After Wu Heng planned a route based on the previous observations from the cameras, they had now arrived at the ' Barrens '.
That is, the entrance to the suburban sewer system.
"Okay, we'll be careful!" everyone replied.
Strange fish occasionally shoot out of the stinking ditch, along with mutated rats and various insects.
If anyone touches one of them, their razor-sharp limbs can pierce through the protective suit and infect everyone with the Monster Fish Virus.
However, all 23 people present glanced at the thirteen evil spirits guarding their sides, relentlessly tearing apart the strange fish, and felt much more at ease.
Being protected by an evil spirit is a strange experience.
As soon as Wu Heng entered Derry, he summoned these evil spirits with a wave of his hand. Apart from the original five, including the twins, the rest were evil spirits that he had enslaved in the previous seven days.
The people behind him were all ordinary people, carefully selected from among thousands, with great effort.
Don't get killed by the monstrous fish that his virus brings before you even meet the Pennywise.
That would be rather ridiculous.
There was still a faint light inside the sewer, but it was strange. Wu Heng had initially thought it was coming from the vents overhead, but he realized the light was coming from underground, which was rather odd.
The ground is clearly solid.
Because the visibility of dim light is limited, it is less than three meters.
A lantern appeared in Wu Heng's left hand. It was a high-wattage round lamp specially made by the Lighthouse, and its appearance instantly illuminated the sewer.
Beneath our feet lay a massive stone floor covered in low-hanging spiderwebs, and things could crawl or fly out from the shadows at any moment.
Inside the middle ditch,
The slow-flowing, yellowish-green sewage reeked of decay and mold, and even gas masks couldn't completely filter it.
As the group continued forward, the water grew increasingly deeper.
Animal carcasses floated by from time to time: rats, dead cats, squirrels, and animals that looked like monkeys. Their bodies were swollen and green, with green bubbles rising from them.
The body is still releasing earthen energy.
"Strange, why are there no human corpses?"
Ben Hans, who had frequent contact with Wu Heng and was quite familiar with him, asked a question out of curiosity.
His family moved away from Derry more than 20 years ago, so he doesn't have a deep emotional attachment to the town; he just feels a sense of nostalgia for revisiting it.
"It's been eaten!"
Bang!
As Wu Heng slammed his hammer down, he responded without turning his head.
He didn't explain in detail whether it was eaten by a rat or Pennywise.
Shaking off the stubble on his hammer, he struck the green rat that had just ambushed him from the rocks above, sending it crashing into the sewage and splashing up a yellowish-green spray.
The reason for using the quantifier "head" is that this mouse was really big, about the size of a goat.
When Wu Heng's iron hammer struck it, its waist caved into a V-shape before it was sent flying.
The solid impact of the blows left Wu Heng wanting more.
This feels completely different from when fighting evil spirits.
He carried a lantern that resembled a small sun, twirled a hammer in his right hand, and continued forward.
As they ventured deeper, the sound of rushing water echoed from afar.
The sound grew louder and louder, sounding extremely turbulent, even like a roar.
Wu Heng led the group along the sewer, turned right, and saw three drains filling the sewer with water.
Three drain outlets
Arranged vertically from top to bottom, like traffic lights.
The topmost pipe contained clear water mixed with garbage from the ground; the middle pipe contained pale green murky water mixed with hair and blood; and the bottom pipe contained a viscous green slurry with countless bones and severed fingers mixed in.
A large swarm of green mice were guarding the exit below, chattering away as they enjoyed their feast.
Its mouthful of fangs crunched and gnawed at the finger bones, like it was gnawing on sugarcane.
This means the sewer ends here.
"Father, there's no way out!"
He said with some doubt.
"We've never gone this deep before," Eddie chimed in. "The last time we searched for the Pennywise, we went through the Well House on number 29."
"Perhaps we can go back to Neibolt Street and look for the well," Ben asked tentatively.
Bill Denbrough nodded in agreement, and Beverly Marsh and Mike Hanlon echoed his sentiment.
The candidates remained silent. Even with the protection of evil spirits around them, they still gripped their weapons tightly and remained vigilant, demonstrating a level of discipline far superior to the main characters.
Wu Heng raised his right hand slightly, gesturing to the crowd.
The room fell silent instantly, and the discussion ceased.
" Eddie, don't you think that rock face up ahead looks familiar?"
Wu Heng pointed to the rock wall next to the pile of rats, then turned to look at Eddie Casbrack, the fake asthma patient.
He has the best sense of direction among the main characters.
"This..." Eddie looked around carefully, then suddenly realized, "This is near the center of the city. From here, we're close to 29 Neibolt Street. We just need to turn right to reach the vicinity of the canal."
"Near the canal!" Bill Denbrough and Mike Hanlon both understood. "It's right there!"
Wu Heng's thoughts stirred slightly.
Evil Jack Torrance pounced on the water pipe in front and began tearing at the green rats that were gathered together like a flock of sheep.
