Becoming a God Starts with Acting
Chapter 137: [The Corpse Collector] (13)

Chapter 137: [The Corpse Collector] (13)

The bottom of the water was covered in black mud, and apart from a few bizarre types of grass, there was nothing else.

The water was so murky that everything before him seemed shrouded in fog.

A pair of hands continuously parted the water in search.

At that moment, the sound of splashing suddenly came from behind. Ciel frowned slightly, assuming it was just one of his teammates, and didn’t react much.

However, the sound of water being parted echoed behind him without change. This time, Ciel couldn’t help but abruptly turn around, intending to teach this "teammate" of his a lesson.

But what met his eyes shocked and terrified him to the point of freezing in place.

It was a little girl—yes, a little girl—but not whole.

Her body had been split open from neck to groin, cleaved in two so that her ribs jutted out from both sides. Her internal organs floated on the water’s surface, intestines coiling like serpents wrapped around her neck. The area where her heart should be was empty—utterly hollow.

Ciel looked up. The girl’s head was abnormally large, disproportionate to her small body. Her scalp was bald except for a few strands of hair swaying eerily. Her scalp was riddled with ulcers, oozing a strange, red-black liquid. Even underwater, Ciel felt as if he could smell the putrid stench of that pus.

Her eyes were nothing more than two gaping holes that took up nearly half her face—like bottomless pits, utterly void of anything.

The girl stared at Ciel, then suddenly curled her lips into a smile—a crescent moon-like grin revealing sharp, uniform shark-like teeth. Between the gaps were bits of raw, red flesh.

She opened her mouth so wide it looked like a blood basin and lunged straight at Ciel! Those teeth—if they pierced his flesh, they would surely shred him apart, devouring him the same way she ate the other corpses...

"Ciel... Ciel! What’s wrong with you?!"

Bryan’s voice suddenly rang out, along with his shoulders shaking, jolting Ciel awake from his terrifyingly vivid nightmare.

But he hadn’t been sleeping. It was clearly morning. Yet somehow, he suddenly remembered that—so vividly and strangely real. Why? Had it all happened? Yesterday afternoon, the memory hadn’t been this clear...

Recalling the image that had just appeared in his mind, Ciel’s legs turned to jelly from fear—he could barely stand.

Bryan quickly reached out to steady him. "Are you okay?"

Bryan’s voice, full of concern, helped Ciel feel a bit better. He forced a smile and turned his head to look at Bryan...

"AAAAAAH! A ghost!"

Before Ciel could say he was fine, he suddenly screamed and shoved Bryan’s hand away. He fell hard to the ground because he had used too much force. But he felt no pain—only scrambled backward, his eyes wide with shock and horror as he stared at Bryan.

At that very moment, Bryan’s face had begun to change in Ciel’s eyes—his features distorted and twisted, his eyes now gaping voids that bled fresh blood... just like the child from under the water the day before!

For a brief moment, Ciel felt that monstrous thing from the bottom of the water was trying to cling to him.

"Smack!"

Silvanus slapped Ciel across the face without hesitation—a loud, resounding strike. The imprint of five fingers immediately appeared on one side of Ciel’s face.

Ciel froze from the pain, clutching his cheek as he stared at Silvanus with his mouth agape.

"Have you come to your senses yet?" Silvanus asked slowly.

Facing Silvanus’s cool, green eyes, Ciel instinctively nodded.

"Ciel, what on earth is going on with you? Did you see something yesterday?" Bryan grabbed Ciel’s hand, urgently asking in that familiar, worried tone.

Ciel flinched. But now, everything in his eyes had returned to normal. Bryan was still Bryan—no hollow eyes or blood streaming down his face. It was as if everything just now had only been a figment of his imagination.

Maybe it was just his imagination, just a result of being overly frightened, Ciel told himself, trying to calm down.

He used Bryan’s strength to stand up and shook his head, saying, "No, I’m okay."

"Then what exactly did you see yesterday?"

Silvanus wasn’t ready to drop the subject.

Ciel furrowed his brow slightly and, after a moment, spoke softly, "I’m afraid you won’t believe me... maybe I was seeing things, maybe I was mistaken..."

"You’re already dismissing yourself before anyone else can. Just tell us what you saw," Silvanus’s firm voice cut in, making Ciel look up at him.

