"Waterborne Village can't be made from Dark Souls leftovers, the style is too similar!"
"Enthusiastic and hospitable Senpō Temple, simple and honest Waterborne Village."
"Isn't Los Santos the one with simple and honest folk?"
"Ever since stepping into this sinister land, bg/"
"I am a cage..."
It was clear he was terrified, like a man trapped in a box, avoiding everything.
"Hey."
"Eek...!"
Hearing the strange voice, the man in the box trembled, let out a frightened cry, and then muttered incessantly, "Cage, cage, cage, cage, cage... Ahhh..."
"Calm down."
"...You, you... are you a normal person?" Hearing Chun Hei speak coherently, the man in the box bravely asked.
"Yes."
"That's great...! You're a normal person!" As if he hadn't heard a normal person's voice in a long time, this man burst into tears, "Wuwuwu... You... do you have anything you want to ask me?"
"But, I'm so sorry... please just leave me in this cage."
It seemed this cage was the only thing that gave him a shred of remaining security, much like how the author, when watching horror movies, can't help but wrap themselves tightly in a blanket, wishing not a single strand of hair would be exposed to the air.
"What happened to this village?"
Chun Hei didn't dwell on this minor detail and got straight to the point.
"I don't quite understand either. One moment I realized... everyone had become very strange. I've also been feeling groggy... but after a good vomit, I cleared up."
Everyone else is drunk while you are sober, but this sobriety is not always a good thing.
"I felt so thirsty, I chugged a lot of wine. It must be why I vomited. The priest occasionally treated us to drinks... but drinking wine made me thirsty. The wine bottles were quickly emptied, so everyone had to fetch water from the pond or the river to drink. But the more they drank, the thirstier they became... unbearably thirsty..."
Priest, wine, thirst, river water.
Thinking of the dried-up stream filled with black mud at the entrance of Waterborne Village, and its foul smell, Chun Hei shivered reflexively.
Waterborne Village was strange, very strange.
He paused and continued to ask, "What happened to the people of this village...?"
"I don't know, but everyone is terrified of fire. When I was groggy... I was also afraid. That unquenchable fire... thinking about it still sends shivers down my spine."
"Unquenchable fire." Chun Hei seized the key information.
The man in the box explained, "There was a hunter named Inuhiko. He lit [pine resin] and locked himself in his house. His pine resin burns for a long time. He's truly detestable. Inuhiko was very unpopular in the village because he ate animal meat, so the priest didn't give him any wine either."
"Where does this Inuhiko live?"
Chun Hei immediately asked. This guy seemed like an important clue.
"On the other side of the pond, Inuhiko lives at the very end."
"And the priest?"
"The priest is the greatest person in this village. He lives further up along the river, in the sacrificial grounds near the source. The Divine Master once said, 'Let's all become people of the capital together.' He said that if we drank a lot of wine, we could become people of the capital. What exactly are people of the capital?"
People of the capital?
Chun Hei couldn't help but roll his eyes. They were more like the undead.
It could be guessed that the wine prepared by this so-called priest for the villagers was some kind of experimental agent, and everyone in the village was his test subject.
"Are you leaving...? I... will continue to stay in the cage. I have to endure."
"Two people are mentioned here: the priest and the hunter."
Leaving the room, Chun Hei analyzed to his viewers, "The hunter has [pine resin], which should be an important item. These experimented villagers should fear this thing. Let's go find this first."
As he spoke, he leaped and advanced using his grappling hook, "It's evident that the village is already very dilapidated, and everyone is out of their minds... Alas!"
As he was speaking, a villager, pale as if soaked in water for days to the point of "giant's view," carrying a large hoe, charged towards Chun Hei. Behind him followed a group of zombies glowing with green light.
Chun Hei didn't engage with these guys. He directly used his grappling hook to continue leaping. "These people are like zombies, feeling chilling. And the color scheme of these villagers matches the surrounding environment, constantly giving me a feeling of being on edge, unable to relax at all."
*Thump!*
Easily leaping onto the roof of a thatched hut, Chun Hei arrived before a shining object.
[Obtained: Smoked Pine Resin
Pine resin that allows embers to continue burning, can be used to craft the upgraded Cybernetic Arm 'Blow Rocket'.
In the forests surrounding Waterborne Village, there used to be black pine trees from which this pine resin could be obtained. The burning flames were the markers leading to the village.
But at some point, the Waterborne people began to fear fire, so there were no more black pine trees, and guarding the pine trees became an act of dislike.]
"Ohohohoho~~!!!"
As soon as he picked up the pine resin, as if triggering some mechanism, all the zombies around the house began to move and slowly converged towards Chun Hei.
"It's over, it seems I'm in big trouble."
Chun Hei's voice held no trace of fear. The next moment, his expression changed, "Ah~ I was faking it. I never intended to go back anyway. Bye-bye."
*Whoosh!!*
With a hook and a push of his feet, Chun Hei easily left the troubled area. He looked at the dark mountain path ahead, a slight smile on his lips, "Time to go find the priest. But first, I should check on Cage Bro."
He felt a degree of obligation to the person who provided so much useful information, hoping to help him.
"I... still..."
Just as he jumped into Cage Bro's room, Chun Hei saw a greenish figure with his back to him, trembling all over.
"Drink it!"
Suddenly, the figure turned around, looking like a zombie, and lunged at Chun Hei.
"Alas."
Sighing, Chun Hei ended Cage Bro's suffering with a few throwing darts.
"In a way, they have achieved immortality. But what's the difference between this kind of soulless immortality and being a walking corpse? The person behind these experiments is truly inhumane."
"We must find out who is behind this!"
Chun Hei was a little angry, but also more determined to cut off immortality. Only by severing immortality and completely extinguishing certain people's ambitions could similar tragedies be prevented from happening again.
"Mmm... It is you, sir."
Along the way, a dark-skinned samurai, clutching his chest and on the verge of death, greeted Chun Hei as he passed.
He had met this person a few times before. He was the one who had provided him with information about Ashina Castle early on. He didn't expect to meet him here.
"My attention was drawn by that koto music... I was careless... Ah... I can indeed hear it. That female koto player must be ahead... As expected, she's waiting for me."
After speaking, the man's head slumped.
"I saw this guy once in a phantom village before. Perhaps he also came out after we broke the illusion. However, coming to this dangerous Waterborne Village, I don't know who attacked him. But I am quite interested in the female koto player he mentioned."
The person was already dead, so Chun Hei didn't linger.
After walking for less than five minutes, Chun Hei saw the female koto player mentioned by the man by the roadside in the village.
She... her appearance was rather peculiar.
She wore a seductive kimono and held a classical koto. Most ridiculously, this woman had a basket on her head that was commonly used in Chun Hei's home to store steamed buns.
What a bizarre combination!
......
(Phew~~ After tonight, it will be a million words. This is the last recommendation. Life or death is within these few days. Let's get excited!)