Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!
Chapter 555 - 554

Chapter 555: 554

"Ow-ooooo...!!"

As the sword light flashed, the cane sword blade pierced into the werewolf’s head. The massive werewolf raised its claws, flailing desperately a few times before collapsing silently to the ground. Just as Fang Zheng killed the werewolf, he felt an invisible force enter his body along the blade. Even his body, previously sore due to a chest wound, seemed to become much more comfortable under the influence of this warm current.

What exactly was going on?

Fang Zheng set down the longsword, reopening the Dimensional Codex, but the system appeared unchanged, still displaying "System Offline." Therefore, Fang Zheng could only close the Codex. He then walked over to the werewolf, picked up the music box that had fallen nearby, and at that moment, his gaze landed on a corpse not far away.

It was a woman, dressed in a white long dress, her body a gory mess. Judging by the wounds, she seemed to have been torn apart by the claws and teeth of a large beast. However, that wasn’t what mattered. What mattered was... on the woman’s chest, there was a ruby brooch.

"So that’s what happened..."

Seeing this, Fang Zheng had more or less guessed the whole situation. This woman must be the little girl’s mother, and the man who had gone mad earlier her father. Clearly, the woman had found her husband but was then attacked by the werewolf and died in front of him. That was why her husband had so furiously laid into those frenzied men.

Unfortunately, his anger had destroyed his last shred of reason... As for why he had transformed in such a way, Fang Zheng was unsure, but perhaps further exploration of this town might yield some clues.

"Sigh..."

With that thought, Fang Zheng sighed. He hesitated for a moment but then went over to the female corpse, taking the brooch. If Fang Zheng’s guess was correct, then these items were the belongings of the girl’s relatives. He could not take them back himself, but at the very least, he should return these keepsakes to the little girl. As for the two bodies, Fang Zheng could not bear to let them just lie exposed in the wilderness, especially since this place was a graveyard riddled with unburied pits. Thus, he found two adjacent deep pits, placed the bodies inside, and buried them. He then placed the hunter’s weapon at the grave as a makeshift tombstone... At least, that was all he could do for now.

But earlier that man had mentioned going to the church? Could there be something in the church?

With that thought, Fang Zheng ascended the staircase and then pushed open the iron door to enter the building in front of the graveyard. When he climbed up the ladder to the second floor, he realized it was a library or reading room of some sort, filled with scattered documents. Fang Zheng glanced at them briefly and noticed they were filled with nonsensical babble like "Byronvis’s spiders obscure all methods of the ceremony. What a pity, I hate spiders..." which made absolutely no sense at all.

"Rather than a church, why do I feel like this is more of a lunatic asylum? I hope this isn’t leading me to another escape."

While complaining, Fang Zheng walked to the end where there was a spiral staircase, and next to the staircase, there was... a large chest.

"........."

Eyeing the chest before him, Fang Zheng hesitated for a moment before gripping his cane sword tighter and stabbing at the chest a few times.

The chest showed no reaction.

It seemed this was a real chest after all.

"I feel more and more like I’m in some RPG world..."

While continuing his banter, Fang Zheng opened the chest, but to his disappointment, there was nothing inside that seemed to advance the "plot," only a very strange tool that seemed to be for setting something. Fang Zheng fiddled with it a few times, then casually tossed it back... This was no game, and he couldn’t carry so many useless things on him.

After all, this wasn’t a game. Otherwise, who would put such boring stuff in a chest, you might as well have given me some coins... I doubt I could buy much with them.

After playing the role of a hero rifling through a chest, Fang Zheng walked up the steps and then pushed open the tightly closed door at the end of the staircase.

"Creak..."

The heavy door slowly opened, releasing a rich scent of incense. Fang Zheng lifted his head and observed his surroundings before slowly walking in. He found himself in a lavishly decorated church, flanked by several diverse statues, and in the middle stood several candlesticks. The evening sun’s radiance poured through the windows above, bringing a warm vibe to the church.

"Haah..."

