Chapter 2: Graveyard
As Yi Chen read through each of the [Rules],
He could roughly determine that the place he had traveled to was mixed with 'strange' factors not present in the original world,
At the same time,
Unknown dangers were constantly approaching
But he still had a glimmer of hope,
According to the hint in the last rule, Yi Chen bent down to look under the wooden bed.
Moving away the movable floorboard compartment, he grabbed a medium-weight hand axe from the groove.
"Is this the so-called self-defense tool?"
The axe handle made of hickory wood, with grooves engraved on the surface to increase friction,
Lightweight, durable and not easy to slip out of hand,
The axe head forged with carbon steel was flawless,
Having undergone a special sharpening process, it was extremely sharp, and the blade was silver-plated,
Bright, hard and highly destructive,
Buzz~ When swung experimentally, it even made a slight whistling sound through the air.
This exquisitely crafted hand axe brought an inexplicable sense of security, slightly easing the tense mood.
"Not a bad self-defense weapon..."
After a brief warm-up, he returned to the desk.
"According to the record in the will, this fellow's mistake stemmed from rule [Number Three],
That is, during the inspection of Cemetery No. 4, he failed to notice changes in the number and order of tombstones."
Yi Chen bit his fingernail,
Now he faced an important decision,
Whether to stay in the wooden cabin waiting for danger to come knocking,
Or to go to the cemetery alone, face the danger, and break the predicament.
"Let's be proactive... According to the rules, perhaps only by restoring Cemetery No. 4 can the crisis be completely eliminated. Just staying idle in the cabin is probably just waiting to die."
Yi Chen tried to treat the current situation as a test after his transmigration.
However,
A series of preparations had to be made before departure.
First,
Using his fairly intelligent brain, he deeply memorized the cemetery map, as well as the layout of Cemetery No. 4 in the appendix, and organizational markings, etc.
Additionally,
He put on the work clothes folded at the foot of the bed,
This was a deep gray coat between a raincoat and a windbreaker, with a loose hood that could cover half the face, concealing features in the darkness.
"This coat fits too well... I've never worn such a comfortable jacket, was it custom-made?"
The coat not only didn't bring any restrictions to movement, but actually made body movements more fluid.
He also found a metal work badge on the left chest, imprinted with the name of the original owner of this body - [William Behrens].
Everything ready,
Just before walking out the iron door, he tried using the telephone on the wall beside the door.
However,
There was only harsh static inside the receiver, the phone line seemed to have been damaged, unable to contact the outside world.
"It's probably due to the violation, the 'managers' above have cut off contact with this place... Let's go."
Creak~ Creak
As the door hinges turned, it was like an elderly person issuing warnings from deep within a hoarse throat.
Yi Chen stood at the doorway, alert to possible dangers,
Seconds ticked by,
All that came was the nauseating smell of rotting flesh mixed with soil,
Tonight's moon was completely blocked, the only light was from the kerosene lamp in his hand.
"It seems the [Danger] hasn't actively sought me out yet, that's good... Let's start exploring."
The silver-gleaming axe held in his right hand, hanging by his thigh,
The kerosene lamp held horizontally at chest level in his left hand,
Dressed in the deep gray coat, Yi Chen had fully assumed the identity of a "gravedigger", starting his first exploration of the cemetery.
First,
As depicted on the map,
The wooden cabin known as the [Safe House] was located at the center of the cemetery,
Cemeteries No. 1-6 surrounded it,
About three-meter-high perforated iron fences separated the cemeteries of different numbers, not interfering with each other.
The cramped paths between graves allowed at most one hearse to pass,
Twisted tree branches growing wildly met overhead, blocking the night sky, enclosing the entire cemetery... If the wooden cabin earlier was like a small coffin, then this cemetery was a large coffin.
Yi Chen felt oppressed by such an environment,
Even imagining a pale foot following behind him, various branches turning into arms wanting to touch his shoulders.
Huff...
He took a deep breath.
He had heard people at the orphanage say when he was young, never look back when passing through eerie places at night, otherwise you might attract dirty things to possess you.
So he kept looking straight ahead, at most turning his head 45°.
Following the map route in his memory, he soon arrived at the iron gate of Cemetery No. 4.
However,
An idea popped up in his mind.
"I've been moving around the cemetery for several minutes... Though creepy and oppressive, at least I haven't encountered any danger, nor seen any dirty things.
The danger existing in Cemetery No. 4, which could drive a person to suicide, is certainly not easily resolved.
I might need to escape, fight a guerrilla war.
Why not walk through the entire cemetery first, familiarize myself with the area, figure out escape routes and hiding spots~ Mm! Let's do that."
Temporarily leaving Cemetery No. 4,
Yi Chen began touring the entire cemetery in a clockwise direction,
The passage of time gradually made him adapt to the atmosphere of the cemetery,
He also discovered some interesting things in the cemetery with detailed planning and settings.
Cemeteries of different numbers had different natures.
For example, Cemetery No. 1 uniformly had arched stone tombstones, with clean steps and stone-paved paths, giving a neat and comfortable feeling.
The adjacent Cemetery No. 2 used oak cross-shaped tombstones, tilting in all directions, overgrown with weeds... overall extremely gloomy, even the temperature was 10°C lower.
Everything went smoothly without encountering any danger,
Following the order, he arrived at the last Cemetery No. 6.
The soil here was unusually moist,
Each step was like stepping into a mud pit, the soles sinking in at least two centimeters.
The tombstones here were all piled up with pebbles, without recording any information about the deceased's life.
"Hmm... what's that?"
His rather keen observation made Yi Chen notice a detail,
In the corner of Cemetery No. 6,
A tombstone piled with stones was scattered on the ground, as if destroyed by something.
He went forward with the axe to check, walking around the mound twice, but didn't find anything unusual,
Perhaps fully immersed in his current profession,
Perhaps out of respect for the deceased,
After confirming there was no danger, Yi Chen crouched down to reassemble the scattered stones, restoring the tombstone.
Before leaving, he instinctively put his hands together and gave a slight bow.
However,
He hadn't taken two steps.
A strange sound came from behind.
§Thank you§
This voice was weird, like a blend of multiple people's voices, rising and falling, penetrating the organs.
Yi Chen immediately turned towards the sound, while blocking his front with the axe.
However,
The cemetery behind was all quiet, with no changes.
"Am I hearing things due to being overly nervous? No... I did hear it.
There really are supernatural things here~ However, the thanking voice just now didn't seem to have any hostility.
Try not to cause trouble, focus on solving the most crucial problem at hand first."
Yi Chen quickly retreated from the swamp-like Cemetery No. 6.
At this point,
Except for Cemetery No. 7 set up separately at the edge for storing and handling unknown corpses,
He had grasped the general situation of the cemetery,
And also conceived the best routes for escape and detours in his mind.
Next, he needed to face the problematic [Cemetery No. 4].
Shortly after Yi Chen left,
In Cemetery No. 6,
The grave mound he had just repaired suddenly showed signs of soil loosening,
A mouth chewing coffin lid debris and covered in moist soil emerged,
Seemingly with an eyeball in its mouth,
As if able to watch that 'helpful' young man through layers of fences and plants.
Thank you everyone for your support. Like before, this new book will have two updates daily, around 17:00 and 22:00 (one update on Sundays). This content is purely original, with a higher difficulty of writing, I hope everyone can be more tolerant. When it's time for intense updates, there will still be intense updates.