【The corpse is breaking down beneath the roots of the Moonlight Orchid. Welcome back.】
Subtitles for the Nursery and the Fireplace popped up simultaneously. In the blink of an eye, Zhou Kai had returned to 【Home】.
He almost immediately directed his gaze toward his inventory…
Good. Three potted plants were lying quietly in their slots.
“They came in.”
“Not just the flowers, but also clean, uncontaminated soil.”
After confirming that the fire in the Fireplace could last a while longer, Zhou Kai wasted no more time and quickly arrived near the Nursery.
He carefully lifted the three potted flowers out of their pots intact, then transplanted them into the Nursery.
The remaining soil in the pots was poured out by him, not a single grain left, into the black earth of the Nursery.
Both flowers and dirt were important.
In Solaka Town, nearly every inch of land had been contaminated by the rain; only this Nursery was the sole pure land.
But in the real world, “clean” soil was easily obtainable…
This meant that Zhou Kai could completely act like ants moving house, continuously digging up soil from reality and bringing it to the Nightmare World to expand the Nursery.
“Strengthening these special buildings is, in a sense, also strengthening myself.”
“I can’t think of any other method for the Fireplace for now.”
“But the Nursery is different.”
As long as there was clean soil and bricks that could be stacked… it could keep expanding!
After finishing all of this, Zhou Kai clapped the dirt off his hands, stood beside the Nursery, and quietly waited for the dialog box he wanted to see to appear.
A few breaths later, Zhou Kai’s eyes dimmed.
Above the Nursery, a line of icy subtitles flickered.
【Not quite right. Keep looking.】
It was the same old line, identical to when he had been searching for Fireplace fuel before…
It seemed that the crops the Nursery could cultivate weren’t just any random things either.
“Can I directly accelerate growth with experience points?”
Zhou Kai wondered inwardly, his fingers already touching the palm-sized snake plant.
【The snake plant has gained the ability to grow in a lightless environment, but if you want it to give you some special feedback, this will require more experience points.】
【You spent 2 general experience points.】
【Experience: 17 → 15】
A prompt for −2 experience points popped up, and Zhou Kai immediately withdrew his hand, temporarily planning to stop adding points.
“As long as experience can be used to hatch special plants, that’s fine… but for now, I should still go into town and test my luck to see if there are any wild goods like the Moonlight Orchid.”
The experience points remaining on hand were, without a doubt, best invested in combat abilities at critical moments.
As for strengthening the shelter and creating special plants, these logistical tasks… the priority had to be pushed back slightly.
Zhou Kai took a deep breath, turned around, and returned to the Fireplace on the first floor.
He took out from his bosom another piece of loot from the last time he’d been surrounded, aside from experience points.
【“A Fragment of Memory,” from a Wanderer】
“Use.”
A few seconds later, Zhou Kai extricated himself from the chaotic fragments of memory, his expression rather intrigued.
“This Wanderer was actually a paperboy before turning into a monster?”
What kind of damned thing could turn a twelve- or thirteen-year-old brat and that postman into the same kind of monster?
Zhou Kai couldn’t think of an answer for now; the mystery could only be gradually uncovered through subsequent exploration.
“Not bad, so memories can also yield experience points…”
Zhou Kai tugged at the corner of his mouth and looked at the subtitles before him.
【You studied Solaka Swordsmanship. Solaka Swordsmanship experience +1.】
【Solaka Swordsmanship Lv2 (5/25) → (6/25)】
That unlucky paperboy’s greatest dream while alive had been to join the guard of the Solaka family.
He often lay outside the training grounds, watching the guards train and secretly learning a few moves.
And Zhou Kai had happened to observe this memory.
A single point of experience—even a mosquito’s leg is meat. He gladly accepted it.
…
The Blood Tide refreshed once every twelve hours; there was still quite a long time until the next one.
Although the streets outside remained fraught with peril, and who knew which corner might be hiding a monster, compared to the overwhelming terror when the Blood Tide arrived, the present could already be considered a safe, explorable period.
After stowing the Moonlight Orchid charm against his chest, Zhou Kai gripped his axe tightly and slipped silently out of 777 Solaka.
This time, Zhou Kai’s target was the higher ground of the town.
