The Gentleman at the End

Chapter 96: Chapter 95: Village Past Events (8th Update)

From his initial observations and the words of the old lady, Yi Chen tentatively concluded that Vision was “harmless,” so it was worth trying to communicate with her to obtain crucial investigative information.

However, there was one issue that needed to be resolved before initiating communication—Jin.

Yi Chen looked upwards, but Jin was nowhere to be seen sliding down.

“Strange, given Jin’s character, she should have followed right away.”

Just then,

the old lady, while stroking the golden chicken in her lap, said:

“Your friend has been taken next door. She probably doesn’t like interacting with people much, prefers killing… Why don’t we have her help me clear out the villagers who wandered out recently?”

“Villagers?”

“I had the kids set up many traps around here. Any villager who comes here will fall into one if they’re not careful.

That only applies to some foolish fetus villagers, though.

For the Church folks, I don’t lift a finger—they’re quite dangerous.”

“Aren’t you afraid of being discovered with so many villagers disappearing in your area?”

“Many? No, the fetus villagers I’ve captured don’t even make up 1% of the total base, and these villagers are rejects that the Church doesn’t care about. They won’t care about their deaths or disappearances.”

“Hmm…”

Yi Chen nodded slightly; it seemed that his upcoming conversation with the old lady could indeed yield much valuable information.

At that moment,

the old lady’s wrinkled forehead began to undergo a strange transformation; the normal lines of her wrinkles gradually evolved into countless ‘short segments’,

more precisely, “Eye Slits”

Following that, something began to wriggle inside the eye slits, which then opened one after another.

Dozens of yellow and black chicken’s eyes covered the old lady’s forehead, each blinking at a different rate.

At that moment,

the little grape inside his body got excited at once, “Wow! A bunch of chicken grapes! I really want to eat them. They must be delicious if skewered with bamboo sticks and blanched.

Once this guy’s value has been exhausted, we’ll eat her up!”

Yi Chen didn’t respond, just silently observed the changes in the old lady.

The eyes on the old lady’s forehead appeared to make visual connections with the outside chickens,

After some movement of the pupils, all the chicken eyes closed,

“It seems no one from the Church has followed us here… we can have a proper conversation now.

However, we should keep our talk under ten minutes, or the Church might start suspecting your whereabouts and possibly find this place.

Let’s get to the point~

The reason I called you here is simple; I hope you can eliminate all the infected in Shebolt Village, especially the Church personnel who deliberately led us to get infected.

If you’re willing to help,

I will provide as much information as possible and have my children assist you in secret.”

“Wait… What do you mean by ‘deliberately led you to get infected’? Are people from the Church spreading the pathogen?”

The old lady quickly corrected, “Not spreading the pathogen, but leading us to break the Rules.”

“Break the Rules? Can you elaborate?” This aligned with Yi Chen’s initial assumption.

“As a gentleman like yourself should be well aware of the rules in our village.

The Rules are very strict about fertility control in the village, which also limits the main development of livestock in the village to some extent.

However, we also rely on these Rules to greatly reduce the likelihood of the villagers getting sick, and everyone manages to live somewhat comfortably.

But a few months ago, a group calling themselves the ‘New Church’ arrived.

They claimed to have a new set of Rules, which not only eliminated illness but also disregarded the restrictions on fertility, promoting the development of livestock in the village.

Somehow, they directly convinced the Village Chief and set up a church on the small hill on the east side of the village.”

“The small hill on the east side” Yi Chen took careful note of this critical piece of information.

“At first, the villagers didn’t believe these outsiders. But after some persuasion by the Village Chief, a group of young villagers started to be led to the church, and their thoughts completely changed after returning.”

A female villager, who had been unable to conceive for years, found herself pregnant soon after returning from the church.

She had completed a normal pregnancy in just a month, giving birth to a healthy and lively little one without following the fertility timing rules.

There were also elderly couples, older than me, who seemed to regain their youthful vitality after visiting the church and likewise conceived soon after.

There was even a white pig, led to the church, that became pregnant without any contact and gave birth to more than twenty healthy piglets in less than half a month.

These signs were all considered “miracles” by the villagers.

Gradually, more and more villagers stopped following the rules and began flocking to the church to receive baptisms… When they returned, they started to let their livestock breed prolifically.

I, however, always scoffed at this, viewing these outsiders as a cult.

Of course, there were also a few in the village who shared my thoughts and didn’t want any contact with the church. @@novelbin@@

It wasn’t until one day that I, frequently suffering from poor sleep due to my old bones, accidentally discovered the Village Chief pouring a murky liquid containing dead infants into the only well in the village at dawn.

Before we could escape the village, the Village Chief began the final purge.

He didn’t force-feed us well water or tie us up to bring us to the church… instead, he directly beheaded those of us who were considered incurable, who refused to accept a new identity.

I was caught by the Village Chief by the hair and dragged to the backyard.

In front of the ‘children,’ my head was chopped off…”

At this point,

Old Mother Chicken, with a smile on her face, tilted back her head showing a clear, visible scar on her neck.

“When my consciousness returned, I had been dragged by the children to an open area outside the village, and my head had been reattached.

A gray mist I had never seen before filled the forest, fluid-like and surprisingly harmonious to the touch… I knew it was this gray fluid that had brought me back to life.

From then on, I could communicate directly with the children, who helped me avoid the patrolling villagers and the rare and dangerous members of the church.

Latter, I found this sturdy big tree, and in reaching a symbiotic agreement, established my and the children’s chicken nest underneath it.

As long as I eradicate the ill villagers and the people from the church, I can be completely at ease.”

“Hmm.”

Yi Chen nodded slightly,

While he listened to Old Mother Chicken’s story, his gaze remained fixed on her eyes, not detecting any anomalies, yet Yi Chen still had several doubts.

Firstly, this story has an ‘important gap’.

Old Mother Chicken’s death and resurrection had neatly skipped the most crucial parts—the forest’s grayification, the formation of high walls… What exactly happened during that time is quite crucial for our subsequent investigation.

Moreover, Old Mother Chicken had never had any contact with the cult, and further information still needs thorough investigation.

Additionally, Old Mother Chicken’s claim of her fortuitous survival seems a bit far-fetched, and she had not given her reason for staying here.

“I have a question,

Since the village has completely changed, why must you stay here?

With your current ability, you could surely take your children and move through the underground away from the tree-walled interior area or even leave this forest to find a safer place to settle.

Why sacrifice these children to confront the church?

Why take the greater risk of seeking cooperation with us?”

Old Mother Chicken still smiling, stroking a golden-feathered chicken in her lap, said:

“Because, when the Village Chief dragged me to the backyard, I wasn’t the first to be beheaded.

I had a well-behaved child at home… In front of me, the Village Chief first chopped off this child’s head. My old bones have long stopped caring about life or death; the only thing I cared about was this child.”

As she spoke, all the eyes on Old Mother Chicken’s forehead opened, and her expression grew even more ferocious, radiating an intimidating aura similar to that of a Severe Patient.

The golden-feathered chicken in her palms began to grow restless,

The golden feathers slowly parting,

between its ‘plump’ body, revealing a human face… or rather, this was not a chicken at all, but a human head, with the golden outer feathers as hair.

A young girl’s head,

Her murky pupils showing no emotion,

This was Old Mother Chicken’s only family member, her just nine-year-old niece.