Translator: Lonelytree

The winds drown out the pleas. The woman dragged the little girl into the fog. Then the sound of carriage wheels rattling appeared from behind the pair of mother and daughter. It was the earlier plague doctor’s carriage chasing the pair. Seeing the carriage, the mother urged, “Come, quick…” Suddenly a lasso flung out, it tightened around the woman’s body and pulled. She instantly fell to the ground.

“Ellie, go, run!” The woman screamed. The girl turned to take one glance at her mother before running away. Just as Gu Jun’s team attempted to do something, a thicker fog rolled over and when it dissipated, the image all disappeared like it had been an illusion.

“What the hell…” Lou Xiaoning cursed, “How can they do that? Aren’t they supposed to be doctors?”

“In history, plague doctors bring only fear and dissension.” Gu Jun explained, “Since they failed to cure the Black Plague, they were seen as a symbol of pestilence and death so no one would want to cross their path.”

“So that woman was a patient?” Lou Xiaoning understood it now. Derived from the mother and daughter’s conversation… they were not running away from monsters but from those plague doctors.

“Who do you think those people are?” Gu Jun asked the Zoog, “Did you smell anything?”

“Mr. Nightmare Man, that is the strange part.” The Zoog frowned. “I could smell them clearly, they are of the same race as you.” He took a closer sniff at Gu Jun, “Yes, the smell of your world. Strangely enough, they appeared to occupy the space physically but the next second they disappeared into nothingness.”

Gu Jun considered this discovery. He turned to ask the land’s travellers for their opinion. They all shook their heads. In Dreamlands, it was often impossible to tell what was real and what was fake. In fact, their existence and the City of Kindle were still an existing mystery.

“Let’s forget about them for now.” That was the only conclusion Gu Jun could make. He continued to move towards the manor which was less than 100 metres away. The architectural style of the manor was something that they had not encountered before. It was not particularly big but there was something bizarre about the place. The stone that made up the building was black in color, the roofs had sharp arches and dried vines hung on the walls. They passed through a stone arch that was carved with some strange pictures, they looked like some kind of seal…

Gu Jun took a closer look. The seal had protrusions located at five different spots and connecting them formed an ‘X’. The protrusions were not simple dots but they resembled a ghastly open mouth… Gu Jun felt like they looked familiar, like the mouth at the ends of the tentacles of the legionella pneumophilia… Looks like this epidemic indeed had some connection with the House of Worm.

“Is someone here?” The Zoog patted shakingly on his body. “We’re just passing by and noticing how pretty this place is, we are coming in to admire the stonework…”

“Shush.” Gu Jun said as he looked around. It was straight out of a horror movie. The fog lingered everywhere and there was no one in sight. Based on what the Zoog said, with the legendary status that the House of Worm enjoyed at Dreamlands, the cultists from Afterlife Cult could not have taken over this place that easily. If anything, this place impressed upon Gu Jun the feeling of a temple, and the cultists were here for some kind of twisted pilgrimage…

“Dear owner of the House of Worm.” Gu Jun did not barge in but took cautious steps towards the main house. He said to the surroundings, “We’re here because our world has been visited by a bloody cough epidemic, we’ve ventured here to figure out why.” Despite his polite proclamation, his hands were cautiously placed on the pistol. Lou Xiaoning was ready to fire and the land’s travellers were ready to cast their spells. In contrast to before, after they were officially inside the manor ground, they moved glacially like they were stepping on thin ice. They watched the air and their surroundings closely. The main house was the biggest building at the manor, the rest looked more like stable and greenhouses. The main house was 6 story-tall and it was so large they could not see the back of it from the front. The door of the main house was left open as if welcoming them.

The door led right into a corridor that stretched into solid darkness, there was no sign of a lobby. The corridor walls were undecorated but the walls had some strange patterns that appeared to be swirling. The ceiling did not have any lights and was covered with the same strange patterns. ‘So this is the House of Worm…’

“Hmm.” Gu Jun could feel his mind affected as he stared at the swirls of the patterns… It was the same for the rest of his team. Suddenly, the vision before them changed and it pulled at their hearts. The stone walls faded away, and in their place, pairs of empty eyes stared back at Gu Jun’s group! Endless carcasses in varying stages of decay stacked upon each other, forming the bricks that constituted the walls and ceiling. Their decomposing juices were the glue that bound them together.

“Tsk, tsk…” The Zoog screamed in mercy, “Goodness, we better leave!”

‘So this is what the House of Worm really looks like?’ The group felt a numbness crawling through their spines. The carcasses of explorers from different origins and races became part of the foundation for this horrid place.

For Gu Jun, flashes of another vision appeared before his eyes. The carcasses faded away to turn into worms… long tapeworms, flat lung fluke, transparent nematodes… their eggs throbbed and their young flew everywhere. Gu Jun’s brain crumbled under a splitting headache as the young girl’s voice echoed in his mind, “We can’t escape from death. Death is inevitable…”

At the same time, Peacock could pick up someone speaking weakly. She retreated for a few steps and noticed a body stuffed into the wall of carcasses. The body was relatively fresh and looked quite human. His bloody face was turned outwards and there was some weak light in his eyes. He appeared to be still alive… The face stared at Kathlyn and she gasped, “Wait, he’s our people!”

“What?!” Lou Xiaoning hurried over and instantly her face dropped. “Ma Feng, that’s Ma Feng!” Gu Jun was pulled out of his reverie. He gritted his teeth and headed over. Indeed, the person who was pressed into the wall was… Ma Feng. Ma Feng was an elite from the Investigation Department, he was in his early 30s and had a crew cut. He was the scout of the team. But due to the lack of mental power, he was left with Uncle Dan’s group and then disappeared with the rest of them.

Now that Ma Feng was found here, it could only mean that the rest…

“He, help me…” Ma Feng uttered weakly. The voice escaped from his body sounding like his last.

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