Its three heads were all open, constantly biting the rat in front of it, while its two feet and the two lowest arms supported it as it crawled on the ground like a wild dog.
The remaining four arms easily pierced into the rats' bodies, crushing their moldy hearts.
Squeak squeak squeak--!
The rats were splattered with the green, virus-laden blood of their dead kin, and they frantically scurried around. Two of them crawled along the pipes and went inside.
"Everyone, step back!"
Wu Heng reached into his hand, pulled out a rocket launcher, and aimed it at the filthy pipe.
This one is the sewage pipe belonging to the Derry.
However, since all the residents have died, and apart from a large number of animals sneaking in, there is a lack of excrement producers here, so there isn't much flowing waste.
'Whoosh, boom--!'
As the trigger was pulled, the rocket warhead penetrated deep inside, triggering a methane explosion that filled the entire tunnel with flames, which shot out from the pipe opening.
The blue-green flame tail was nearly five meters long, and the sound of collapse It Comes from afar.
"Come on, we're almost there."
Wu Heng arranged for the evil spirit Jack Torrance to lead the way, with him following closely behind, and the rest of the evil spirits staying behind to clean up and protect the rear.
A group of people bent down and crawled into the sewage pipe.
Wu Heng, who didn't originally need a gas mask, frowned and put it on anyway.
Because the further you go, the worse it smells inside.
After advancing 30 meters, the air had become so foul it smelled toxic.
Wu Heng even felt that the stench had formed a wall, and that every step forward would require him to break through it.
He didn't care about the poison, but he couldn't ignore the stench; it felt as if feces were being poured into his lungs through his nostrils.
About 200 meters down the pipe, a rustling sound It Comes from below.
"We're almost there!"
Wu Heng called out to those behind him; everyone was now disgusted by the environment.
This news,
Their joy was no less than when they broke free from the illusion.
The group quickened their pace and arrived at the end of the sewage pipe.
At the end of the pipe, a cave space for work had been built. Following the sound, Wu Heng walked to the right corner, where there was a hole about the size of a basketball.
Inside the cave was a row of upright stone slabs, with shimmering blue light rippled across the stone walls, like eerie, writhing snakes.
Countless green rats scurried about inside, their numbers so great that they had to step on the backs of their companions to move forward. Occasionally, one of them would bite the other to satisfy its Famine.
Every now and then, mice would lower their heads and sniff around, searching for food.
The stench of blood was so strong that, unfortunately, the Pennywise didn't even leave a single bone fragment behind.
"Here, yes. This is it."
"It's down there!"
"Found it!"
The six main characters all spoke up, and the other contestants cast curious glances their way.
Wu Heng left two evil spirits to guard the group, while the remaining nine evil spirits, under his control, fell down the cave entrance.
They first had to clear out the dense swarm of rats.
In a matter of moments, screams and cries filled the air, green blood splattered everywhere, and the ground had become a threshing ground where flesh and blood were crushed.
"Let me expand it."
Wu Heng picked up the iron hammer, raised it high above his head, and then slammed it heavily into the narrow hole.
A thunderous roar, like a bolt from the blue, echoed back and forth inside the pipes.
Rocks at the cave entrance fell down in a rustling sound.
Thump!
The hammer slammed down again, like striking glass. Centered on the hole, the crack fanned outwards in a wide arc, creating numerous fissures.
Then, a series of clicking sounds rang out.
Finally, the ground gave way, and a gap five meters wide collapsed.
Wu Heng took out an iron trough again, stuck it into the stone wall behind him, tied a rope to it, and lowered it into the underground space.
"Everyone, take a short break and wait for the mutated rats below to be cleared out."
Wu Heng put away the hammer and gave an order.
"Cough, cough!"
Mike Hanlon, who was in the team, suddenly started coughing violently. His face turned ashen, and the veins on his forehead bulged and gradually turned black.
Everyone noticed that something was wrong with Mike Hanlon.
'Is this an infection?'
Wu Heng's mind sank. He quickly stepped forward, unfastened Mike Hanlon's protective suit, and dripped the diluted parasitic nematode liquid into Mike's eyes.
The veins on Mike Hanlon's forehead slowly disappeared, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. But then Mike Hanlon started coughing violently again, this time even more severely. The veins on his forehead had turned green, and even his breath smelled foul.
Wu Heng frowned and scanned Mike Hanlon's entire body, but found nothing wrong. Then he reached out, picked Mike Hanlon up, laid him down, and looked at the soles of Mike Hanlon's shoes.
It really is here!
A green leech with six sharp limbs was clinging tightly to the sole of Mike Hanlon's shoe. Its sharp claws, like needles, were piercing into the rubber, and its head had already bitten through a centimeter of the sole, reaching inside to suck the blood.
"It's a mutated leech, quickly remove it."
