Chapter Eighty-Five: The Unsettling Bone Town

The lowlier your intuition, the closer it comes to two; what could you possibly feel from that? Colin glanced at Li Chou and muttered inwardly.

Still, for all his complaints, Colin also knew that he was unlikely to meet anyone with intuition above three now.

Anyone with very high intuition, and a kind heart, would probably die on the very first day without even making it out of the house.

High intuition would allow them to faintly perceive certain "truths" hidden behind the unknown, and thus make the "right" choices.

So the first people to learn how to light the storm lantern were not necessarily those with high intuition.

But almost everyone with high intuition had already mastered the method.

That, however, was not necessarily a good thing.

Especially when the intuition was high, but not quite high enough.

Whether they intended, on the first day, to share lantern information out of goodwill, or to trade information for items out of self-interest, the moment they entertained such thoughts and typed the first word into the chat channel, they were all dead without exception.

It was as if something had once hunted them in exactly this way.

The hidden method for igniting the storm lantern might merely have been a tiny trap.

Its true target had not been humanity as a whole, but this group of highly intuitive people.

Yet after Colin passed the test, that trap had, for reasons unknown, been broken.

And then he brought home a sanction that was equal parts blessing and curse.

Of course, that was only one idle notion among many in Colin’s head, not something to be taken seriously.

The reason he had this guess at all was entirely because of the hint he had received not long ago, namely the premise that those with intuition below three would not die, while those above three would.

Something was targeting them.

On the contrary, someone like Li Chou, whose intuition was higher than average but not excessively so, was the most suitable...

Shaking his head, Colin cast aside these sudden thoughts.

After that, with little hesitation, he finally led the others into the ruins.

Compared with what they had seen from outside, once they crossed the gap in the city wall, lamp in hand, what lay before them became much clearer.

Yet after seeing the scene before them, Colin and the others could not help but grow grave.

Within the town, where the lamplight reached, pale bones lay everywhere...

They covered nearly every corner of the entire settlement.

The sight drew everyone’s eyes, so much so that they instinctively overlooked the other buildings.

“How many people died here?” Colin could not help drawing in a sharp breath...

Only then did they notice the abandoned, collapsed, empty houses.

“Was this a massacre?” Li Chou could not help saying.

To explain the scene before them, that was about the only conclusion one could reach.

And almost at the same time, they all thought of that abusive church that did every imaginable evil.

As long as it was something bad, it fit them perfectly without the slightest sense of incongruity.

“Wait, it doesn’t seem like those bastards did this...”

Colin saw that every single skeleton on the ground bore traces of being gnawed by something.

Even though no one knew how many years had passed, and the bones had already weathered and decayed, those bite marks were still strikingly clear.

You seem to notice that these are the bite marks of a rodent.

Without realizing it, Colin shivered.

Rodent...

That meant mice, didn’t it?

Most importantly, Colin remembered something about the female survivor’s corpse...

It had traces of having been gnawed by mice.

But at the time, no one had paid attention to a few mice...

And now...

These mice seemed a little off.

“Could it really be such a coincidence?”

Colin’s eyelids twitched. Swallowing hard, he looked at the field of white bones...

After careful observation, you notice that every single remains bears rodent bite marks, without exception.

Then where are the mice?

There are no signs of mouse activity anywhere nearby.

“Hang on. There really isn’t any great danger here, is there? I mean as a group, not just as individuals. Don’t gloss over it.”

Thinking it over, Colin suddenly realized that if the so-called lack of danger referred to just one mouse...

Then wouldn’t he be in serious trouble?

It had to be said, there was clearly more than one mouse here.

One mouse might indeed be harmless, but a pack of them was another matter entirely...

He suddenly recalled the unease he had felt all along the way. Could it have something to do with the mice?

After observing the surroundings, you find that you truly have not discovered any dangerous place within the town.

“I’m still far too innocent. I even believed the hundred-kilogram thing before. Please don’t lie to me now.”

Colin grumbled, then began to lead the group onward. “Be careful. Try your best to avoid these bones. If you really can’t find a place to step, clear them aside first—no, Li Chou, you do it...”

There were simply too many bones on the ground. It was hard to imagine how many people had died here.

It was just as hard to imagine how many mice it would take to kill them all...

Especially since not a single mouse could be seen anywhere.

As if only humans had died here...

Well, there were also the skeletons of cats, dogs, and birds, along with some household pets.

But there were too few of those remains, buried among the countless human bones, and not easy to notice.

Whether noticed or not, though, every white bone wherever Colin stepped was gathered up and “sealed” into Li Chou’s backpack, his face full of grief and despair.

This would prevent those remains from suddenly reassembling later and causing trouble...

Even if they all stood up in a moment, they would be missing arms and legs, and that would still be easier to handle than a complete skeleton soldier...

Moreover, Colin kept a constant watch on Li Chou’s mental state, to determine whether there was any mental interference nearby or something of the sort.

Fortunately, nothing had happened so far.

As for those bones, once there was time, they would all be collected and burned, not a fragment left behind.

By then, as the group pressed deeper into the town, Colin stopped in front of a two-story stone house that was still fairly intact, intending to knock and see whether he could find the cause of the town’s destruction.

Knock, knock...

“Is anyone there?”

At Colin’s instruction, one of the servants tapped on the wooden door, but the next second—

A sound came from inside.

Instantly, everyone went on guard.

It sounded like bones scattering across the floor.

Had the skeletons come alive?

This thought crossed everyone’s mind along the way, just as children always imagine a ceiling fan might fall and take their heads off...

But no.

You realize it may be the sound of the remains leaning against the door being shaken loose and falling to the floor when the door was knocked.

After confirming there was no danger inside, Number One, having put the wooden wheel back on his shoulder, kicked the door hard.

With a bang, the crude wooden door of the stone house was split in two, and the interior was illuminated by the storm lantern.

A dust-choked hall, with a pile of white bones near the entrance, as though they had once tried to block the doorway to resist something...

The attempt had obviously failed.

Every last one of them had died here.

After a brief search with no surprises, Colin found a half-finished suicide note.

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Thanks to “Youthful Waters,” “Scorching Light Beneath Changing Skies,” “Tian Mountain Wolf,” and “qudaoyu886” for their tips...