Chapter 154 -153: Reunion
By the lakeside, five valuable corpses were loaded onto the hearse.
“You two, come with me…”
Limping Field led the way, hobbling in front with the two following behind.
After circumventing a muddy path paved with stones, they saw the towering chimney of a furnace that was not in operation, as well as the adjacent manager’s house.
As the two stepped into the house, their feet immediately splashed up a large amount of icy water.
Looking down, they saw that the ground was covered with a layer of water stains, no wonder the old man wore rain boots all the time.
“Don’t mind it; this water comes from Cold Lake. If the water inside the house becomes muddy or the temperature changes, I can detect and deal with abnormalities in Cold Lake immediately.”
Perhaps it was the efficiency of the two young men, Field’s tone also seemed to improve a bit.
After Yi Chen and Reagan found seats and sat down, he continued:
“Since you have worked in the cemetery, you must have noticed that the corpses we just retrieved weren’t ‘matured.’ Can you guess why?”
Yi Chen immediately provided an answer:
“The expansion of Grey Zone is uncontrollable, spreading before reaching the town, and all the corpses in the cemetery must be relocated, even the cemetery itself and the entire town must be moved.”
“Correct, though the Grey Zone of Holy Grail Mountain will take at least two more years to spread here.
But areas like cemeteries are prone to be affected in advance, and relocating corpses must be prioritized.
There’s no actual relocation happening here; the cemetery itself relies on Cold Lake for existence and cannot be moved elsewhere.
My old bones also can’t handle much more cemetery management; once everything here is taken care of, I should fully retire.”
The raspy and bubbling speech revealed a sense of helplessness as if about to lose the most important thing in his life.
“It’s your luck that you’ve arrived here at this point.
From now until you officially depart, there are seventeen hours left, and you can bury the ‘tomb products’ you carry on you at the center of the lake, harvesting the essence of corpses that have settled in Cold Lake for many years.
Take as much as you can; nothing will be left here as this place is to be demolished.”
Upon hearing this, Little Grape no longer hid itself, directly popping out from the neckline, unabashedly saying:
“What a fortune!”
Little Grape was well aware of cemetery operations. Each cemetery under the organization has its ‘specialty’, and harvesting such specialties would be very beneficial for an incomplete cemetery product like itself.
When the old man saw Little Grape’s true form, his eyes squinted into a slit.
Having decades of experience in the cemetery, he was temporarily unable to categorize Little Grape, uncertain of what type of cemetery product it was.
The only information he could gather was ‘incomplete’.
“Is this a Seven-Day Cemetery product?”
Before Yi Chen could answer, Little Grape made a circle with its arms, pointing all six fingers at itself.
“Yes, I am indeed the peak masterpiece created by Mr. Wilbert utilizing the unique mechanism of the Seven-Day Graveyard, with countless efforts.
By the way, old man, you meant what you said earlier, right? Cold Lake is really a great place, can I absorb all the refined corpse essence settled at the bottom of the lake?”
“The lake has been cleared, this place is about to be abandoned, as long as you can do it, sucking the entire lake dry wouldn’t be a problem… it would actually save me the trouble.”
Little Grape was utterly excited, slapping Yi Chen on the back of the head, “William, let’s hurry up!”
Yet, Yi Chen was not in a hurry, instead turning to his teammate, “Reagan, are you going?”
“Faye’s form cannot be buried; I’ll stay here and discuss other matters with Mr. Field.”
“Okay.”
In Cold Lake,
Yi Chen rowed alone, as the last corps from the lake’s center had been removed; no arms reached out from the water—an icy and silent expanse.
Little Grape stood on his shoulder, posing like a captain with one hand on his hip and the other pointing toward the center of the lake.
Saliva dripped from its mouth as it spun its eyeball, visibly excited.
“This historically significant cemetery will surely awaken more memories and make me more complete!
By the way, William, how did you handle the retrieval at the bottom of the lake? Why did you suddenly freeze and even choke on water? I didn’t feel anything.”
“I saw something ominous.”
“Is your brain malfunctioning again, or did you really see something?”
