Chapter 1129: "Monster"

Hearing the whispers of Jian Changsheng and the others, Chen Ling's heart suddenly trembled.

"That's true..." Jian Changsheng looked at the horrifying, picked-clean corpses on the ground, his brows furrowed tightly.

Jian Changsheng had seen his fair share of storms, but this was the first time he had seen human corpses eaten dry and twisted together. Seeing this, he felt a wave of nausea, his face full of revulsion.

"This method is too brutal; it really doesn't look like a human... If there's really a Calamity hiding in this village, will it come after us?"

"Calamities are inherently vicious and dangerous, let alone one that takes pleasure in eating people? In its eyes, we might be just like these Jiangtian cultists—food."

"Then we're in trouble..."

Chen Ling stood silently in place, his peripheral vision taking in the expressions of the three... Except for Jiang Xiaohua, Sun Bumian and Jian Changsheng’s eyes were filled with vigilance and disgust, as if they had already imagined a cruel, ugly man-eating monster on a killing spree right in front of them, almost making them vomit.

A breeze brushed against the red robes of the Jiangtian Cult. Chen Ling stood quietly, looking at the corpses he had left behind, a sense of confusion rising in his eyes...

When he was eating, Chen Ling hadn't felt anything unusual; he had only felt comfort and pleasure. As for the miserable state of the corpses he had drained, he hadn't cared at all. At the time, his mind was only filled with the desire to eat more.

Perhaps it was the instinct brought by the Calamity of Mockery that had numbed Chen Ling's self at the time. Only when he saw the horrifying corpses on the ground again and heard the whispers of Jian Changsheng and the others did he suddenly snap back to reality...

These,

were all done by him?

The Chen Ling of the past had never doubted his identity as a human. He was Chen Ling the transmigrator, the actor from Frost Street, the Heart of 6 from the Twilight Society... When did he start to abandon his human self bit by bit and turn into a thorough Calamity that feeds on human flesh and blood?

Looking at everything before him from the perspective of a "human" again, Chen Ling suddenly felt nauseated... At the same time, an inexplicable panic surged into his heart.

This fear stemmed from his own unfamiliarity, and also from the conversation between Jian Changsheng and the others just now.

Chen Ling suddenly felt like an ugly monster wearing a human mask, standing in front of Jian Changsheng and the others, still playing the role of the former Heart of 6... But Chen Ling knew very well that he had changed. The day he took off his skin, the day his hideous, man-eating true form was exposed to everyone, many of the people he cherished would leave him in disappointment and disgust.

Just as Jian Changsheng said... the current him could no longer be considered human,

but a "monster."

"Li Liang." Zheng Ye walked straight toward him. "How is it? Did you find out anything?"

Chen Ling’s hollow eyes were brought back to reality by this call. He was silent for a long time before shaking his head:

"I asked. They were just passing through; the things in the village have nothing to do with them."

"That's true, humans shouldn't be able to cause a scene like this." Zheng Ye had already seen the corpses, and his suspicion of the three had largely dissipated. "Don't worry about them. When the ritual starts tonight, they will come in handy."

"...Mm."

After Zheng Ye left, Chen Ling silently gripped the keys in his hand and turned to walk toward the bonfire.

Chen Ling’s pace was fast, his Jiangtian Cult red robe fluttering. He walked straight up to the three, grabbed Jian Changsheng by the collar, and yanked him up with force!

Jian Changsheng was stunned for a moment, then a pair of bloodshot eyes glared fiercely in front of him.

"...You want to fight?" Jian Changsheng struggled while speaking defiantly. "Come on!! I'm not afraid of you!!"

"How much longer do you think you can act tough?" Chen Ling sneered.

"By late tonight, you will all become sacrifices for the Supreme Jiangtian Lord... I hope you can still be this tough then."

With that, Chen Ling pushed hard with the hand holding the collar, throwing Jian Changsheng heavily against the edge of the stone pile with a dull thud.

Chen Ling swept a cold glance at them and walked away without looking back.

Seeing this, Sun Bumian finally let out a long sigh of relief...

"Thank goodness, none of us are hurt, and we didn't blow our cover... Spade, you scared the life out of us when your key fell out earlier."

"That Jiangtian cultist, his eyesight doesn't seem very good."

Jiang Xiaohua said while fumbling on the ground. A moment later, he picked up a handful of green debris that had been crushed into powder; from the outside, it was impossible to tell it was a key.

"Too bad, we'll just have to have Senior Jack of Diamonds make another one."

"Is he still here?"

"Doesn't seem like it, he's probably busy digging the tunnel."

"Then what about Spade's lock?"

Sun Bumian and Jiang Xiaohua looked at Jian Changsheng simultaneously.

Jian Changsheng didn't speak. He remained in the position where he had been pushed to the ground, staring blankly in the direction Chen Ling had left.

"Spade, what's wrong?" Sun Bumian asked suspiciously.

It was unknown how much time had passed before Jian Changsheng slowly moved his hand and reached into his chest...

A moment later,

four complete stone lock keys lay quietly in his palm.

……

Chen Ling went through the motions of searching the village inside and out with Zheng Ye and the others. The other Jiangtian cultists searched with trepidation, seemingly afraid that a monster would rush out from behind any door and eat them whole. Only Chen Ling searched absent-mindedly, as if he had something on his mind.

Of course, the nervous Jiangtian cultists didn't notice Chen Ling's abnormality, and they searched until dusk without any results.

In the end, Zheng Ye and the two Cardinals could only conclude that "the monster left last night after eating," and then hurried to prepare for the upcoming ritual.

Chen Ling followed the other cultists and had a hurried dinner.

It turned out that Chen Ling's guess was correct; this Jiangtian Cult branch was located deep in the Gray Realm, and food was quite scarce. At night, they could only eat a few yellowed vegetable leaves, steamed buns, and meat-scrap soup. However, perhaps to soothe the fear in everyone's hearts, or because the branch's population had been halved, the portions of buns and soup tonight were quite large, enough for everyone to eat their fill.

During this process, Chen Ling also stole a few buns and hid them in his clothes; after all, he hadn't forgotten that there was a group of little ones waiting for him at the bottom of the well.

"One by one, none of them are easy to deal with."

Chen Ling glanced at Jian Changsheng and the others by the bonfire, sighed in his heart, and took advantage of the thick night and the lack of people around to walk toward the dry well.

It wasn't that Chen Ling didn't want to bring food to Jian Changsheng and the others, but their location was too conspicuous, and those three guys were tough; missing a few meals wouldn't be a problem. On the contrary, Xiaobai and the others had been trapped at the bottom of the well for a day and were probably starving.