The Last Gentleman

In an elevated area of the underground cave, which one could reach only by passing through several narrow paths, lay the “secret chamber.”

This was the girl’s home,

where a bonfire built from wood was burning, emitting sounds similar to creaking joints. Some pieces of wood even writhed in the flames, as if they were living limbs.

As for the source of the wood, it was just a matter of walking over three hundred meters along the stone corridors outside the chamber to reach the forest outside the village.

The light from the bonfire strove to illuminate the entire stone chamber,

while water seeping down from the carbonate layers dripped down the stalactites of varying lengths, collected in a handcrafted wooden basin for drinking and washing.

Yi Chen and the girl sat opposite each other in front of the bonfire, with the pig head mask that had been cut by claws temporarily set aside.

“Besides drinking water, what do you usually eat?”

“Most of the time I eat this…”

The girl directly reached her arm into the fire, pulled out a burning piece of wood, quickly shook it to extinguish the flames, and began gnawing on it right away.

Surprisingly, even from a distance, Yi Chen could smell a meaty aroma wafting from the cooked branches.

The girl asked with a smile, “Did you think I would eat the ‘drifters’ in the cave?”

Yi Chen did not respond, but took the opportunity to ask, “Drifters? Do you mean the villagers who are deemed worthless and thrown down here?”

“I don’t really understand what ‘worthless’ means. I occasionally hear someone outside the well talking about ‘drifters’ before they throw them down here.

They are mostly weak, almost near death. They either choose to float in the lake or use their last bit of energy to climb to the shore, waiting to die.

I would not eat them. After all, they were once people from the village, whom my mom and dad knew.

These branches are hard to eat, but they keep me alive.

Sometimes, when I’m lucky, I can catch chickens in the forest… they are so delicious!”

At this point, the girl drooled, seemingly having not caught a chicken in a long time.

“How did you end up down here?”

“I don’t remember very clearly, it seems like I’ve been down here ever since I can remember—maybe my mom and dad sent me down here to protect me from bad people.”

“Your parents didn’t come down with you?”

“No, it has always been just me…”

Yi Chen’s eyes suddenly changed, catching a significant contradiction.

“Wait! You said before that your mom told you that ‘gentlemen’ who help the village are good people.

Since you’ve been down here since you can remember, and never seen your parents, why would you remember that? You seem to remember a lot about your parents and even about the village.”

When Yi Chen threw out these questions, the girl looked puzzled. She also bent her right leg and scratched her head with her big toe.

She then gave Yi Chen a serious look:

“You’re right—I also find it strange. Even though I’ve always been down here, I have memories of mom and dad, and even the village. I even remember some things my mom told me clearly.

I don’t know if my brain is broken.”

“It might be related to you being down here for a long time… it could be an overlap or loss of memory.”

“Oh~” Lene responded, her expression showing she barely understood, then pulled out two burning sticks, nibbling on one and offering the other to Yi Chen, “Big brother, do you want to try some?”

Yi Chen was going to refuse, but he was indeed a bit hungry. And since such roasted plants no longer had the raw taste, he could barely accept it.

After a short interaction and conversation,

Yi Chen had determined that although the girl in front of him belonged to the patients, she was completely harmless… and even possessed mature and correct worldviews, a firm stance, and independent thinking, more akin to “Patient Zero” than the old gossiping woman.

Moreover, she was distinctly different from the old woman,

as the old woman lived for “revenge,” while Lene was simply living here, without any extra thoughts, like a blank sheet of paper that had never been stained by the world.

“Big brother, the ‘cure’ you talked about must be about killing all the bad people above, right?”

“Exactly… This village is incurably sick, and elimination is the only way.”

Lene just nodded slightly without any change in expression.

“Although I really want to help you, I am very scared of going up there… The very thought of the village, especially the bad people in strange clothes, makes my body extremely resistant.”

Yi Chen suddenly lowered his voice and asked, “You want to help me?”

Lene nodded seriously, “Yes… as long as I don’t have to go up to the village or deal with those oddly dressed folks, I’m willing to help.”

“If I can lead the Village Chief down here, would you help me kill him?”

“The Village Chief…”

Lene scratched her head again with her toe,

“As long as you can get the Village Chief down here and not bring too much else, I can indeed help you. Plus, there’s a place down here that could trap someone as big as the Village Chief.”

“Then it’s settled. I’ll take care of leading the Village Chief down here.”

