Chapter 85: The Unsettling Bone Town
…Your inspiration is below three, barely reaching two. What can you feel…
Colin glanced at Li Chou and muttered to himself.
Despite the grumbling, Colin knew that he was unlikely to encounter someone with inspiration greater than three now.
Those with inspiration above three and kind-hearted…
Most likely had died on the first day without even leaving their house.
High inspiration allows them to vaguely sense some “truth” behind the unknown, making the “right” choices.
Thus, the first batch of people who mastered the lantern lighting method may not have had high inspiration.
But those with high inspiration generally mastered the method of lighting the lantern.
However, this is not necessarily a good thing…
Especially when the inspiration is high but not high enough.Whether they intended to share lantern information out of goodwill on the first day or wanted to trade information for items…
When they had such intentions and typed the first character in the chat channel…
They all died, without exception.
It seemed that something had hunted them using this method…
Burying and blocking the lantern lighting method might be just a “small” trap.
The true target was not all humans, but this group of high-inspiration people…
However, Colin had determined that, for unknown reasons, this trap had been dispelled.
Then he brought back a mixed-bag of punitive “results.”
Of course, this was just an accidental idea among Colin’s many speculations and could not be taken as fact.
The reason for his speculation was based on a hint received recently, namely, “Those with inspiration below three won’t die, but those above three will.”
Something was targeting them.
On the contrary, someone like Li Chou, with higher than average inspiration but not too high, was the most suitable…
Shaking his head, Colin brushed off these sudden thoughts.
Without much hesitation, he led everyone into the ruins.
Compared to the outside, after crossing the three-meter-wide gap in the city wall with the lantern, the view became much clearer.
However, upon seeing what lay ahead, Colin and the others couldn’t help but become solemn.
The light shone into the town, revealing pale bones everywhere…
Almost covering every corner of the town.
This sight captivated everyone’s attention, making them unconsciously overlook the other buildings.
“How many people died here?”
Colin couldn’t help but gasp…
Then they noticed the abandoned, collapsed, and uninhabited buildings.
“Did someone massacre the city?” Li Chou couldn’t help but ask.
Given the scene before them, this was the only plausible explanation.
Moreover, almost simultaneously, they couldn’t help but recall the wretched deeds of the Suffering Church.
Anything but good, they would attribute it to them without feeling out of place.
“Wait, it doesn’t seem like those guys did this…”
Colin noticed that every skeleton on the ground had traces of being gnawed by something.
Even though countless years had passed and the bones had weathered, these gnawing marks were still quite evident.
【You notice that these seem to be marks left by rodents.】
Colin shivered involuntarily.
Rodents…
He meant rats, right?
Most importantly, Colin recalled something—on the body of that female survivor…
There were traces of being gnawed by rats.
But at the time, no one paid attention to a few rats…
But now…
These rats seemed a bit off.
“Could it be a coincidence?”
Colin’s eyelids twitched, swallowing hard, as he looked at the scattered white bones…
【After careful observation, you notice that every piece of remains has gnawing marks from rodents, without exception.】
What about the rats?
【There are no traces of rat activity around.】
“Wait, is there really no significant danger here? I mean including groups, not just individuals. Don’t give me a false sense of security.”
Colin thought, suddenly realizing that if the so-called lack of significant danger referred to just one rat…
Then he would be in big trouble.
After all, it didn’t seem to be just one rat here.
One rat might be fine, but a swarm of rats was another matter…
He suddenly remembered the unease during the journey. Could it be related to the rats?
【After observing the surroundings, you find that you indeed haven’t detected any dangerous areas in the town.】
“I was too naive. I believed in that hundred-kilogram thing before. I hope you’re not deceiving me.”
Colin grumbled and led the team forward, “Be careful and try to avoid these bones. If you can’t find a place to rest, just move them aside. No, Li Chou, you handle it…”
The bones on the ground were so numerous that it was hard to imagine how many people had died here.
It was also hard to imagine how many rats it would take to kill these people…
Especially since there wasn’t a single rat in sight.
It was as if only people had died…
Well, also the remains of cats, dogs, and birds.
But these remains were too few and buried among the many human bones, making them hard to spot.
Regardless of whether they were discovered, all the bones Colin walked past were “sealed” into Li Chou’s inventory with a tearful expression.
This was to avoid any sudden reassembly of these remains later…
Even if they all stood up, they would be in a dismembered state, easier to deal with than a complete skeleton soldier…
And Colin would constantly monitor Li Chou’s mental state to ensure there was no mental interference or similar issues nearby.
Fortunately, everything seemed fine for now.
As for the bones, if there was time, they would be gathered and burned, leaving not a single piece behind.
At this moment, as the team delved deeper, Colin stopped in front of a relatively intact two-story stone house, intending to knock on the door to see if he could find the cause of the town’s destruction.
“Knock knock…”
“Is anyone there?”
A servant, following Colin’s instructions, knocked on the wooden door. But the next moment,
There was movement inside the house.
Instantly, everyone became alert.
It sounded like bones scattering on the ground.
Had the skeletons come to life?
Everyone had a similar thought during the journey…
Like childhood fears of a ceiling fan falling and cutting off their heads…
But it wasn’t.
【You realize it might be the sound of bones shifting and falling from the door after being disturbed.】
Confirming there was no danger inside,
The number one with the wooden wheel suddenly kicked the wooden door.
With a bang, the simple wooden door of the stone house was split in two, and the interior space was illuminated by the lantern.
A dust-covered hall had a pile of white bones at the entrance, as if they had tried to block the door to defend against something…
Clearly, this effort had failed.
This group of people had all died here.
After a simple and uneventful exploration, Colin found an unfinished will.