to shake off the shadowing surveillance of the residents.

After dozens of minutes, posing as a tourist, Lu Li turned into the slums, where it was even more rundown, with smoking chimneys and mended roofs visible everywhere, only slightly better than the abandoned buildings on the town’s outskirts, occasionally accompanied by strange cries from places unknown.

Not far ahead, Lu Li found the fire station with peeling red paint.

Lu Li sighted Zadok Allen lying across a street-side bench overlooking the northern seaside breakwater. As the elderly man said, Zadok Allen was easy to recognize, or rather, any townsperson not resembling Insmouth was easy to identify.

Gazing towards the coast, fishermen on the breakwater whispered strangely while looking this way.

It’s not good to let the locals know Lu Li is approaching non-Insmouth-looking people.

Lu Li didn’t approach Zadok Allen nearby. He walked to a spot about six or seven meters away from the bench, his hand hidden behind his back, including the bottle of liquor. His fingers gently tapped the bottle, confirming that Zadok Allen had awakened and noticed the bottle.

Before Zadok Allen spoke first, Lu Li turned away, disappearing behind houses with his hat brim pressed down, under the gaze of the fishermen on the shore.

...

At the corner of the street, Lu Li quietly waited against the wall.

Zadok Allen still lay there, propping himself up to sit as if tired from lying and wanting to walk around; apparently, years of drinking hadn’t made him lose his sanity.

Listening to staggering footsteps approaching, suddenly a muffled "thud thud" sound came from within the walls of the house behind.

Lu Li steered clear of the building; its doors and windows boarded shut, even the chimney sealed with stones, leaving no exits.

At this moment, Zadok Allen appeared around the corner, drawing Lu Li’s attention; seeming to not notice Lu Li, he staggered along, continuing north.

Lu Li’s gaze briefly lingered on the house from which the knocking sound emanated, as though following along coincidentally behind Zadok Allen while keeping a distance from surrounding townsfolk.

Luckily, Zadok Allen was just an old man, and old people walking slowly was perfectly normal. Following him through the net woven by the local’s gazes, past a place called Walter Street, evading crumbling brick walls, to a barren ground facing the sea. These brick walls and the ruins of warehouses to the north shielded all potentially prying eyes.

This was a good place to discuss secrets.

"Whatever your intentions are, give me the liquor!"

Finally no longer hiding his desire, Zadok Allen stumbled towards Lu Li like an addict, possibly managing to hold back all the way here.

Lu Li asked no questions, silently handing the bottle to Zadok Allen.

Zadok Allen snatched the bottle, cradling it in his arms, trying to open the cap with hands as frail as claws, but to no effect.

"Quick, open it for me!"

Zadok Allen shoved the bottle back into Lu Li’s arms, his eyes seemingly bloodshot.

Once Lu Li opened the bottle, Zadok Allen snatched it back, tilting his head to pour it into his mouth as if a desert traveler finding a spring. It was just that the liquor was strong enough to make one worry about alcohol poisoning.

Aside from that, watching Zadok Allen drink was quite a spectacle—able to gulp down without spilling a drop, akin to wolfing down a salad without letting a single leaf fall outside the plate.

The inn’s elderly man had arranged everything perfectly, or maybe it was coincidence—a bottle of home-brewed liquor just enough to make Zadok Allen drunk yet not completely wasted.

"Young man, thank you for your... burp, liquor."

Having drunk the last drop, Zadok Allen casually tossed it aside, the empty bottle rolling down along moss-covered stones.

"I’m looking for someone, her name is Katerina, brought here by that cult a few days ago."

"I don’t know the woman you speak of, but, burp... I know about Daqi Esotericism."

Zadok Allen mentioned that name, but astonishingly, nothing happened, he still appeared drunk.

"Tell me."

"Don’t rush... lad, the night is still long." Zadok Allen, leaning against the damp cold stone wall, slumped down, speaking amid hiccups: "I will tell you the origins of everything, a cursed wicked land, the source of deep waters, the Gates of Hell—"

Zadok Allen, sounding incoherent, recounted the tale of Insmouth Town.

Lu Li had to sift through the lengthy narrative of this drunkard for genuinely useful information.

For instance, Daqi Esotericism.

Daqi Esotericism appeared in Insmouth Town long ago, dating back to before the Old Era.

It rapidly edged out local orthodox religions from the town, calling all townsfolk to believe in the cult’s Father God and Mother Goddess, Daqi and Mother Hydra.

Once all townsfolk voluntarily or forced believed in the cult, the true essence of Daqi Esotericism was revealed: beings from the ocean’s deepest reaches.

Townfolk turned believers of Daqi Esotericism gradually transformed into entities with fish and frog-like characteristics, capable of surviving in the sea and possessing... near-eternal life.

Those who became Deep Divers could still mate with humans, and their hybrid offspring as they aged would transform towards their progenitors, most untransformed fully changing into Deep Divers during youth or middle age, entering the deep sea and joining the Deep Diver clan.

They have wisdom, even surpassing humans, inhabiting the seabed. Insmouth Town is merely one of their breeding grounds.

All Deep Divers revered cult leader Daqi while also worshipping the Lord of the Deep—

Daqi is not the Lord of the Deep.

The Father God Daqi and Mother Goddess Mother Hydra, worshipped by the Deep Divers, were merely followers of the supreme Lord of the Deep.

These secrets were known only to those who became one with the town, joining them.

Zadok Allen’s knowledge, for him, was filled with painful despair. Were it not for liquor, no one could make him speak.

He was a "Mute Breed."

Zadok Allen’s ancestors were Deep Divers, his grandparents were Deep Divers, his father and mother were Deep Divers, even his wife and children became Deep Divers.

But he was not. Some traits—webbing, gills, and scales—never appeared on him.