Chapter 38: The Incident
Chapter 38: The Incident
The base frame material of the goggles is some sort of flexible and lightweight metal, coated with a layer of brass, along with gears, bearing structures, and a retractable strap for easy wearing and adjustment.
But the material of the lenses, Han Dong is not sure.
It should not be ordinary glass, presumably using some kind of special transparent material that could protect the eyes from the visual pollution.
Han Dong who was wearing the goggles was considering an 'important' issue.
Before searching.
Han Dong reached out, stopping Cass who was about to start the search.
"I have a question, why did the ghoul hang the woman at the door?"
Cass explained what she had learned from the books, "Mature ghouls have a certain level of intelligence, and this 'show of force' behavior indicates that the ghoul's hatred for the woman is at a certain limit."
"If it were me, and I really wanted to 'show' my enemies, I would have chosen to flee in the middle of the night and hang on to the door by the way... By the time someone found out, I'd have fled.
There's no need to be so beckoning."
Han Dong's statement was correct.
If the ghoul was intelligent, why would it commit such a conspicuous act of hanging its master at the door in broad daylight, wouldn't that set fire to the world?
Han Dong continued to speculate, "Is it possible... that he has escaped?"
Cass immediately denied, "No way! Due to a theft at the cemetery, the vigilante squad has been going door to door for some time now.
The first to arrive on the scene saw the lady of the house who happened to be hanging on the doorstep, and even saw the back of the ghoul.
Within a short period of time, over thirty vigilantes, armed with firearms, completely surrounded the house, and there has yet to be any escape of the ghoul."
Han Dong shook his head, "Not necessarily... just because he can't escape from around the house doesn't mean it can't escape from somewhere else.
Didn't you say before that the family was suspected of feeding the ghouls privately?
Since it could be hidden for so many years, is it possible that this family's basement has undergone relevant modifications that can extend to point to another place."
Han Dong said so.
Cass opened up, "It's a real possibility! Oh no!!!"
Bringing up his sword and shield, Cass immediately dashed towards the basement.
The man didn't move at all like he was wearing armor all over his body that hindered his movement... Swift as the wind, he reached the end of the entrance and found the hidden entrance to the basement.
Han Dong didn't move that fast.
Instead, he deliberately waited until Cass headed to the basement before quietly releasing the [Sinister Chen Li] who was sheltered in the prison.
"Miss Chen Li, please conduct a strict search of the first and second floors of this building! If you find a ghoul, notify me at once... Also, if you find books involving 'ghouls', bring them with you.
If anyone else breaks in during that time, return to the prison immediately.
If a secret passage does exist in the basement, please remember to follow later.
Maintain a distance of no more than 10 meters from me... Make sure you can enter and exit the portable prison at any time."
Han Dong was only speculating that the ghouls might escape through the secret passages in the basement... it wasn't 100% certain, and it was necessary to keep a watchful eye.
Besides, after testing, Chen Li could return to the prison instantly if she was within ten meters of it.
"Okay."
Chen Li was still a little worried before she acted.
"I smell an evil odor wafting from this house, do you mind if you're alone? If you're in danger...can I step in?"
"Depends on the situation, stay out as long as possible, and this cooperative knight has some skills...shouldn't be a problem."
"Okay, be careful."
Chen Li went up the stairs first and searched the second floor for what Han Dong wanted.
Han Dong, on the other hand, held the "Plague Doctor's Short Blade" and kept up with the Cass Knight... The moment he stepped into the basement, the smell was even stronger.
A large amount of animal bones remained on the floor of the basement, and a small amount of scraps still hung on the end of the bone spikes, the residual heat still lingering... It was obvious that the ghoul's feeding process had just finished.
"Friend Andeva, you were right! There really is a secret passage!"
Cass found 'loose stone tiles' by traces of liquid on the floor and by the basement wall.
When pressed, an eerie secret passage filled with the stench of decay was revealed.
"This direction... it extends to the cemetery!
No wonder, even in a civilian area, the management of the cemetery is very strict, there are atleast three policemen and are allowed to use firearms.
Only the corpse was found to have been stolen, but there was no sign of loose soil, so the corpse was stolen from the underground area!
A bit of a problem!"
Cass was still experienced and turned his head to look at Han Dong behind him.
"Friend Andeva, if the ghouls are successfully solved, I'm willing to give you 40% of the bounty...Also, the situation here is much more complicated than I thought it would be.
If the incident happened in a cemetery instead of this house... there is a small possibility that there are multiple ghouls.
Once we encounter more than two, immediately abandon the mission and report it to the Knight Academy for stronger people to handle."
Han Dong nodded, "Hmm...if that's the case, my previous guess wasn't quite correct.
The ghoul's purpose of hanging the mistress' flesh at the door was indeed intentional.
Retaliation is one reason, the second reason might want to intentionally draw people in, and if there exist multiple ghouls, they must all be a bit hungry.
Once they were full, they will escape from the other side of the cemetery."
Cass nodded slightly, his face not looking too good, "You're a bit weak, just follow me...remote support will be fine."
It could be seen that this little brother, Cass, was a knight of considerable integrity.
If he really encountered danger, he would choose to flee with Han Dong along with him.
........
The walls of the secret passageway were covered with black fungus, and the air was thick with spores.
Before entering, Cass reached out and touched the right side of the goggles' frame part.
The sound of gears turning was heard, through precise folding and unfolding, the half-covering leather mask inside the goggles, immediately appeared and wrapped around the area below the eyes, can effectively filter such bacteria.
Han Dong also learned to do so.
A black mask immediately covered the mouth and nose.
"Go!"
Cass took out a kind of simple kerosene lamp and walked ahead with his sword in the other hand.
Han Dong deliberately found a piece of scrap metal in the basement to block the secret door from closing on its own.
As the two men went deeper.
At the basement stairs, Chen Li, wearing cloth shoes, slowly walked down....
...........
Before we even get in the passage, we hear some kind of claw-scraping, tongue-and-tooth rubbing sound coming from it.
At the same time, there were more and more fungal tissues on the walls of the passageway.
"By the sound of it, there's really more than one ghoul!"
To be honest, Cass was a little wimpy.
But if one needed to report to the Knight's Guild that there were multiple ghouls at the lower end of the graveyard, one had to gather enough information, and hearing alone wouldn't be enough.
In case the ghouls escaped early by the time the Knights' squad arrived, Cass would face accountability for 'misreporting'.
"Friend Andeva, you wait here! You can't outrun a ghoul with your body... I'll go up there by myself and take a look... Once we find the ghoul's nest, evacuate immediately."
"Okay."
Cass moved forward alone.
About ten minutes past, overlapping the sound of running from the depths.
"Get out of here!!!
The number of ghouls in the ghoul nest is more than ten, so we must report the situation quickly!"