Yi Chen’s expression remained normal, casually pointing towards the faint moon hidden behind the clouds in the night sky,
Little Grape quickly grasped the meaning, and its spirited demeanor suddenly retracted, pulling back to the shoulder showing only half an eyeball.
“Moon… Scar? No way?”
“I don’t know either, but ever since we left the city, I’ve felt as though the moon was watching us.”
“The last time we headed to the church in the village, the incident area was completely obscured by tall trees and high walls, so we didn’t have much concern.”
“But this time leaving the city, we will be exposed under the night sky the entire journey, and we might even be closer to the moon during our climb.”
Little Grape slowly calmed down and said to himself for comfort:
“I’ve thought about it carefully, last time in the village you seemed to have received some assistance from moonlight… If Moon Scar wanted to kill you, it could have done so during the carriage ride, there was no need to wait until now.
You must have seen it wrong. Now, the first priority is to hurry and enhance yourself.
Wait until I become more complete and recover more memories and abilities.
And then wait until you break through the Limit of Man, then you will have the capability to confront that guy face to face.”
“Hmm,” Yi Chen responded softly, not saying much more.
The wooden boat, unobstructed, once again reached the coldest heart of the lake.
With a bend of the knees, Little Grape jumped, somersaulting three and a half times in the air, expecting to plunge directly into the water, yet landed on the edge of the boat.
“We don’t have much time, aren’t you going down?”
“Hmm~ I’m incomplete at the moment, and basically powerless in combat on my own, you know what I mean?”
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Soft plant roots shot from Yi Chen’s fingertips, fastening onto Little Grape’s body like a safety belt.
“I’ll stay on the boat until you surface… Should there be any issues, just tug at the root and I’ll know.”
Little Grape gave Yi Chen a thumbs up and dived into the lake.
When it came to burying, Little Grape was a professional. It swiftly located the center of the lake, quickly dug into the earth and buried itself.
Its black hair began to grow out,
Sampling, feeling, and drawing from the essence of Cold Lake, and the accumulated essence of the corpses buried over decades.
Gradually, the entire surface of the lake started to change because of Little Grape’s burial.
Previously clear and transparent, the lake water began to bubble with black, seemingly on the verge of turning the water black.
Yi Chen, however, paid no attention to these changes,
nor did he care how much Little Grape could harvest.
He sat cross-legged on the wooden boat, seemingly deep in thought, seemingly waiting for something… Upon confirming that Little Grape had entered its state, click—
Yi Chen proactively severed the plant roots, temporarily cutting off his connection with Little Grape.
It wasn’t long before
a wooden boat slowly appeared in the pitch-black view, strangely causing no ripples as it moved, as if floating on the water surface.
Due to the distance and the fog obscuring the view, it was hard to make out the features and shapes of the passengers.
Not soon after, a very familiar yet dangerous voice came from across:
“It seems you already knew I would come.”
Yi Chen responded indifferently, “The illusion at the lake’s bottom wasn’t a coincidence. Since a signal had been sent out, naturally, I was prompted to respond.”
“William, I’m curious~ Though you vaguely felt the moon’s gaze and were sure that the lake-bottom illusion was information I deliberately cast, why didn’t you discuss the possibility of my arrival with that old man?
That lame old fellow is quite capable. If he had been on guard, I wouldn’t have dared to show myself easily.”
“What use would it have been to stop you on the way?
During the climb, I’ll be even closer to the moon. If you really wanted to approach, it would only worsen the situation… If you seek a meeting, a talk, or to resolve some matters, now is the best time.
Clarifying some matters in advance would be good for both of us.
Also, thanks for the moonlight support back in Jose Valley.”
The wooden boat came closer, and the human figures seated one in front of the other became somewhat visible.
“Rest assured~ I’m not here to kill you this time… but to have you repay a favor from before, and in turn, help me with something.”
“What help?”
“Take me to the other side of the channel…”
As this was said, the boat fully approached.
The youth with moonlight silver hair and a sincere smile on his face seemed as if he was reuniting after a long separation.
By his side, ‘the skeletal’ female Doctor remained, but her form had changed, no longer responsible for IV duties but now hanging numerous surgical tools from her thigh.