Black Lake II

Gilan stepped out of the Black Lake Inn alone.

He stood at the entrance, but the scenery that met his eyes was desolate.

Under the gloomy sky, the shops and houses along the road were deserted, with barely a soul in sight. The few locals who passed by cast looks of disgust in his direction.

This town seems incredibly xenophobic.

Gilan thought to himself.

It's no wonder the local Tourism Bureau is pushing so hard to develop the industry... The coal mines and timber, the town's pillars, will eventually run dry, yet the town remains backward.

What actually interested him about this film was whether the so-called demon in the Black Lake truly existed—and if it did, whether there was some mysterious power capable of dealing with it.

Just then, Gilan suddenly felt the sensation of being watched.

It was as if someone were standing right behind him, staring intently at his back.

Swish!

With a flick of his trench coat, his hand darted to his waist to grip the handle of his pistol, and he spun around sharply.

A furtive figure darted away, vanishing behind the inn.

Gilan frowned, then charged into the narrow alley like a cheetah.

The inn and the grocery store to its left were less than two meters apart, and the alley was cluttered with a large dumpster and a discarded bicycle, but none of this could stop Gilan.

With his superior physique, he braced a hand on the lid of the dumpster and vaulted over with a loud thud, covering the distance in three swift strides.

In barely two breaths, he had reached the back of the inn.

The stalker had run less than ten meters ahead. He was wearing plaid casual trousers and a khaki shirt jacket; judging by his back, he was a man in his prime.

Seeing Gilan in pursuit, the man let out an angry howl, stopped in his tracks, and lunged back at him.

The man wore a Reindeer Mask and gripped a survival knife, slashing down at Gilan the moment he closed the distance.

Splat!!

Before the blade could land, Gilan delivered a right hook that slammed into the man's face. The Reindeer Mask shattered instantly, sending shards and a spray of blood flying.

With a dull thud, the man collapsed heavily.

Behind the broken half of the mask was a hideous, hateful face. His bloodied, mangled features were covered in stubble, his eyes were bloodshot, and he roared like a raving lunatic:

"Kill! Kill them all! Your blood will earn the Lake God's favor!"

Gilan's eyes narrowed at the sight.

The man's state reminded him of the crazed villagers in Moon-Scorched Village.

Contaminated by mysterious power and Miasma as well?

A normal person would have been incapacitated, if not knocked unconscious, by a punch from Gilan, but the madman simply wiped the blood from his nose and mouth, climbed to his feet as if nothing had happened, and lunged again with the knife.

Gilan watched coldly and moved in a blur.

He clamped his left hand onto the man's knife-wielding wrist, while his right hand struck a series of punches into the man's throat, chest, and abdomen in the blink of an eye.

Bam! Bam! Bam!!

The man's mouth filled with blood as he spat it out, his eyes bulging, and the knife fell from his hand.

Smack!

Gilan grabbed the man by the head and forced him down onto his knees.

"Who are you? Why were you stalking me?" he demanded.

"Kill... kill you all, the Lake God is eternal... the Elixir of Immortality."

The man's expression was twisted, blood streaming from his mouth, yet he continued to mutter his insane ramblings.

As he finished, his body went limp, and he died on the spot, blood leaking from his seven orifices.

Gilan released his grip, letting the corpse slump to the ground, and frowned.

He had controlled his strength; a few punches shouldn't have been enough to beat a grown man to death.

The next second, the man's corpse began to rapidly decay and collapse, eventually dissolving into dust that drifted away.

In the corner of Gilan's vision, a colorful digit "1" appeared.

"Contaminated, indeed..." He stood where he was, lost in thought. "Is this guy a member of the so-called 'Lake God Cult'? Have the Cultists already infiltrated the town?"

Clang!!

Just then, a sound of impact and shattering glass erupted behind Gilan.

He turned back, stunned.

Mr. Oystercatcher had fallen from a second-story window and crashed heavily onto the dumpster in the alley.

Bang!!

Mr. Oystercatcher dented the metal dumpster before rolling onto the ground, his body covered in small cuts from the glass shards.

Gilan hurried forward to help the wailing man to his feet.

"Mr. Oystercatcher, are you alright?" he asked.

The burly man's face was twisted in pain. It took him a long while to catch his breath before he gave Gilan a slight shake of his head.

Perhaps due to his training in combat arts, Mr. Oystercatcher's physique was quite robust, and he had not sustained any serious injuries from the fall from the second floor.

"Miss Sparrow and I... we saw a suspicious figure in the second-floor hallway. After chasing after them, we found a piece of parchment they had dropped, which contained records of an alchemical item called the 'Elixir of Immortality'."

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and explained, hunched over:

"But before I could look at it closely, that person snatched it back. I got into a struggle with them, and then I was accidentally pushed down the stairs... Hurry back, don't let them get away!"

"I understand," Gilan nodded. "Take care of yourself."

He turned and headed back to the inn, his mind inevitably drifting to the man he had just killed—the one suspected of being a member of the Lake God Cult—who was likely an accomplice of the suspicious person who had injured Mr. Oystercatcher.

However, when he rushed back into the inn, he found everything as it had been.

The bartender, the patrons, and the guests showed no signs of panic or abnormality; they were still drinking and chatting. Instead, it was the noise of him pushing the door open in a hurry that drew a round of cursing.

Gilan couldn't be bothered to waste words with these people; he pulled out his short-barreled revolver and fired a shot into the ceiling.

BANG!!

"Shut up," he said, pointing his gun at the crowd in the bar. "Did anyone see a suspicious person come down from upstairs?"

The room fell deathly silent. Everyone raised their hands, staring in terror at the gun in his hand.

After a moment, only the white-haired old man known as "Old Toto" spoke in a deep voice:

"Aside from your two companions, no one has come down at all."

Gilan confirmed the appearance with him and ultimately determined that the two people who had come downstairs were actually Mr. Stork and Miss Seagull.

They're still up there! He immediately turned his head to stare at the staircase leading to the second floor.

If Old Toto wasn't lying, it meant the suspicious person was still upstairs.

However, Miss Sparrow and Fima came running down at that moment.

"Mr. Snowy Owl!" Miss Sparrow was startled to see Gilan holding a gun and threatening the crowd, but she quickly stepped forward to his side and whispered, "Mr. Oystercatcher got into a fight with a man and fell down the stairs!"

"I know, he's fine," Gilan shook his head. "Where is that man?"

Miss Sparrow's delicate brows furrowed, and after a moment of hesitation, she said:

"I clearly saw him running downstairs... didn't you see him?"

A strange look appeared on Gilan's face.

According to Miss Sparrow, had that person simply vanished into thin air?

He took a deep breath and holstered his revolver at his waist.

"Let's help Mr. Oystercatcher back to his room to rest first. We'll wait until Mr. Stork and the others return to discuss this... This matter is rather strange."

Gilan said in a low voice.

Miss Sparrow found the answer in his expression and nodded solemnly.

Thanks to "Happy Puff" for the 6500-point tip!

Thanks to "Big White Dog" for the 300-point tip!