Deep in the Living

Chapter 686 Darkroom
Luo Di looked at Chou Jiu, who had suddenly barged in beside him, and was puzzled by his immediate conclusion that Chou Jiu was missing.

"Missing? Why couldn't they have already left the fishing village, or were temporarily away? How did you determine that?"

"When someone goes missing, an 'umbilical cord' is always left at the location of the disappearance..."

"You call this an umbilical cord?"

Roddy stared at the wriggling flesh fibers on the bed. They did have a certain tubular structure, but there were even more filaments on the surface, fresh and wriggling.

Chou Jiu revealed a somewhat eerie smile, drool constantly dripping from his mouth, "The umbilical cord symbolizes new life, the umbilical cord corresponds to the cycle, the umbilical cord is the foundation of the fishing village's existence... Only with the birth of the umbilical cord can new fish be hatched, and only then can we fishermen survive."

"Is it okay to touch this umbilical cord?"

Roddy had a bold idea: he wanted to taste it with his tongue.

Perhaps the scent could pinpoint the exact location of the red sweater, and even uncover the root cause of the entire fishing village's disappearance.

"Touch it, touch it quickly... No! No~ Get out of here immediately, your target has disappeared and can never reappear in this world."

Suddenly, Chou Jiu regained his senses and hurriedly urged everyone to leave.

Wu Wen, who was standing nearby, noticed the problem and stepped forward, asking, "What will happen if we touch this?"

"They will be marked, which greatly increases the risk of them going missing."

"This bed isn't missing. It should be fine to touch it with something, right?"

"The umbilical cord will actively seek out life. Once it senses the approach of a living thing, it will move and try to stay away."

Before Wu Wen could even make a move, Yu Ze had already arrived at the bedside.

Dual command movement

A jet-black talisman flew out from under his finger, severing a portion of the so-called umbilical cord like a sharp blade, before being wrapped, folded, and sealed.

In this way, a small sample was obtained.

Just to be on the safe side,

Yu Ze took out a sandalwood box, sealed it further, and affixed four ordinary talismans to the surface.

Chou Jiu's expression turned serious as he watched this almost blasphemous operation. "Your opportunistic behavior, even if you don't get infected with the umbilical cord, may still anger the unknown within the mist... Leave now, my guiding duties are over."

"We agreed on a one-day trip, how come it's over already?"

"I don't want the rest of the money. If you want to continue, go find other fishermen."

Wu Wen took out a whole thousand corner coins. "How about I double your money? Continue to be our guide. We still need to find someone, someone who used to live here."

Looking at the heavy money bag, Chou Jiu hesitated, but gritted his teeth and took it anyway. "Who are you looking for?"

"Jock may have used other aliases."

He has the appearance of a clown, the height of an average human, and is obese. He likes to paint his body white and occasionally uses balloons to create clones. He probably used to live here, right?

There is no such person.

"you sure?"

“Since I’ve taken the money, I won’t lie. At least based on your description, I’ve never seen any. I’ve never seen any balloons in the fishing village, and there are no clowns at all.”

Chou Jiu wasn't lying, which made Wu Wen doubt her speculation and that Qiao Ke might not have actually been here.

At this moment, Roddy suddenly interjected, "How about this? Just lead us around the fishing village, making sure we don't miss any corner. Is that alright?"

"can."

"lets go."

Whether Jock actually lived here was not important to Roddy; the main objective of this operation was the red sweater.

Yu Ze has obtained the umbilical cord sample, which may be able to effectively guide him to the target's specific location while he is circling around the fishing village.

And for some reason, this mist-shrouded fishing village aroused Roddy's desire to explore; his curiosity led him to want to know the secrets behind the village.

"Hurry up and catch up~ The fishing village is quite big. Since we're just visiting, let's walk a little faster and try to finish before nightfall."

Chou Jiu urged his team to hurry up and follow, just as he was about to reach the door.

Sudden……

The fog outside began to move, and its concentration increased dramatically.

The field of vision, which was originally ten meters with the help of goggles, was instantly limited to less than three meters.

Even Roddy's normally normal tongue tasted bitterness, and his sense of taste was affected.

Within the mist, something seemed to be moving, like some kind of root-like, umbilical cord-like thing, many of them, very dense.

Upon sensing the presence of this thing, Roddy's tongue instantly curled up, reaching a state where it was about to cramp.

The team members also reacted quickly, and Yu Ze immediately took out invisibility talismans and stuck them on everyone.

