Published at 8th of October 2024 3:04 am

Chapter 1035: Mixed Rice with Wine

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

‘This building looks oddly familiar.’

Guided by the faint glow of streetlights, Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu as she searched for an entrance in the dark night. However, she was certain that she had never been to this area before, nor had she ever laid eyes on this particular building.

Could it be the result of some kind of architectural style-induced hallucination?

Facing this massive, irregularly shaped orange-red structure, she had no clue what the entrance might look like. After searching for a while, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

If only she had swapped roles with Bohemia earlier, she wouldn’t be dealing with this headache now.

Puppeteer was still unconscious in the car. To prevent another incident of them being recorded when entering the building, she put on the last remaining middle-aged man mask even though she couldn’t see any cameras. The usage period of the mask was almost over but she shad no other choice. While thinking about this, she took a few steps back and used a flashlight to scan the edge of the umbrella-like building.

‘Huh?’

When she was closer, she couldn’t see it, but under the large orange-red canopy, there was a gap—narrow and dark, probably only about thirty centimeters wide.

What an annoying world.

Lin Sanjiu had no choice but to crawl into the gap like a crocodile. As soon as she had that thought, she felt a sudden emptiness beneath her, causing her to start tumbling down a steep slope. Just as she was about to grab the wall beside her, the slope abruptly ended, and she landed with a smack on her tailbone.

‘This is getting more and more annoying.’

Lin Sanjiu massaged her tailbone, took a deep breath, and used her flashlight to illuminate the door in front of her.

How could people in this world build houses like this? They covered the top with a messy canopy while the building’s structure stood in a deep pit surrounded by steep slopes. Weren’t they worried about breaking their necks when going to work?

Despite her complaints, she quickly got up and opened the rectangular orange-red door. People in this world seemed to have a habit of leaving their doors unlocked at night—it made sense, though, considering that their every need was fulfilled by society. Any motive for crimes based on self-interest had been eliminated.

These various thoughts filled Lin Sanjiu’s mind while she explored the dim and dark environment.

Behind the door, she was faced with a spiral staircase that led upwards. The staircase stood in the center of the lobby, disappearing into the ceiling, likely leading to the chewing gum-like second floor. She shined the flashlight beam around the lobby, and finally breathed a sigh of relief—she had come to the right place!

As a precaution, she didn’t turn on the lights. Instead, she clipped the flashlight above the door for illumination. Then she hurried back outside to get Puppeteer. She had to drag him like a dead body, struggling to get him out of the car and back into the building.

Inside, there were narrow beds neatly made with white bed sheets that encircled the lobby, along with some medical equipment and medicine cabinets nearby—it looked just like a hospital. However, unlike the hospitals in her hometown, it was quiet and devoid of any human voices. There wasn’t even a doctor on duty or any hospitalized patients.

After finally managing to get the lifeless Puppeteer onto a bed, even Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help needing a moment to catch her breath.

“Oh, there’s this…”

She took a stethoscope from a drawer in a nearby cabinet. Unexpectedly, this item appeared completely normal, with no difference from the stethoscopes in hospitals from her home world. She held the listening piece and stared at the figure on the bed, partly covered by a towel. What good would it do to listen to his heartbeat when he had such severe injuries? She pondered, and shouldn’t she cut away his clothing to examine the wounds?

“Oh, right…”

As she lifted the towel, preparing to place the earpieces on him, Lin Sanjiu suddenly paused. “Bohemia had kept repeating something to her…”

“You must remove the drool bib”

Her plea with a hint of crying still echoed clearly in her ears,

“No matter what you’re thinking, don’t hesitate like some old woman. You must take it off! If he wakes up and sees it, I’m done for!”

The blue polka-dot drool bib, stained and wrinkled, was now under the flashlight, situated beneath Puppeteer’s chin.

At the time, she didn’t think it was such a big deal. Why would it need to be emphasized so many times? But now, she finally understood.

Although it had gotten a little dirty, it should still have good absorbency.

“Should I remove it or not? Is it a bad idea to remove it? This child needs a drool bib when he sleeps, right?” Lin Sanjiu’s thoughts battled for a while, wavering between Bohemia’s insistence and her own reluctance. In the end, she decided, “Well, let’s wait until he’s a bit older before taking it off.”

2

With that decision made, she gently placed the stethoscope listening piece against him. Almost simultaneously, the person on the bed suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils gleaming in the dim light..