Just then, a voice suddenly sounded from Fang Zheng’s side, startling him. He quickly turned to see an old man at his right side, wrapped in tattered red cloth, grinning at him. His thin hands seemed almost non-human, but his tone was nothing like the frenzied creatures outside.

"Oh... you must be a hunter..."

The old man poked his head out as if a snail peering out of its shell, looking around and then turning towards Fang Zheng.

"Sorry, the incense overpowered your scent. Very good, very good, I have been waiting for your arrival. These hunts have kept everyone indoors waiting for the end... It was so in the past, it is so now, forever... But this won’t easily end, not this time. Even some villagers hiding indoors have deteriorated, the women’s screams, the foul stench of blood, monsters’ roars, have all become commonplace. I can tell you, Anan is finished... But if you encounter any sane people, bring them here, to Odon Chapel. They will be safe here, the incense..."

As he spoke, the old man frantically waved his hands as if trying to grasp something.

"...Incense will drive away the wild beasts, they dare not come here..."

I finally encountered someone who seemed relatively normal.

Although the old man in front of me was somewhat aesthetically challenging, at least she was one of the only two people with whom I had been able to converse normally since waking up in this world!

Though, strictly speaking, she wasn’t all that normal either.

"Sorry, I’m not any kind of hunter, in fact, I just accidentally stumbled in here."

Fang Zheng spread his hands in a gesture of apology.

"Truthfully, I have no idea what is happening here. If possible, I would like you to answer some of my questions... What exactly is the Night of the Hunt? What on earth is going on here?"

"......"

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s questions, the old man went silent for a moment before he began waving his hands again.

"This place... has been cursed, humans... blinded by their own greed, they have been cursed. Anan was born of blood, thrived on blood, but now, it’s also about to die. However, it cannot fully die; it can only struggle to survive like this, desperately dodging the Blade of Destruction..."

The old man sighed lightly and lowered his head.

"Blood brought everything, and also destroyed everything. They became monsters, hunted by hunters, but the hunters were likewise lured by the fresh blood... So then there appeared those who hunted the hunters... That is the Night of the Hunt, everything, absolutely everything becomes different, all is in chaos... It was so in the past, and it is the same now... And all we can do is pray..."

At this point, the old man stopped talking; he lowered his head, seemingly falling into long memories and reflections, or perhaps he simply fell asleep. Seeing this, Fang Zheng shook his head. Although the old man’s speech was a bit all over the place and full of the artistic flourishes that Fang Zheng hated the most, at least he could glean some information from the few phrases the old man revealed.

At least for now, it was clear that the name of this town was Anan; it had once flourished but had turned into the dilapidated state it was in due to humans’ endless craving for a certain type of blood. Those infected by the blood had turned into monsters, necessitating hunters to hunt them, and apparently, the hunters themselves seemed to have been infected by the strange power of the blood during the hunting process... The man he had encountered earlier might be one of the hunters, deliriously entranced by the blood, thinking about the aromatic blood he seemed to be murmuring about...

"May I rest here for a moment?"

With that thought, Fang Zheng looked again at the old man, who nodded.

"Of course, hunter, you can rest here, please feel free..."

I already said I’m not a hunter...

Facing the old man, Fang Zheng was speechless. Although he wanted to hurry back to find the little girl, after so long a time of battle and exploration, Fang Zheng was also quite weary; so, he found a corner in the church, leaned against the wall, and then closed his eyes.

Soon, a heavy drowsiness swept over him, and not long after, he fell into a deep sleep... freewёbnoνel-com

And soon, Fang Zheng opened his eyes again.

In front of him now was only darkness.

"What is this..."

Fang Zheng stood up, surprised as he looked around. He had thought he had only taken a short nap, but now it seemed this place was engulfed in darkness. And... it didn’t seem to be the church where he had been before.

So, what place was this exactly?

And just at that moment, suddenly, a very familiar voice resonated from not far away.

"Lord of Ash, can you hear my voice?"

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢

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