ID No. 019 - Chapter 14.2

The sky dimmed as evening approached, signaling dinnertime down in the valley.

Within the mass of monsters that had gathered was a young man who looked completely out of place in his clothing—it was Zhao Yuan.

That morning, he’d been hiding in a water tank when he was discovered. His heart nearly stopped from fear. Not wanting to die, he’d quickly pretended to be one of the monsters, digging a hole in the ground and even forcing himself to eat fertilizer while trying to look as though he enjoyed it with greedy delight.

He was finally let off after playing along the entire day.

But Zhao Yuan still didn’t dare let his guard down. He’d eaten a lot of fertilizer, and after a while, his body had begun to accept it without question. He wasn’t an idiot; he knew this meant he was cursed.

At least he still retained his human thoughts.

Trying to stay optimistic, Zhao Yuan thought, I’m still human as long as I have my rationality. It was nearly dark now, and if he could just make it through tonight’s meal, he’d figure out a way to escape into the mountains and find Chen Yang and the others.

Things would be alright after he completed the mission and went back. When he did, he’d sleep for a whole week and eat hotpot for another.

A foul smell drifted over, followed by the skin-crawling sound of gulps. Zhao Yuan stole a glance at ‘dinner’ and nearly passed out.

This time, they weren’t eating regular fertilizer—they were eating manure!

With no humans left, even manure had become a scarce commodity, so it was being rationed with a lot of water mixed in, making it diluted and watery.

Several large buckets of it had been prepared.

Cheng-ge, face tinged with green, woodenly held a ladle. He dipped it into the bucket then poured the manure-water back in, giving it a good stir.

The sound of swallowing grew louder.

All the monsters were standing in their pits, waiting for the ‘fertilizer’ to be served.

This scene played out before Zhang Yan’s eyes as he watched from the window of Old Madam Qi’s old house. He’d been hiding there all day, only to witness Old Madam Qi gnawing on several large, bloodied bones. It wasn’t hard to guess what kind of bones they were.

At this point, he was too numb to feel disgusted. Watching these things eat no longer fazed him.

What did interest him, however, was how Zhao Yuan, the fake monster, was going to handle this situation. If he refused to drink, he’d be exposed and meet his end. But could he actually drink it?

That was manure water, after all.

If it were him, could he do it?

Definitely. To survive, he could.

It was just manure water, after all.

While Zhang Yan watched from afar, Zhao Yuan’s heart sank. When the ladle of foul manure water was pushed in front of him, he had to summon all his strength just to keep from vomiting.

I’m going to die. I can’t do this. I really can’t. I should just bite my tongue and end it…

As Zhao Yuan bent his head toward the ladle, he happened to glance at one of the old houses and noticed something. His eyes widened ever so slightly, and he suddenly clasped the ladle with both hands, holding it “excitedly” as if embracing it.

The ladle wobbled in his grip, causing some of the manure water to splash out.

All the monsters’ eyes shifted in unison.

The splashes had landed in the direction of Old Madam Qi’s house, a few drops hitting the wall. This led one of the monsters to notice Zhang Yan in the window!

Zhang Yan, who had been minding his own business, was spacing out as he mulled over how to investigate that night. He was caught completely off guard, so he didn’t duck in time and suddenly found himself being stared at.

D*mn it!

Zhang Yan bolted from the house, grabbing a stone and hurling it at Old Madam Qi when he passed by her in the courtyard, before scaling the wall and making a swift escape.

Pretend to be cursed and drink manure water to stay alive? No way in hell! Not a chance!

While Zhang Yan was being pursued by the monsters, Zhao Yuan seized the opportunity to flee in a blind panic. The difference between life and death was but a fleeting moment.

Chen Yang had no idea what was happening with Zhang Yan and Zhao Yuan. His hand still ached terribly from where a chunk of flesh had been bitten off. Even when he was still, the pain was relentless, so he could only force himself to sleep through it.

At 10:35 p.m., Chao Jian woke him, and together they went into the cave.

The overlapping spaces appeared once more. This time, Chao Jian led Chen Yang through two overlapping points, and a new scene appeared before them

A vast altar lay ahead, with three stone pillars standing around it.

That was all. The empty space felt somewhat gloomy. Chen Yang held the box close as he cautiously stepped up onto the altar.

The box showed no signs of change, no reaction whatsoever.

Chen Yang opened the box, waited a moment, then closed it, accidentally pulling at the wound on his hand. He hissed in pain. “This altar belongs to the tribe of the lost civilization…”

Chao Jian suddenly interrupted, “Footsteps.”

Chen Yang froze. “I don’t hear anything.”

But as soon as he said it, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Now he heard it too!

There were lots of footsteps. They got closer and quicker, stopping just at the base of the altar.

Then, silence.

Chen Yang stood frozen on the altar, his face as pale as a sheet, his legs rooted to the spot. Chao Jian took a few more steps, then raised one of the crutches toward him. Chen Yang grabbed onto it in a panic, and Chao Jian pulled him off the altar.

“Were those footsteps… ghosts?” Chen Yang asked, his voice shaking. “Let’s just get out of here. There’s nothing here but the pillars and the altar…” His words trailed off as his eyes went wide, and he gasped. “Why… why is there a stone tablet there?”

Just to the left of the steps, a tablet lay on the ground—it hadn’t been there when they entered.

“No,” Chao Jian replied, “It’s made of clay. A clay tablet.”

Chen Yang tightly held onto Chao Jian’s crutch and followed him as he moved closer. He realized that the characters on the clay tablet were like those on the box and the piece of stone. Besides the incomprehensible text on the tablet, it also held images.

There were three drawings.

The first showed a figure in a long robe, seemingly a leader, standing on an altar with a crowd of people bowing around him. The background depicted thick, thorn-covered vines which appeared to be a type of plant.

In the second drawing, the scene was the same, but now there was what looked like a halo above the leader’s head.

In the third image, four pillars were arranged around the altar. The leader was now kneeling, while the people who had been bowing before were standing.

And, the halo above the leader’s head had vanished.