The Gentleman at the End

Chapter 91: Chapter 90: The Old Man in the Attic (3rd Update)

When Jin directly blew up the juvenile creatures in the pit,

Yi Chen immediately teamed up with Xiao Putao to scan the surroundings. After a while, they confirmed there was no arrival of any ‘Patients,’ they breathed a slight sigh of relief.

“Jin’s style of handling things is always like this, and all we can do afterward is try to contain her impulsive actions.

However, startling the snake by hitting the grass like this doesn’t really matter much in this case.

Since the interior region has undergone severe ‘Grayification,’ like Twilight Clinic, there must be an unknown existence watching over the forest, similar to Mr. Li. Perhaps every tree here serves as its informant.”

“Jin, let’s go.”

“Yeah! Hurry, I can hardly wait.”

With no barrier of tree walls anymore, Jin walked ahead with her light footsteps.

However, she would occasionally look back at Yi Chen to ensure that the distance between them did not exceed five meters.

Yi Chen was not thrown off by Jin’s pace; he steadily advanced, aided by his ‘Sensing’ ability with plants.

The internal forest, dark and filled with thick fog, was easy to lose direction in if one sped up or got distracted.

The trees here could not hold marks. Even if carved deeply with a knife, the trees would heal completely within a few minutes.

Without a reconnaissance gentleman like Yi Chen, it was very easy to get lost in there.

…

About half an hour of walking through the forest

Finally, among the view appeared an object other than plants—a rotten and moldy signpost covered with lots of mushrooms, still faintly showing the words ‘Shebolt Village.’

This signpost seemed like a Boundary,

A stone path stretched beyond the signpost into the foggy distance, with faint lights visible through the layers of mist.

Not long after,

a two-story building out of sync with the modern era, sat beside the road in a medieval style.

Built of stone bricks, with a gabled roof and distinctive chimney.

The backyard was fenced but showed no crops or livestock, only a puddle of foul black water.

The horizontal wooden lattice windows on the first floor emanated bright flames,

The recessed window embedded in the gabled roof on the second floor showed weak light, with indistinct shadows moving around,

The chimney emitted a trace of black smoke,

This was enough to indicate that someone was living inside.

“It’s odd, this building seems to stand alone just outside the village… The stone road continues further, there should still be some distance to the interior of the village.

It’s like… a watchtower?”

Jin said indifferently, “No need to wonder, let’s go in and find out.”

As Jin moved toward the wooden door on the first floor, Yi Chen quickly stepped ahead of her to lead.

Seeing this, Jin just smiled slightly, shoved her hands into her pockets, and intentionally slowed down to walk behind.

She probably knew what Yi Chen was thinking—cautious, rational, trying to gather as much information as possible from the start. Her previous teammates were all like this.

However, her tolerance for Yi Chen seemed much higher.

“Let me see how the First Gentleman Recipient handles things.”

As they entered the house, Jin intentionally kept a certain distance from Yi Chen.

She planned not to intervene but to stay as an ‘Audience’ at the scene.

Sizzle!

Something long was burning in the fireplace, completely charred and unrecognizable.

A wooden dining table was laden with lots of moldy, rotten food,

the paintings on the walls were torn, providing no useful information,

and the kitchen similarly held various unwashed dishes.

After checking, they confirmed there was no one on the first floor,

Yi Chen stepped up the staircase beside the fireplace to the second-floor attic, making almost no noise the entire way.

The attic under the gabled roof was cramped and restrictive,

but as Yi Chen reached the last step, he immediately stopped.

In front of him,

in the corner of the attic, a nearly burned-out white wax candle flickered weakly, ready to extinguish at any moment.

The dim light from the flame barely allowed one to see directly across the stair entrance to the end of the attic, where,

a wooden rocking chair was placed, with an almost bald old man sitting on it.

Facing away,

only the sparse white hair on the old man’s head could be seen, along with black spots much like those of a corpse.

The rocking chair moved slowly,

each motion emitting a slight creaking sound, which felt quite bizarre in such a narrow, pitch-black space.

When Yi Chen tentatively took a step forward,

the speed of the rocking chair slightly quickened, as if it sensed the arrival of the young man.

Following him into the attic, Jin leaned on the stair railing, supporting his face with one hand, leisurely watching the scene unfold.

“Hello, is this Shebolt Village?”

To Yi Chen’s question, the other party did not respond at all.

Seeing this, Yi Chen could only continue carrying his suitcase, moving closer to the old man… deliberately slowing his steps and enhancing his visual sharpness.

“Is that… a cat?”

Halfway across the attic, he caught sight of what seemed to be a black cat lying on the old man’s legs, almost blending into the surroundings due to its color.

The cat was staring at Yi Chen with yellow eyes.

It made no sound and made no move, just quietly watching.

Feeling a hint of danger, Yi Chen placed one hand on the suitcase lock, and continued to move closer to the old man.

Creaking and cracking—the rocking chair made noises.

As he drew nearer, the rocking of the chair became more frequent,

five meters,

four meters,

three meters,

two meters,

Now the rocking frequency of the chair had exceeded normal limits, way too fast for any ordinary person to achieve even if they exerted all their strength.

One meter!

As Yi Chen’s leather shoe touched the ground, the rapidly shaking rocking chair came to an abrupt halt… as if a pause button had been pressed on a remote control.

Suddenly,

the old man on the rocking chair turned his head fiercely, his neck twisting 90° alive, facing the young intruder.

This was a face with no features at all, just a deep pit indented into it.

The concave face led directly to the esophagus,

and in the cavity-like face was only a “Strange Tongue.”

The tongue was covered in black hair, extending outward, reaching down to the legs… and the tip of the tongue was actually connected to the black cat on the old man’s legs.

To be exact,

the cat was part of the tongue!

Meow! As the old man violently shook his head,

the black cat tongue dangling from his mouth was instantly flicked towards Yi Chen.

The body of the black cat split vertically from the abdomen, opening a jaw with fine teeth capable of completely biting and clinging onto a face (similar to a mantis shrimp), aiming straight for Yi Chen’s face. @@novelbin@@

At such a short distance, it was too late to draw a weapon for a slash.

The old man had deliberately waited for his opponent to come close enough for a deadly strike!

Just as the black cat came within less than five centimeters of Yi Chen’s face,

his gloved left hand had already locked onto the airborne mantis cat.

Green light flashed!

Spear-like roots sprouted suddenly from the palm, piercing the black cat’s body in an instant and nailing it to the ceiling.

Without waiting for the old man to react,

Yi Chen’s other hand immediately landed on top of his head, fingers spread, with spike-like roots growing out from the fingertips.

“Root Piercing Skull”

With enhanced intelligence and the aid of the gloves,

there was no need to slowly drill into the skull through the nostrils or ears.

Crack! The sharp roots directly pierced through the skull, conducting a “Central Tasting” while the subject was alive.

Clearer Memory Fragments were absorbed by Yi Chen, simultaneously nourishing his brain.

The old man convulsed wildly during this process,

After the tasting was completed, he naturally acquired the location of the Pathogen Core.

The roots retracted, fingers releasing from the old man’s head.

The palm continued downwards, delivering a hit to the old man’s abdomen.

Swoosh! Roots drilled out from the palm, piercing directly through the abdomen and shattering the Pathogen Core within.

The old man and the ceiling-bound black cat quickly stiffened, their bodies rapidly withering to become mummified corpses.

“Brilliant!”

Jin’s applause and cheer immediately came from the stairwell.