Chapter 263: Underground Shadow
Indeed, all this was just an intentional copy. Every single spot in this world emanated that familiar feeling of the Dream World.
Tang Ling had noticed this a while ago. However, since it was just a copy, it was not as magical as the real Dream World. Therefore, the purple mist was not real despite there being an energy wave in the mist that felt tender. It was fake!
Although he was cultivating the Thousand Satin Skill here, he could not gather any energy! Still, it was not without its benefits either. As Tang Ling cultivated his Thousand Satin Skill, his body had shown signs of slow recovery.
Is this a little consolation prize? Trying to copy the real thing?
Tang Ling smiled and shook his head, then continued his cultivation. Since it could recover his energy, why not cultivate it? He was wondering when the game in this world truly began and how much of his energy he could recover.
Time slowly passed by. The night was dark and heavy while the purple mist showed no signs of fading. Instead, it got heavier. The visibility in the misty environment was close to zilch. He had still been able to see the street from the roof a while ago, but now he could not even see his own body.
There were strange noises that echoed in the mist, so it was difficult for one to not be scared. Even with Tang Ling’s eyesight, all he could see was blurry shadows. The street was so quiet that there was not even a single stray cat or dog, let alone people.
“Damn it! The electricity went out!” Emily’s bellow came from below and as her screams echoed, the whole town went dark.
A rustling came from the house. It was probably Joshua’s so-called relatives searching for torchlights and making their way back to their own rooms to rest. Amid the rustling was even more rustling from outside the house.
Tang Ling opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on the little square where the stone tablet for the third level of formation was located since he was not far away from it. If there was no mist, he would have been able to have a clearer look at the little square.
The rustling got louder, so Tang Ling stopped his cultivation and stood up on the roof.
The townspeople also finally noticed the rustling, but in the strange misty environment, plus the blackout and all sorts of strange noises, no one dared to walk out of their houses to find out what was happening.
“Dad, why isn’t the phone working? I have to call Zorwen.” Blanky grumbled, sounding extra irritating on a night like this.
“What are you complaining about? I’m too busy to fix the damned phone for you! The mobile phones aren’t working either. The signal has been unstable for a few days now. Are those technicians in the telecommunication station sleeping on their jobs?” Joshua’s uncle sounded cantankerous as if the lousy night affected his mood as well.
Tang Ling started to stretch. While he had recovered a bit of his strength and speed, it was still far from his prime form. He had to get used to his current condition to be able to work together with his Precise Instinct.
At the same time, in a secluded corner of an alley somewhere in the town, a sewer lid was slowly dragged open.
A huge figure with a black mantle over its steaming body crawled out from the sewer. The figure seemed happy upon reaching the surface. It greedily opened its mouth and sucked in the purple mist.
Inside the open sewer hole behind that figure were rats as big as dogs. These rats no longer had white teeth but black strips. If Tang Ling was around, he would have been able to recognize his old friend from the settlement, the black-toothed rats.
The huge figure chuckled in a strange tone and the swarm of rats started to march out.
As the figure’s footsteps pattered, Tang Ling’s vision of the little square started to clear up and the stone tablet started to shine brightly. Following the bright gleam, complex formation lines appeared around it. They were the very formation lines that Tang Ling had been searching for.
Based on the direction on how they deciphered the formation earlier, these formations lines that appeared should be connected to the entire Ninth Ruins. If Tang Ling could decipher this and search for the path out of town, the third level of formation would be completely deciphered.
It sounded simple, did it not? Alas, it definitely was not because this town would surely face a catastrophic disaster tonight!
Those rustling noises that echoed in the air sounded familiar to Tang Ling. They were the noises of rodent activities, and the rodents that Tang Ling knew were those from the Purple Moon era.
With Tang Ling’s understanding of the humans of the old civilization, if they were to fight the rats one-on-one, they would no match for the wretched rodents. Even after Tang Ling recovered a bit of his strength and speed, the rats were dangerous to him if he somehow got surrounded.
All the dots were connected. The way to decipher the third-level formation should be using his current strength, and he had to solve the formation line while under siege from the rats. After that, he had to proceed according to the path that he figured out and reach the goal to complete the formation.
If that was the plan, Tang Ling had to quickly memorize the formation lines and start working on them, but he seemed to think in a different direction. He glanced over at the formation lines before he turned around and sprinted towards the north-west direction of the town.
According to Ro Xin, since the formation had appeared, every wrong step would punish Tang Ling severely and she was correct.
Tang Ling was still on the roof, but a giant rat had appeared in the yard and it noticed him. It swiftly climbed the pipes and made its way to the roof.
Black-toothed rats?! Do they already exist in this era? The Purple Moon doesn’t even exist yet!
Tang Ling was slightly shocked, but he was not scared. He used to hunt the rats as rations back in the settlement, so why would he be scared of his old friend? As thoughts ran through his mind, he continued towards the north-west.
The black-toothed rat squeaked after it was ignored and ran towards Tang Ling.
Tang Ling was familiar with the rodent’s movements, so even without using his Precise Instinct, he was able to effectively dodge the rat. With a simple twist, he evaded it and continued sprinting.
“Hey, you little bastard, what are you doing on my roof? Don’t let me get my hands on you, or you’re dead!” Joshua’s uncle bellowed as the commotion on the roof startled him.
Tang Ling grinned coldly. He coiled his leg muscles and leaped forward lightly to land on the fences of the yard before he continued forward.
As for Joshua’s uncle, by the time he discovered the surprise waiting for him, he would already be dead.
