Chapter 58 Water Flows Downhill_1

He had not been dead long; the blood was still flowing out.

Huai Shi crouched down, gazing at the corpse in front of him with confusion. He casually pulled a stick out of the garbage pile and poked twice: the arm was broken, there was a knife wound on the back, puncturing the lung, and the fatal injury was on the throat.

Clean and neat, nearly split in half.

Soon, Huai Shi put down the stick and door panel in his hands, covered the body again, looked back at the exchange window behind him, walked a few steps forward then turned around, estimated the distance was about right, and burst into a mad dash forward, leaping up and moving thirty centimeters up the wall with the help of the wall.

He had just reached the pipe on the wall.

However, when he looked down, he found his own footprint overlapping with another faint one already there. Looking up as he propped up his body, he saw the fingerprints in the dust on the edge of the window.

Someone had been there.

And they were physically similar to himself, a Sublimator who had gone through a second development, otherwise, they could only be a national event's long jump champion, possibly with indoor climbing awards as well.

The warehouse was silent, without a sound.

Not a single unnecessary noise.

With a silent landing, Huai Shi looked around, only to see piles of boxes and wires on the floor. The wires stretched forward, disappearing into the wall. All Huai Shi saw was a huge iron door blowing out a cold draft continuously.

He felt it deeply, it was indeed a cold draft. This damn thing was a cold storage.

After mustering his courage again, he entered and took a tour, only to find a mountain of pork. If there was any discovery, it was probably just the two bodies that were not yet frozen solid.

Obviously thrown in carelessly.

The marks on the wounds were identical to the security guard outside, equally ruthless with a fatal strike.

Huai Shi reached out, drew the Sacrificial Knife, and looked around cautiously. After struggling with the air for a long time, he had to admit, regrettably, that he was about to freeze like an idiot.

And, the killer might have left long ago.

He walked out of the cold storage and couldn't help sneezing; the sneeze echoed in the warehouse for a long time but failed to attract anyone's attention.

It seemed that aside from the bodies, it was just an ordinary factory building. But at this moment, the Apocalypse in his hand was emerging rapidly. In just a few short minutes, he had nearly half a pocket full.

The dissipating concentration of Source Substance was shockingly high here.

It constantly emitted pain and despair, almost turning the whole warehouse into a Haunted House with its dark and gloomy atmosphere. Ordinary people might not last a few minutes here, which is why only idiots like Huai Shi would go around looking specifically for plastic bags to collect Apocalypse.

After all, the fragmented Source Substance was dissipating from here.

There had to be a source.

After repeated calculations and experiments, Huai Shi finally found its origin.

There was no need for deliberate calculation; anyone could clearly see the large crack in the wall. The secret space originally concealed behind the wall was not sealed off.

The iris and fingerprint authentication had no effect.

No matter what, with such a big dead arm stuck on the sliding rail, one could not push the refrigerator on the ground any further, could they?

With such a huge entrance right before his eyes, it took him a long time to find it by following the concentration of Apocalypse. Huai Shi once again gained new insights into his investigative abilities...

Behind the door was a dim space.

Stepping over the body on the ground and moving forward, one could see a staircase extending downward, stretching into the unseen darkness.

In the silence, he moved forward noiselessly, barely making out a shadow with its back to him. He immediately became tense, drew his gun, and carefully approached.

But just as he put his gun to the back of that person's head, they collapsed forward like rotten wood, falling to the ground.

Lifeless already.

Boom!

The sound of the Sacrificial Knife colliding with the dagger coming from the darkness behind startled Huai Shi. Someone had taken advantage of his distraction to attempt a backstab from the darkness but didn't expect Huai Shi to possess the BUG skill "Death Perception."

In the instant collision, Huai Shi turned around and charged forward powerfully. In the nearly lightless darkness, he aimed for the location of that person.

Fighting blind has its techniques; no, it would be more proper to say that melee combat with cold weapons in darkness is even more accurate. The joints of a person, how weapons are held, and even the moves are all limited. If one is familiar with this, one could guess the opponent's position, the posture with the weapon, and even the fight stance at the moment of the weapon's collision.

Though it seemed perilous, ultimately, it was like a cruel game of reasoning, akin to pulling a Ghost Card.

However, some have transformed the process into instinct.

In the pitch black, the two collided, each raising an elbow to deflect the other's gun-holding hand, followed by their dagger and Sacrificial Knife colliding once more.

In the pitch-black darkness, sparks erratically burst into the air.

Those were the ruthless signs of blade collision.

