The Yusefka Clinic is not far away from the Gascoigne family in a straight line, but due to the topography and architectural style of Yan’an, Lann has to take a long, winding route to escort Viola and the children safely.
This kind of back-and-forth detour where you don’t actually go far in a straight line can be quite infuriating.
If Lann were alone, with his jumping ability and Light Body Skill, he could practically parkour.
Running back and forth on the rooftops of Yan’an.
But since he brought people along, this method had to be reluctantly abandoned.
"Hold onto them well, we’ll move section by section. I’ll clear a safe space for you, then continue clearing ahead, and bring you all forward, and so on. All you need to do is make sure you don’t come into contact with the foul blood, stay quiet, and keep your incense burning."
Before opening the door, Lann patiently reiterated to the tense mother and her two daughters once again.
At this moment, no one would find it repetitive, only worried they might miss even a single word.
Viola draped a knit scarf over her shoulders, holding a small bag in her hand, and carrying an incense burner.
The two little girls were simpler, just adding a small hood over their plain dresses to cover their heads.
The night in Yan’an had a layer of cold mist hovering near the ground. The blood spilled on the ground reflected the moonlight, making the mist even more elusive.
Making this Victorian-style city appear even colder and gloomier.
Victoria let out a small cry of surprise, only to have her sister grip her wrist tightly and suppress the sound.
Those were the corpses of two people who had undergone beastification, now on all fours.
One body knelt as if executed, its thick, hairy neck with only a patch of fur still connecting at the throat.
A head malformed to resemble that of a wolf drooped down to the chest, held by that small patch of fur.
The other was more normal; its chest stabbed, and fearing the beastified person’s life was too resilient.
The stabber had pulled the knife horizontally, creating a large gash from the chest to the ribs.
The undistorted, undecomposed internal organs spilled out of the opening. More importantly, this process released a great amount of blood.
Internal organs were irrelevant to beastified creatures; what sustained their activity was... blood.
Viola cradled the heads of her children in her arm, preventing them from seeing more, as they moved forward hugging one another.
"It’s okay, we’ll be okay... this is Mr. Lann’s work result, there’s no need to be afraid..."
The family’s departure was watched by other Yan Nan People nearby.
But they had no intention of following; instead, they mostly cast mocking, derisive glances at the Gascoigne family following Lann away.
"Look at them, foolish women and children tricked by an outsider to seek death, hehe..."
"Outsiders can’t be trusted, even the hunters from outside are lazy, not doing their jobs! This night of the hunt hasn’t ended, all because they slack off!"
Sneers and whispers drifted from the surrounding houses.
Lann solemnly scanned these houses.
The people inside maliciously mocked those outside, but those outside realized that the people inside were oblivious to their predicament.
The night of the hunt would not end; time had been disrupted.
And each of them wouldn’t have too much incense prepared, as it was too expensive for residents.
Now, in this neighborhood, Lann could even hear the breath of beasts from the direction of the houses.
In some rooms, people had already turned into beasts due to the incense burning out.
And once the incense in other rooms ran out as well... the beasts that could smell human scent obviously wouldn’t be stopped by a mere door.
The sturdy houses would become slaughterhouses.
"Don’t stop, keep moving, I’ve cleared quite a long path ahead."
Lann did not plan to lead these people away, because they themselves did not trust outsiders.
He wanted to save people but wouldn’t expend valuable energy on those who didn’t wish to be saved.
A stone bridge went up the stairs from Fountain Square. The varied elevations of Yan’an often compelled the architects to erect a stone bridge mid-air.
With Viola’s guidance, they crossed the stone bridge, arriving on a grand road divided into three levels of elevation.
They were on the topmost third level.
"Don’t look down... keep moving."
Lann blocked the way next to the lower level, letting Viola and the children pass on the innermost side to rush forward. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on novel⦿fire.net
He frowned himself, looking at the scene on the street below.
If you had to describe the scene below... a bonfire party?
Yet in stark contrast to the usual jovial gatherings, what burned at the center of this fire was not wood, but a severely beastified humanoid.
And the ones tying the beastified person to a wooden stake and burning them weren’t hunters, keen on using fire against monsters... but another group of beastified people!
A group still clothed like humans yet sprouting dense, hard black hair on their heads, faces, hands, and feet, holding human tools.
They seemed immersed in their own world.
Holding torches, leading similarly beastified dogs, hunting on the road those patients without human form.
They numbered many, with several firearms and fierce dogs, so they succeeded quite a few times.
"Filthy beasts... all should die..."
"Get away... beasts, keep your distance..."
This is what they muttered, looking like a group of people driven mad by beasts, coming out instead to hunt the beasts.
Lann didn’t know if they had genuinely gone mad, infected with beastification after coming outside.
Or if after being infected with beastification inside, they came out due to their final obsession.
But anyhow, as long as this night doesn’t end, the entire Yan’an... will likely end up , won’t it?
Taking down these beastified patients holding a bonfire party wouldn’t be difficult, but the gunners among them could slightly turn their guns and pose a threat to Viola and the others, who were ordinary people.
Lann didn’t want to start a fight where he couldn’t use his full strength, so all four of them walked lightly, hugging the innermost side as they moved forward.
Upon reaching the end, Lann was the first to leap to the next level.
With the breathing technique of the Light Body Skill, the landing of him clad in heavy armor made barely a sound.
As soon as he landed, Lann didn’t pause, seeming to have anticipated something, rushing directly to a corner hidden by the shadows of crates and large coffins.
A large hand in studded leather gloves pressed into the corner, alongside a muffled whimper caught in the throat and a dull thud of a forehead colliding with a wall, leading to the fracture and deformity of bones.
A beastified patient, wearing a straw hat and dressed in a yellow-stained shirt, collapsed to the ground.
Two legs weakly slipped out from the shadows.
Lann shook the brain matter off his hand.
These patients, aside from their ferocious nature, some were rather cunning.