If Bohemia knew what was happening in the hospital, she would’ve immediately tried to boil Lin Sanjiu alive. However, Bohemia was completely occupied by what was happening on her side at that moment.

After all, it was hard for Bohemia to focus on anything else when surrounded by a sea of corpses. The stench of decaying fat and protein was enough to make one want to vomit their soul out of their body. Bohemia was currently squatting beside the overwhelming stench, tightly covering her nose and mouth. Even in the darkness, her face was deathly pale.

With the help of the newly arrived excavators, the group led by Old Da finally managed to fill the dump truck’s bucket with the corpses on the ground. During the process, nearly half of the workers couldn’t help but vomit. Bohemia sat in the narrow space between the bucket and the front of the vehicle, closest to the corpses. The overwhelming smell made her fingers tremble and her mind wander. When the vehicle started moving, she almost threw up the contents of her stomach along with it.

“I should have had switched roles with Lin Sanjiu earlier!”

Fortunately, after leaving the landfill, the night breeze blew on their faces, diluting the intense stench of death to some extent.

‘Why would anyone be willing to collect these corpses?’

Bohemia tightly sealed her lips. She feared that if she opened her mouth, the smell would rush in and get stuck forever. She leaned against the edge of the loader’s bucket, supporting herself as she stood up.

No matter how disgusting and foul it was, she couldn’t help but want to see what was so special about these corpses that warranted such an intense operation.

Bohemia braced herself against the edge of the bucket, her face covered by her coat, which had become wrinkled from disgust. During the process of moving the corpses, many of them had been crushed and damaged. The sight inside was indescribable. Fortunately, the wind was blowing in the opposite direction, so even if there was something inside those corpses, it wouldn’t be able to break through her protective clothing.

The convoy continued to drive through the night, avoiding the wide and smooth roads and instead taking desolate and uninhabited paths. They were heading towards the border—Bohemia remembered Old Da saying that the border was a short distance away in that direction.

“Are these people smuggling corpses? What’s the point of this?” she muttered, sitting back down. “Don’t people die in other countries?”

She leaned against the bucket wall, looking up at the night sky as it receded along with the vehicle. If it weren’t for the concern of raising suspicion among the people in the vehicle, she would have loved to send a paper crane to inquire about Lin Sanjiu’s situation… After swaying back and forth on the vehicle for a while, Bohemia began to feel drowsy.

This world is strange, but the night sky is still beautiful… Like countless sparkling diamonds falling into the water, shining brightly… Although the scenery in the Astral Plane’s starry sky is more magnificent, it doesn’t have these straight columns that extend into the sky…

‘Huh?’

Bohemia blinked her eyes and shook her head.

‘Columns that extend into the sky? What is she looking at?’

She stared at two thin, tall “pillars,” her eyes gradually widening, yet she couldn’t understand what she was seeing.

Fleshy… although they appeared slender, they were probably as thick as a person’s torso… No, she couldn’t have been mistaken. These two thin pillars were slowly and steadily extending higher and longer into the sky, accompanied by a nauseating sensation that was difficult to grasp… And it appeared they were growing out from the cargo hold…

‘What the hell is this?’

Bohemia suddenly jumped up but didn’t immediately look into the cargo bed. She huddled in the shadow by the cargo hold’s wall, her mind racing with various thoughts. Just as she was strying to made up her mind, she heard a panicked shout from the front of the vehicle, “It’s coming out! Oh my God, it’s really coming out!”

“Don’t panic, stay calm!” Old Da’s voice sounded from another vehicle. Although his face, round and chubby, lacked any color, his voice was composed, “Continue driving forward. We’re almost at the border!”

“But what if—”

“Xiao Liu! You and a few others drive the vehicles over and keep an eye on it. If you see any signs of the bottom of this vehicle cracking, immediately signal us!” It seemed like Old Da had rehearsed various scenarios, and despite the pale face peering out of the loader’s bucket, he maintained his composure. “Once you see the signal, quickly unload the bucket!”

Bohemia withdrew her gaze. For some reason, she felt that those two smooth columns looked incredibly nauseating as they continued to grow longer.

If they were going to unload the cargo hold, should she jump to the front of the truck first? If she could climb onto the roof, she might be able to see what was happening in the hold from a higher angle…

Wait, Bohemia suddenly froze.

Why would the bottom of the truck bed crack? After all, it was so thick…

Just as she was thinking this, the metal cargo hold wall in front of her began to bulge, gradually forming an uneven, head-sized protrusion. It was as if someone was hiding behind a bedsheet, poking their head out little by little.

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