Tang Ling was fast while the rat on the roof was not as nimble as him, so it was not able to catch up with him, but as Joshua’s uncle made his way to the attic, his footsteps attracted the rodent.
…
The painful wails resounded from far away, but Tang Ling did not even turn around.
Many lives would perish on this very night. With Joshua’s uncle being the first to die, would his death contribute to the completion of the task?
Tang Ling could not help but think that way. He dared not slow down at all because black-toothed rats appeared like the tidal wave! It only took less than a minute for the numbers to grow from the first rodent to a sea of rats.
Had he been in his prime, Tang Ling would not have cared, but now, he did not have the courage to swim in the sea of rats. Running as fast as he could at his current speed, he jumped and leaped over obstacles as if he was participating in the extreme sport of the old civilization called parkour, and he excelled at it. He jumped, tumbled, and ran across many kinds of roofs, walls, and obstacles. His movements were as fluid as liquid. With his Precise Instinct’s help, the path that he ran in were all carefully selected for him to dodge the obstacles. He would run into one or two rats along the way, but he decided to jump away instead of tangling with them.
In the eyes of the normal people of the old civilization, Tang Ling was running like Superman, but no one was there to admire his extreme performance because, with the invasion of the black-toothed rats, the whole town was turned upside down and became a living hell.
Cries and screams sounded in all directions, who would have the mood to care about how cool Tang Ling was parkouring in the mist? Moreover, the mist seemed to shroud everything, the people who died didn’t even know what attacked them.
The attack of the rats became faster and it was only natural for a small town like this to be overrun. The police force in the town could not do anything either unless reinforcements came for them, but it was impossible since the communication system was down.
Is this the rats’ handiwork? Are they that smart to take down the communications system? Tang Ling frowned and ran even faster as he doubted that the rats had such high intellect.
First of all, the telecommunication tower was destroyed to disrupt the mobile phone signal so that it was ultimately cut off that night, followed by the blackout. It was a step-by-step plan to isolate the town and remove it from the grid so that the attack could proceed smoothly.
It was a planned attack! It was obvious from all the details hidden from plain sight. For example, the telecommunication tower was not taken down in a single attack in order to numb the townspeople and so on.
As thoughts ran through his mind, Tang Ling hastened his steps. He was worried that he might be late. It was not easy deciphering the third-level formation, and it was a race against time.
Three minutes later, with the rats still on his tail, Tang Ling arrived in a residential home in the north-west corner of town.
This should be it. Darcy is living on the third floor of this little building.
The place was turned into hell by the dozen rats that were sieging the place. The streets, the yard, and the building were populated by rats! They were even dragging half-eaten human torsos on the streets.
Tang Ling took a deep breath and leaped over the fence of the first house, sneaking into Darcy’s yard through the second house.
There were also rats in the place. Fortunately, Darcy’s house was not a usual wooden house but was built with bricks. With the windows shut, the black-toothed rats were stuck outside for a while, but it was only a matter of time before they broke in.
Tang Ling kicked a rat that jumped on him away and climbed up the second floor via the water pipe as quickly as he could. He searched for Darcy’s room based on his memory and broke the window, jumping in.
“Who is it?!” Darcy screamed.
With Tang Ling’s eyesight, he was able to spot Darcy curled up in the corner of the room, covered in tears of fear.
At the same time, her door was kicked open. A rather strong-looking man barged in with a torchlight together with a hunting rifle. “Who dares hurt my daughter!?”
“Uncle Borry, I’m sorry. I have to take Darcy away, but I can’t save everyone here. The town is being overrun by huge rats. If we stay any longer, none of us will be able to get out.” Tang Ling originally did not want to bother about the man, but he suddenly thought of something and changed his approach, hence his sincere request.
“Joshua!” Darcy called out to Tang Lin in a tone of disbelief.
At that moment, a rat broke in through the window. Tang Ling quickly caught the rat which was the size of a large dog and pinned it onto the ground. With several quick and fierce punches, he beat the rat to death under Darcy and Borry’s unbelievable gaze.
He then hugged Darcy and held her head close to his chest. “I have to bring you away. I’m sorry that I can’t save your parents,” he told her softly as he tried to console her.
“No, Joshua, please save my family!” Darcy cried sadly.
“Joshua, I’ll leave my daughter in your hands,” Borry spoke. The fact that Tang Ling could punch the rat to death proved many things, so words were no longer necessary at the moment.
Tang Ling nodded. While Darcy cried in a heart-wrenching manner, he kicked the window open. Then, he jumped out to grab the ledge and carried her to the roof. Next, they would have to find a way to escape from the town.
Tang Ling sprinted as fast as he could in silence while he recalled the formation lines that had appeared from the stone tablet.
Because Darcy had witnessed what happened to the town, the overwhelming shock silenced her. She was not even curious about why ‘Joshua’ was so strong anymore. Her silence pained Tang Ling’s heart as it reminded him of how her sister had leaned on his shoulder during that ominous night.
Silent, Darcy was as numb and empty as San San had been that night.
Withstanding the pain, Tang Ling ran with all his might. Inevitably, he saw that black-mantled figure shrouded in steam.
“The Undergrounds?!” Tang Ling widened his eyes.
Does the end of humankind have something to do with the Undergrounds?
That was the first thought that came into Tang Ling’s head. The second thought he realized was that he was no match for the Underground race equipped with Prosthetics at the moment.
What now? Is deciphering the third-level formation this hard?!
