Knowledge Within the Corpse

The air was filled with the faint scents of herbs and Mo Shui, traces left by Scholar who had studied for many years.

"Start from the first floor, check each floor one by one." Miller stopped and turned to look at his team.

"Report anything unusual immediately. Do not disturb the students, and do not enter the rooms. Just patrol, understand?"

"Understood," the team members replied in hushed tones.

Miller nodded slightly, then turned and walked down the corridor.

As he passed each room, he would peek through the crack in the door or knock gently.

This indicates that the Night Watcher watch will be increased tonight to ensure the students' safety.

The students visibly relaxed upon seeing the Night Watcher, expressing their relief that everything was alright.

Miller nodded and continued forward. Lu Yuan followed behind the group, his gaze sweeping over each room.

Through the crack in the door, he saw students writing at their desks, the pens scratching across the paper.

A student sat on the edge of the bed reading, his gaze focused, completely immersed in the world of the book.

There's really no problem.

The group walked from one end of the corridor to the other without finding anything unusual.

Miller led his team upstairs to continue patrolling. The situation was similar on the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh floors.

Most of the students had already gone to bed and were delighted with the increased patrols by the Night Watcher.

Of course, you can occasionally see people doing experiments in the dormitory, with bottles and jars piled up on the table, emitting strange smells.

The magic lamps in the corridor emitted a soft glow, illuminating every corner.

Everything was normal, nothing seemed amiss. Miller's expression relaxed slightly, and the other Night Watcher in the group also relaxed considerably.

But Lu Yuan remained vigilant. Because during his patrol, grayish-white text would occasionally appear at the edge of his field of vision:

[A weak Mental Pollution Source was detected]

These warnings mostly appeared in dormitories where experiments were still being conducted, likely due to Contamination from experimental materials.

Even so, Lu Yuan dared not let his guard down.

The group reached the end of the seventh floor, where a staircase leading to the eighth floor lay ahead.

"Go up to the eighth floor, the last floor."

Miller turned and glanced at his teammates, then led the way upstairs.

The moment Lu Yuan stepped onto the stairs, the grayish-white text reappeared at the edge of his vision:

[Mental Pollution Source detected]

Lu Yuan paused for a moment and looked up at the top of the stairs.

Under the bright magic light, nothing could be seen.

Only the sound of his teammates' footsteps echoed in the stairwell.

Lu Yuan took a deep breath, quietly gripping the Revolver at his waist, and continued upstairs with the group.

The corridor on the eighth floor, like those on the lower floors, was bright and clean.

The magic lamp emitted a soft glow, illuminating every corner.

But it was very quiet here; the students seemed to have already rested.

Everything remains normal.

But Lu Yuan's heart grew heavier and heavier.

Because the gray and white text reappeared:

[A weak Mental Pollution Source was detected]

[A weak Mental Pollution Source was detected]

Lu Yuan stopped and looked around.

The corridor was empty, and there was nothing unusual to be seen.

But it was obvious that something was wrong with some of the students on this floor.

"What's wrong?"

Miller noticed that Lu Yuan had stopped and turned around to ask.

"It's nothing." Lu Yuan shook his head.

Miller frowned, but didn't ask any further questions. He turned and continued leading the group forward, "Keep up."

Just then, hurried footsteps came from around the corner of the corridor.

Everyone turned their heads away.

Two students suddenly rushed out from around the corner.

They were covered in blood, their clothes were tattered, and their faces were deathly pale.

One of the students fell to the ground, supporting himself with his hands, panting heavily.

Another student, supporting himself against the wall, staggered forward.

"What happened?" Miller immediately stepped forward and reached out to help the student who had fallen to the ground.

The other two Night Watcher approached to check the injuries.

But Lu Yuan stood still, his gaze fixed on the two students.

He saw it.

The two students had empty, emotionless eyes.

Their movements were too stiff, like marionettes.

The distribution of bloodstains on his body was also unnatural.

At the edge of my field of vision, Gray-White Text was jumping wildly:

[Source of Pollution has been detected. We recommend moving away immediately.]

Lu Yuan drew his gun instantly.

"Watch out!" he shouted, pulling the trigger at the same time.

Bang!

Gunshots rang out in the corridor, deafeningly loud.

A bullet struck one of the "students" in the shoulder, and blood splattered.

But the "student" did not fall; instead, it let out a strange hiss.

His body began to contort, and something was wriggling beneath his skin.

Another "student" suddenly lunged at the nearest Night Watcher with astonishing speed.

The Night Watcher realized what was happening and drew their weapons.

Miller swung his longsword, slashing at the charging "student."

The blade sliced across the "student's" chest, cutting through the skin. But inside was not Flesh.

It was swarming with insects.

Black worms gushed from the wound, like a black tide.

The air was thick with a pungent, putrid stench that made one want to vomit.

"What is this thing?!" A Night Watcher asked gravely.

Lu Yuan did not answer, and continued to pull the trigger.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bullet struck the "student" in the head, splitting his skull open and revealing the empty brain cavity inside.

The brain was barely visible; only a cluster of pitch-black worms remained.

Insects poured out of the shattered skull and scattered in all directions.

The "student's" body seemed to lose some support, and finally collapsed, hitting the ground with a dull thud.

On the other side, Miller severed the neck of another "student".

The corpse lay on the ground, and insects crawled out of it, struggling and wriggling on the ground, trying to crawl back into the body.

But with the death of their Host, the exposed insects did not last long, soon lying limply on the ground, motionless.

The battle is over.

The Night Watcher, panting heavily, looked around warily.