This unexpected turn of events also startled Chou Jiu quite a bit. However, despite his seemingly bulky body, he reacted extremely quickly, immediately emptying all the fish from his basket and piling them at the doorway. Then, he lay completely prone on the ground, mimicking the movements of a fish as he swam across the surface.

Time passed little by little.

The thick fog gradually thinned and returned to normal.

Chou Jiu was also completely exhausted, panting heavily: "Phew~ You guys really got your money's worth. I almost got myself 'disappeared' just now."

I told you not to touch the umbilical cord, but you wouldn't listen! Once you go missing, you'll lose everything.

Come with me quickly, I'll show you around.

The thick fog has just dissipated; the next thick fog will probably come tonight…

The cliffside fishing village has seven levels.

The top four floors are mostly temporary residences for monsters seeking refuge, with plenty of empty spaces. Further down are the fishermen's dwellings, most of which are already inhabited.

Chou Jiu's house is located on the lowest floor, a type of housing only experienced fishermen can afford. His daily life is simple: he goes out to sea to fish during the day, and then takes the elevator to the outside of the village to sell his catch.

Most of the monsters who were eager to take refuge in the fishing village knew the importance of these live fish, and since the price wasn't too high, they were willing to pay to buy them.

Fishermen have a few days of free time each month, and Chou Jiu will go to the nearest city to enjoy it.

He found this kind of life very comfortable; his desire to grow into a monster had long been completely suppressed, and he only wanted to live out his life peacefully.

click!
The elevator took us to the bottom floor of the fishing village.

Here, only a hundred meters from the coast, you can clearly hear the sound of the ocean, but this sound is slightly different; in addition to the sound of waves crashing, there are also various strange noises mixed in.

Chou Jiu pointed to the wooden house with fish hanging all over the doorway, "This is my home... Only experienced fishermen can live on the lowest level. Just walk a few dozen meters further and you'll reach the end; the fishing village is only this big."

I'll say it again: if you don't intend to become fishermen, then you'd better leave now.

"Anyway, it's only a few steps away, let's finish it."

"Row."

The team soon arrived at the end of the village, where barren cliffs stretched out before them, with no more wooden buildings remaining.

at this time,

Roddy suddenly turned his head and looked at the wooden house located at the end of the village, next to the sea.

The pendant hanging around his neck emitted a faint sensation, even through the Iron Maiden's seal, it was moving slightly.

Who lives in this house?

"Rotten Intestine... is an old fisherman like me, and he goes out to sea to fish at the same time as me every morning. However, he didn't fish yesterday or today, so he's probably on vacation."

"Yesterday and today? That corresponds to the time of Jock's death... Can we go in and take a look?"

"It would be best to ask Rotten Intestine for his opinion; I'll call him for you."

After shouting for a while without getting a response, just as Chou Jiu was about to say something, Luo Di had already gone inside.

At first glance, the house appeared normal, just the dwelling of a typical fisherman, though it reeked of fish.

But as the team inspected the entire cabin, Yu Ze found a hidden compartment mechanism in the wall and pressed it hard.

hum!
A hidden stone door opened to the side.

As soon as I entered the dark passage, I smelled a familiar scent, a mixture of paint and rubber.

When everyone got to the innermost part
A fisherman is "floating" here, his brain completely inflated like a balloon, his skin a deathly white color, and any external force touching him will cause him to explode.

His abdominal cavity was in an open state, with a large part of his rotting intestines hanging outside, just as his name suggested.

Obviously,

This rotten intestine had long been turned into a servant by Jock, who used his identity to live in seclusion in the fishing village, undiscovered by anyone.

With Jock's death the day before yesterday, this rotten intestine has become like this.

The hidden, dark room was filled with traces of Jock's life: various balloons, circus handicrafts, amusement park models, and so on.

In addition, there are many glass jars filled with mist and dead fish samples placed on bookshelves or hung from the ceiling using balloon ropes.

It seems that Jock was also researching the secrets of the fishing village before his death.

Roddy's attention was drawn to the wooden table in the corner, the drawer of which was specially locked, with a balloon film stuck to the lock.

But with Jock's death, the membrane failed and was easily opened.

Inside was a special notebook made of fish skin sewn together. When Roddy carefully opened it, the contents of the first page made his eyes widen.

"This is amazing! I'm almost certain that the legendary monster is here."

(End of this chapter)