Bryan also turned to Silvanus, saying, "You seem better than yesterday."

Silvanus nodded. "Yes. Aside from the memory loss, I’m honestly fine."

The two exchanged glances, and Silvanus gave a faint, almost bashful smile, revealing nothing further.

Ciel pressed his lips together. Facing Silvanus’s eyes, he finally began slowly recounting everything—the horrific scene he had witnessed underwater.

It sounded terrifying. Silvanus speculated that it was likely the main monster of this dungeon and that it might even be connected to Bryan somehow.

He recalled the comments he had read and Silas’s words—that they were paying the price for the sins of their parents. All of them were the children of families who had moved away from the village, yet here they were, summoned back by a mission with no one missing...

Seeing the expressions of the others, Ciel couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Then, hesitantly, he said, "You guys probably won’t believe me... Even I feel like it makes no sense..."

"No, maybe Julie encountered this monster too, or something similar—that’s why she ended up as she did. Maybe this is connected to Aboli’s disappearance... or why I lost my memories!"

Silvanus’s resolute words gave Ciel newfound confidence and strengthened his belief in what he had seen.

"You’re right. This village is seriously messed up. I don’t want to continue this mission anymore. Bryan, have you contacted the person who gave us this mission yet? I want out of this village!" Ciel roared.

At this point, it wasn’t just Julie and Lucian’s group who wanted to leave anymore.

Behind his back, Bryan’s hand seemed to clench slightly, but his expression remained unchanged.

He nodded and said, "I’ve tried to contact them, but there’s no signal in this place!"

Then he lowered his eyes, sounding somewhat discouraged: "But if everyone’s decided to leave, let’s go. But first... let’s find Aboli."

"No, I can’t wait any longer. You guys find him—I’m leaving now. I still remember the way!"

With that, Ciel quickly grabbed his backpack, stuffed the necessary items inside, and rushed out of the room as if he had finally found his escape. He wanted to get out of this village as soon as possible—get away from that lake as quickly as possible!

Bryan didn’t even get a chance to call him back. He let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead. The devoted team leader looked like he was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the current state of his group.

Silvanus stepped forward to console him. "It’s okay, Bryan. You still have us. We’ll find Aboli soon."

Bryan looked at Silvanus and nodded with a smile. "Yeah. You’re right."

The three of them quickly split up to search for Aboli. Silvanus watched Bryan’s back as he left, curious what the team leader would prepare for them.

"Aren’t you going to look for Aboli?" Silvanus asked Ryan, who had been silent the entire time like a shadow.

Ryan didn’t expect Silvanus to address him suddenly. A trace of delight flashed across his face but was quickly replaced by disappointment after hearing the underlying dismissal in Silvanus’s tone.

Still, Ryan didn’t protest. He nodded and said, "I’ll look for him in the forest. Be careful, okay? Don’t get too close to the lake."

With that, he, too, left. Of course, his warning was pointless—because the very place Silvanus was heading was the lake.

Only when Ryan had disappeared did Silvanus start walking toward the lake?

In this village, morning and afternoon were equally gloomy. The sky hung low and grey as though a heavy downpour could fall.

Silvanus stepped onto the dark soil, reaching the lake’s edge.

His white hair fluttered in the wind. Hearing footsteps, Silas turned around. When he saw it was Silvanus, a faint flicker of emotion passed over his usually expressionless face.

His brows furrowed—then quickly relaxed.

Silvanus could tell this man wasn’t exactly pleased to see him.

Silas couldn’t recall exactly what had happened the night before. He only remembered waking up on the cold, filthy ground. There were no visible injuries on his body, yet it felt like boulders had crushed him. And... that foolish little spirit was no longer by his side.

Silas lowered his eyes, hiding the gloom in his gaze. He returned to preparing his tools and then climbed into the boat.

"Wait!" Silvanus called out, then quickly ran toward him.

Silas turned to look at him, his face asking, "What is it?"

Silvanus flashed a bright, friendly smile, utterly different from the slyness he’d shown the day before. "My friends and I have been tasked with recovering bodies. You’re the one who does that around here, and you have a wealth of knowledge. Would it be alright if I joined you and learned a little?"

He smiled so warmly, the corners of his eyes crinkled, and his eyes sparkled with sincerity. His whole face seemed to radiate light.

It was... hard to say no to a guy like this.

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