In tacit agreement, neither opted to shoot but instead tried to silently take down the opponent. After a few seconds of struggle and numerous weapon clashes, both found each other's position in the darkness, turned, and each powerfully struck with a knife.

The Sacrificial Knife and the dagger collided once again.

A spark flew from the friction of steel, illuminating the two people close at hand and the masks on their faces.

One was wearing Little Peppa.

The other was wearing Little Pony.

In an instant, deathly silence arrived.

The eager killing intent vanished, replaced by an indescribably thick awkwardness.

"..."

In the silence, the person in the Little Pony mask broke it first with a cough, "What a coincidence."

"Right," Huai Shi nodded, "quite a coincidence."

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The atmosphere once again became awkward.

"..."

In the midst of a staring contest with no end in sight, the person opposite asked again, "What's your name?"

"A true man never hides his name nor changes his surname—"

Huai Shi answered proudly, "Just call me 'Huahai Road Little Peppa', and you?"

"Pleased to meet you, pleased to meet you," the other self-introduced, "Shanghai Trail Little Pony."

And so, the atmosphere grew awkward yet again.

They just couldn't go on with this.

Although he had never heard of any Shanghai Trail Little Pony, why did this sauciness seem so familiar?

Huai Shi was silent for quite a while before asking, "Have you eaten?"

"I have." Little Pony nodded.

"Just strolling around?"

"Um, yeah…"

After exchanging a couple of pointless pleasantries, perhaps realizing they were in similar situations, or perhaps not wanting to waste more time, Little Pony was the first to suggest:

"Shall we get going then?"

"Yeah, let's go."

Huai Shi took a step back.

They slowly sheathed their knives, distancing themselves, back to the wall, remaining on full guard, while gesturing for the other to lead the way, exposing one's back would obviously be for the better.

Then, they realized the person opposite was no idiot, and not easily fooled.

They had to move forward together.

For some inexplicable reason… by the time Huai Shi realized it, did he seem to have acquired a teammate?

On the brief staircase, they engaged in bland small talk, all the while racking their brains trying to figure out where someone copying their persona had come from.

Finally, their footsteps came to a halt at the end of the staircase.

Two paths diverged, one leading upwards, seemingly to another place, and one downwards, to deeper layers underground.

Little Pony looked around before finally setting eyes on Huai Shi.

"Up or down?"

The implication was clear; since there was a lack of mutual trust, they might as well part ways here.

But which way to go, up or down?

Huai Shi scratched his head, pondered for a while, and said, "Man strives for higher grounds, water flows to the lower lands."

So that means going up, right?

Little Pony waved a hand and headed downward, only to be surprised by Huai Shi following closely behind, step by step, bewildered, "Didn't you say man strives for higher grounds?"

"So sometimes, we might as well indulge in a cup of the joyous soda of sedentary life," Huai Shi earnestly replied, delivering what seemed like a deeply philosophical statement.

Kidding aside, his investigatory skills were so weak, finding a hidden door could take him more than ten minutes. If he was on his own, he might not even notice important items drifting right in front of his eyes.

Star players are truly sorrowful.

Better to have a companion, considering they're all thieves. Huai Shi didn't covet any stolen goods, he could lend a hand, and simply sharing information seemed reasonable, right?

Of course, he would never admit that the place felt too somber, too dark, and he was a little scared…

"Are you sure?" Little Pony looked deeply at him, then withdrew her gaze, "Just don't get in the way, and I get first pick of any loot."

"It's all yours."

Huai Shi gestured dismissively, having no interest whatsoever in the loot or the belongings of The Purified People. He was there to find someone, and if he could uncover why this group was hiding in what used to be his family's warehouse, that would be a bonus.

While moving forward, their steps abruptly stopped.

There was someone ahead.

Or rather, they finally saw a place that seemed like a gatehouse.

Behind the window, they could see a small room with stewed brine bubbling on the stove, a TV broadcasting a music show. The middle-aged guard was sitting in a chair, back to the window, completely engrossed in the TV and snacks, not even glancing at the corner's surveillance screen.

Little Pony drew her knife, but it was pushed back by Little Peppa.

"Let's not be so crude, huh?"

Huai Shi sighed, "I'll handle this…"

Donning his hood again, he grabbed the security guard's baton and flashlight, walked over and knocked on the window, ready to revive his old Gospel Dance routine, only to see in the pot on the stove, a human head slowly bobbing in the broth, and several arms and legs stewed to a fragrant, tender state…

The guard inside the gatehouse turned around, but Huai Shi opened and closed his mouth several times, unsure of what to say.

In the end, he sighed.

And pulled out the Sacrificial Knife.

Some things, it seems, are indeed better handled with a bit of roughness.

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