"No, you can't remove it! It has two suction cups; forcibly removing it will break it off, leaving the suction cups inside!"
Beverly Marsh rejected Eddie's approach.
The source of the illness has not been eliminated, so it's no wonder that Mike Hanlon's condition worsened even after using the solution.
Wu Heng would not allow any casualties to occur before they had even officially met the Pennywise, as this would be a huge blow to morale.
Despite the worried looks from everyone, he remained as steady as a mountain.
"Don't panic, alcohol will make it fall off."
Wu Heng pulled out a large bottle of alcohol and poured it directly onto Mike Hanlon's feet.
"Yes, alcohol, I've seen that in the encyclopedia," Ben said excitedly from the side.
While waiting for the alcohol to be poured on, Wu Heng dripped a diluted solution into Mike Hanlon's eyes, and everyone watched intently.
Even after a minute had passed, the leech was still firmly gripping the sole of the shoe, its body swelling several times over.
Wu Heng's face darkened; his method had not worked.
"Is it because of a mutation?" Beverly Marsh asked cautiously.
Whoosh!
Beverly Marsh had barely finished speaking when a sharp, cold glint flashed, abruptly ending her words in a look of astonishment.
Wu Heng sliced off the leeches from the sole of Mike Hanlon's shoe with a single stroke.
"Take off your shoes," Wu Heng said calmly.
An evil spirit resembling an old woman walked up and yanked off Mike Hanlon's shoes.
Wu Heng spun the blade in his hand again, and a piece of flesh was gouged out from the sole of Mike Hanlon's foot.
Since Beverly Marsh and the others were all wearing protective suits, and Wu Heng couldn't possibly touch a grown man's feet, and the old woman's evil spirit, under Wu Heng's precise control, bandaged up Mike Hanlon's wounds.
A drop of perfectly pure nematode solution was dripped into Mike Hanlon's eye.
His condition is quite serious.
A new protective suit was draped over Mike Hanlon, and Mike Hanlon condition gradually improved. He opened his eyes and asked, "What happened?"
"Bro, you almost turned into the Hulk, you know that!" Ben and Richie Tozier said with a sigh of relief as they helped Mike Hanlon up.
"Oh, that's a pity."
"I almost got to ask Marvel for Hulk's image rights fees!" When Mike Hanlon heard about the Hulk, he realized he had been infected.
Mike Hanlon tentatively placed his aching left foot on the ground and then looked at Wu Heng.
He indicated that he was fine and would not delay the operation, and was waiting for Wu Heng's next instructions.
Wu Heng gave him an approving look, then turned to look into the underground cave.
The nine evil spirits have already wiped out almost all the segmented green rats.
The damage inflicted by this strange power on biological systems is almost irresistible to them.
This is also the reality of Deep Blue Star, which is why psionicists are far inferior to Tower Guardian.
One is the manipulation of energy, the other is a mysterious power.
Are you ready?
Wu Heng looked at everyone with a deep gaze and asked slowly.
Those present had heard the noise from underground almost subside, and everyone nodded with serious expressions, indicating that there was no problem.
Mike Hanlon's left foot had also gotten used to the pain from the injury. He patted Richie Tozier's hand, gave him a look, and pushed away Richie Tozier's support.
"Very good!"
Wu Heng handed the rope to the nearest one, Zagaram, a hermit monk from the snowy mountains, and then he turned and jumped directly down through the hole.
Under Zagaram's leadership, everyone
They all slid down the rope and into the Pennywise's lair.
After the Pennywise fell asleep,
Its nest has always been filled with a sense of crookedness and breakage.
After landing, everyone felt as if they had stepped out of the edge of the world and entered a strange void, which seemed to be the dark, decaying core of a planet.
The cave space is about fifteen meters high, supported by rib-like stone arches, with dirty cobwebs growing between the arch pillars.
There was even a cocoon a meter long that was bound to the ground. From the exposed, dry, green-furred tail, one could tell that the prey inside the cocoon was a mutated rat.
The ground beneath my feet was made of stone slabs, covered in dust that had accumulated over countless years.
The width of the curved walls on both sides of the cave is approximately fifteen meters.
"Oh, this feels a bit like a cathedral." Richie Tozier, ever the chatterbox, had barely finished speaking when he looked at Wu Heng.
He remembered that Wu Heng was a priest, and that his words were somewhat disrespectful to him.
"It does look somewhat similar, but we'll have to clean it up and make some modifications first," Wu Heng said with a nonchalant smile.
His attitude serves as a guiding light for everyone.
Wu Heng walked with his footsteps as if strolling through his own cathedral, walking along the middle of the ribbed stone wall, heading towards the most important stone wall in front of him.
It was a single stone wall over fifty meters high, with only one stone door at the bottom.
The stone gate is only one meter high, as if it were specially installed for children.
Wu Heng knew that behind the door was the Pennywise's well, which was also where the Pennywise's true form resided.
The others followed closely behind.