“If those bastards who surrounded me last time are still prowling the lowlands, then heading north, the monster density should be somewhat lower.”
Every time lightning tore across the sky, Zhou Kai would use that brief illumination to calibrate his bearings, then plunge into the darkness and sprint at high speed.
As long as he didn’t run into a tough customer like the chain-hammer armored soldier, Zhou Kai didn’t fear the relatively weaker monsters at all now; he even yearned for them to come knocking.
The only thing he feared was being ganged up on.
Therefore, areas with sparse monster density were quite suitable for the current Zhou Kai to explore.
The house numbers in town seemed to follow no logic; near No. 777, there were numbers starting with six hundred as well as four hundred.
In front of a house marked 454, Zhou Kai used his axe handle to pry violently, then pulled with force. The rotten wooden door, along with its bolt, was torn off by him.
A pair of hunter-like eyes looked coldly into the interior.
The room was empty and utterly dead silent.
Zhou Kai propped the door panel back at an angle, then took out his charm. By its faint blue light, he began to ransack the house.
Aside from hunting monsters, obtaining equipment, items, and information was equally important.
Zhou Kai wouldn’t let a single detail that could be grasped slip through his fingers.
The living room and study had nothing of value; the decor was the same old style, largely similar to No. 777, and the rotten wood emitted a musty odor.
Zhou Kai was already a bit sick of it.
He specifically checked the fireplace here; it was cold and dead, completely devoid of anything miraculous, unlike the one at No. 777.
Zhou Kai muttered, “It probably requires something like a residency permit to activate.”
He wasted no more time and quickly climbed to the second floor.
In a bedroom, Zhou Kai finally made a new discovery.
In the Nightmare World, there were always some abnormal phenomena… for example, finding an almost brand-new axe with fresh bloodstains in a dilapidated kitchen.
The same was true before Zhou Kai now.
In a room that was probably a girl’s bedroom, on a desk covered with blackish-yellow mold spots, a cleanly kept notebook sat bizarrely.
Zhou Kai narrowed his eyes. After confirming there were no signs of traps in the surroundings, he stepped forward and began to flip through it.
The handwriting in the notebook was very childish and crooked, accompanied by a few crude sketches.
Perhaps a little boy?
【I originally thought the new neighbors would be hard to get along with, but ███ is actually a really cute one. I like her. We’ll become good friends.】
【Mom said they’re also surnamed Solaka, same as Mr. Winchester…】
【Elizabeth is a weird woman. Father says she’s a harlot, who knows how many people she’s been with…】
【But at least she really loves (presumably a person’s name, forcefully erased), right?】
【Isn’t that right?】
“The three residents of No. 777… or maybe four?”
Zhou Kai narrowed his eyes. Now he finally knew who that woman with her face scratched out was in those three photos.
“The scratched-out photo was Elizabeth…”
But the doubt in Zhou Kai’s heart only grew deeper.
Because according to the diary’s owner, among the residents of No. 777, there was someone who could befriend him.
Someone who could befriend a little boy was most likely a little girl?
“This… little girl whose name can’t be written…”
“Is she Elizabeth’s daughter? Or that Lanze’s daughter? Or that balding, bearded guy’s?”
The moment this thought flashed through his mind, Zhou Kai suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head.
His entire body felt as if watched by countless venomous gazes, sending chills down his spine.
Zhou Kai’s vision repeatedly darkened, and everything before his eyes began to sway and distort like jelly.
The hanging curtains and tattered cloths strewn about all came alive at that moment, extending slimy tentacles.
The wooden boards beneath his feet were no longer solid, resembling rotten mud or a swamp.
A cold sensation climbed up from his ankles, trying to drag him into the abyss…
At that moment, the charm at his chest suddenly burned hot!
Szzt!
A wisp of deep blue bloomed, and like the stillness of the deep sea, it instantly drowned the mad hallucinations.
The feeling was like someone smashing the noisy mirror of terror beside his ear with a hammer.
Zhou Kai gasped for breath. Aside from his head still being somewhat dizzy, he was otherwise fine.
【You have touched upon some secrets. Occultism experience +5.】
【Knowledge is a double-edged sword… the more you gain, the more you lose; the more you see, the more you are tainted.】
【Hint: Leveling up Occultism may allow you to obtain more gains during exploration/combat.】