“Okay, when will we do it?”

“Now.”

With Jin’s condition unknown, Yi Chen had no time to waste.

The reason he spent time interacting with Lene also had a purpose.

Because Lene displayed extremely high combat abilities and was very familiar with the underground cave beneath the village, as long as her stance and Heart were determined, an attempt at cooperation could be made.

Seeking to confront the Village Chief directly in a situation with nothing at hand was too risky.

Not to mention whether it was possible to recover weapons and clothing,

once the village’s alarm was triggered, various Butchers, Scavengers, and other special villagers would all attack together.

To kill the Village Chief, every possible means and existing relationship had to be utilized, even if it meant taking on some risk.

“This is where I usually chop wood; it’s quite far from the village, so people generally don’t come here.”

“Just wait for me near the well. I’ll bring the Village Chief down as quickly as I can.”

“Be careful, big brother!”

After bidding farewell to Lene, Yi Chen decided to visit Granny Chicken once more.

Since Lene had mentioned catching chickens before, it hinted that Granny Chicken’s residence couldn’t be too far.

Wearing the Pig Head Mask again (now stitched with plants), he bypassed the patrolling villagers and hurried to Granny Chicken’s dwelling.

He slipped down the slide inside the tree and landed in front of Granny Chicken.

Yi Chen immediately presented his detailed plan to disrupt the village and lure out the Village Chief.

However,

Granny Chicken just looked at him, expressing no opinion about the plan.

Stroking her granddaughter’s head and her now chicken-feathered blonde hair,

Granny Chicken slowly opened dozens of chicken eyes on her forehead, her gaze gradually revealing disdain and even contempt.

She was full of disgust for the young man wearing a pig head mask, wrapped in tattered shorts.

“Your actions have already failed once, what makes you think I should gamble the children’s lives to assist you? A companion stronger than you has been captured, and you alone think you can kill the Village Chief?

Ha! Trash should be aware of their own worthlessness.”

Granny Chicken’s scoff echoed around the chicken coop area,

Perhaps she had never truly valued Yi Chen; she merely wanted to use him as a ‘Central Axis’ to adjust Jin’s major combat forces for her revenge plan.

The previous conversation was indeed heartfelt,

but was only about her longing for her granddaughter and her hatred for the Village Chief, using these genuine feelings to mask her duplicity.

Now, with Jin gone,

Yi Chen, who had returned alone to the chicken coop and lost his equipment, was nothing in her eyes, no different from those human teams who had ventured into the forest seeking Death.

“Considering our past friendly exchanges, I’m giving you one minute to leave my chicken coop… otherwise, I won’t hesitate to turn you into fodder for the chicks.”

Hearing this, Yi Chen meaningfully tapped his pig-head mask and didn’t respond.

The shift in Granny Chicken’s attitude reminded him of the type of people he despised the most—those revolting people.

Suddenly, he raised the Slaughter Knife high and swung it downward… Swish!

Blood splattered~

This strike was not aimed at Granny Chicken, but at Yi Chen himself.

The blade sliced into his right torso, tearing off a large chunk of flesh and revealing his ribs.

Granny Chicken, sitting across from him, was confused about what the young man was trying to do and even suspected he had gone mad.

Just then… Thump!

A strong and forceful heartbeat was heard by Granny Chicken.

She stared with all her chicken eyes towards the self-mutilated chest of Yi Chen.

Through the blood-rimmed gaps between his ribs, she saw a bizarre heart covered in black fur that was beating.

“What is this?”

As she wondered,

the surface of the dark heart slowly formed a mouth, and an eyeball even rolled out of its throat!

Eye to eye.

A potent spiritual power blasted through all of Granny Chicken’s eyes, overwhelming her brain.

By the time she regained her senses,

Yi Chen was already standing next to the chair, one hand holding the bloody Slaughter Knife, the other clutching a chick-embryo-like tumor he had just extracted from her body.

Just as Granny Chicken’s attitude had changed,

the young man, who had once engaged in friendly conversations with the demeanor of a gentleman, also underwent a Transformation. Morphing into a pure Butcher ready to end her life prematurely.

In the moments before her death, Granny Chicken continued to stare at the black heart through the gaps in the ribs.

Two black segments resembling arms were waving happily,

Whilst the mouth on the heart’s surface drooled, uttering the last words Granny Chicken would ever hear.

“I finally get to taste chicken-flavored grape skewers early… I’m so happy, so happy!”

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