The corridor was a mess, with bloodstains and insect remains scattered all over the floor.

"Notify the other dormitories not to open their doors!" Miller commanded in a deep voice.

A Night Watcher immediately ran to the nearest room and knocked on the door.

The students inside were warned not to open the door.

Miller approached the body and knelt down to examine it.

His expression turned serious.

"This is... a student?" Another Night Watcher leaned closer and glanced at the clothes on the corpse:

"Wait, this outfit... it's the Alchemy Department's uniform."

Miller flipped up the corpse's collar and saw the number embroidered on it.

His expression darkened further. "I've seen this person before. He's the latest missing student. I haven't seen the other one."

The Night Watcher looked at each other in shock.

This looks like Contamination, but this is Bronze City!

How could any Contamination possibly get in?

Lu Yuan squatted down to examine the body.

Gray-White Text appeared at the edge of the field of vision:

[Detection Target: Students of the Tower of Erudition (Hive)]

[Status: A corpse gnawed clean by insects originating from knowledge; it seems to have come into contact with something it shouldn't have.]

[Weakness: Kills the Host.]

Lu Yuan saw something engraved on the skull.

The intricate patterns have faded, but traces are still visible.

He reached out and gently touched the runes-like marks.

[New knowledge detected... Eerie Alchemy...]

[Forbidden Studies - Seeker: +0.1]

Lu Yuan paused.

"These skulls actually contain knowledge?"

Looking at the corpse in front of him, Lu Yuan suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.

These students seemed to have been gnawed into some kind of moving book by worms inside their bodies.

Moreover, both of them had recently gone missing.

What would they become if we go back a little further in time?

Lu Yuan suppressed the turmoil in his heart.

Then I looked at the shattered skull; it was empty.

Without a brain, only the remains of an insect remain. Does this mean this knowledge was truly created by insects?

"How could something like this exist in Bronze City?" Miller stood up, his voice low.

"Have all the missing students turned into this kind of thing?" another Night Watcher gritted his teeth.

Before the words were finished, footsteps came from the end of the corridor.

Everyone turned their heads away.

Three Night Watcher in higher-ranking uniforms approached.

Their chest badges were entirely gold.

This indicates that their Transcendence level is at least Third Order.

The leader was a middle-aged man with a cold expression, his gaze sweeping over the corpse on the ground. He walked up to Miller and calmly asked:

"Are you alright?" The tone was very soft, as if asking about something trivial.

"Captain, we—" Miller immediately stood up straight, ready to report.

The middle-aged man raised his hand to interrupt, "I understand."

He walked to the body, squatted down to examine it for a few seconds, then stood up and turned to Miller and the others.

"These two are part of the plan."

His voice was soft, but carried an undeniable authority.

"Record it, and shut up."

The other two senior Night Watcher have begun processing the scene.

One of them took out a special medicine and sprinkled it on the corpse.

The corpse began to decompose rapidly, turning into black ash.

Another person was setting something up in the corridor; runes on the floor glowed with a faint blue light.

"Tonight's patrol is over." The middle-aged man looked at Miller and his group.

"Go back first. Don't mention this to anyone."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces. "Including your captain."

Miller hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded:

"Yes, Captain."

The middle-aged man nodded slightly, then turned back to continue dealing with the scene.

"Let's go." Miller turned around, gesturing for his teammates to follow.

The Night Watcher silently left the corridor.

No one looked back.

Behind them, the light from the runes grew brighter and brighter, enveloping the entire corridor.

Lu Yuan followed behind the group, pondering everything that had just happened.

Those high-ranking Night Watcher arrived far too quickly.

In other words, they were the ones who were chasing and killing those two students?

But given their methods, they should be able to kill those students easily.

Why did you deliberately let them go?

Do they know something too?

The group left the dormitory building and returned to the square.

Hogger was already there waiting, his expression grave.

Miller walked over and whispered a few words.

Hogger's brow furrowed even more, but he didn't ask any further questions.

He looked at everyone and said in a deep voice:

"Something happened in the East District too."

He paused, then continued.

"Go to your lodgings and rest first, then remain on standby for now."

The Night Watcher gradually left.

Lu Yuan was also assigned a room not far from the student dormitory.

This is a very small room.

There was only a bed, a table, a chair, and a small cabinet.

Lu Yuan entered the room and closed the door. He sat on the edge of the bed and examined the Revolver.

Two bullets left.

He pulled out spare bullets from his pocket and reloaded them.

Six shots, all full.

He took a deep breath, leaned against the headboard, and closed his eyes.

Today's events are more complicated than he imagined.

The disappearance of the Tower of Erudition involves far more complex issues than they appear on the surface.

The attitude of those high-ranking Night Watcher, those students parasitized by insects...

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to touch the second corpse; I don't know if that corpse was an isolated case or something else.

Lu Yuan opened his eyes and looked out the window.

The outline of the Tower of Erudition was faintly visible in the night, and the light of its runes flickered dimly.

He looked for a while, then looked away, closed his eyes again, and prepared to rest.

The conscription order should be lifted tomorrow.

He can leave now.

Time passed second by second.

The night grew deeper.

Lu Yuan's breathing gradually became steady, and his consciousness began to blur.

Just as Lu Yuan was about to fall asleep, footsteps came from outside the door.

It's very light, but very clear.

The footsteps stopped at the door.

Then, someone knocked on the door.

Three knocks, neither hurried nor slow.

Lu Yuan opened his eyes and placed his hand on the Revolver at his waist.

He stood up and walked to the door.

"Who?"

A voice came from outside the door.

Young, with a hint of nervousness.

"It's me, Laurina."