Chapter 496 The Girl

The strange creature seemed to have the ability to resurrect infinitely, but it hasn't resurrected and reappeared near us. It seems that the flames I infused with killing intent had an effect.

The power possessed by the anomalies of the apocalyptic era seems far more bizarre than the anomalies I've heard of in the modern world. They may have evolved adaptively to the apocalyptic environment. But even as apocalyptic anomalies, they are ultimately still anomalies, not something that truly threatens the world. Although they possess unique rules of immortality, the Great Impermanence is an earthly deity capable of reshaping the rules of heaven and earth; there's no reason I shouldn't be able to kill something of that level.

That being said, I still have to admit that the post-apocalyptic supernatural beings are quite formidable. After all, there are indeed creatures that can open the skull of a god right off the bat. Fortunately, that "dark history" remains unknown, otherwise, I might be too embarrassed to utter those boasts later.

Therefore, I should remain somewhat wary, as that infinitely resurrecting monster might reappear in the future.

"It really didn't reappear... Could it have been truly destroyed? Or am I mistaken, and that strange creature isn't the same one as the one in the rumors?"

The cartographer still seemed baffled, but had no choice but to put it aside for the time being. He stopped in front of one of the shops on the pedestrian street.

Judging from the sign hanging outside, this is a hot pot restaurant, with the main entrance tightly closed. The cartographer stood outside, gently knocked on the door in a fixed pattern, then lowered the lantern against the door and led us back two steps.

It seems this is the cartographer's safe haven.

I vaguely heard tiptoeing footsteps behind the door. With my keen hearing, I could even roughly deduce the height, weight, and current movements of the person behind the door. The person seemed to be thin and short, lying on the ground behind the door, probably peeking through the crack. In that position, they should also be able to see the blessing lantern placed against the door.

A moment later, the other person slowly stood up and opened the door.

The person behind the door was a thin boy of about eleven or twelve years old. He first looked at the cartographer, then at me and Tanxiang, and showed an extremely wary expression.

“I’m back,” the cartographer said. “They are my new partners.”

The boy didn't speak, but stared at me and Tanxiang for a few seconds before stepping aside. The cartographer picked up the lantern from the ground and followed us into the safe house.

The safe house was originally a hot pot restaurant, with many tables and chairs. In the center was a large round table with a white blessing lamp floating above it.

This blessing lamp is much larger than the blessing lamp inside the lantern, which is only the size of a finger, while the former is slightly larger than a palm.

As a light source, the blessing lamp was not very bright, and the safe house was quite large, so the interior was only vaguely illuminated, barely enough to make out the outlines of the nearby tables and chairs.

I saw another figure next to the large round table. It was a thin girl holding a picture book. She looked slightly older than the boy from before, but still within the range of a child.

The girl made no response to our entry, simply sitting in the chair, staring blankly at the picture book in her hands.

I had heard before that the cartographer only had two companions in the safe house, but I never expected them to be two children. Now I understand why the cartographer risked going out alone to collect supplies, and why, even with two companions, he was so eager to recruit them, even actively trying to win over Sandalwood, who seemed to have no survival skills whatsoever. Compared to these two children, Sandalwood was at least an adult.

Furthermore, the cartographer mentioned having a mentally unstable partner who knew clues about the small bowl. The boy from earlier clearly didn't seem mentally unstable, so could this girl be the one I'm looking for?

"Is it her?" I asked the cartographer directly.

“No, it’s someone else…” The cartographer’s face showed bitterness.

As if in response to his words, a sudden, restless struggle came from upstairs. My hearing picked it up immediately, and like a bat, it formed an image in my mind, sketching out a blurry picture—upstairs, there was a person bound by metal chains, lying on the ground, twisting and struggling, trying to break free of the restraints with brute force.

The girl remained unmoved, the boy frowned, and Tanxiang exclaimed in surprise, "What's that noise?"

"I heard you only have two companions?" I asked.

The cartographer sighed, "It's hard to call him our partner now, so when I mentioned him to you before, although I still referred to him as a partner, I couldn't include him in the count."

"Can I go see him now?"

Actually, I was also very curious about the blessed lamps inside the safe house, but compared to that, I cared more about the clues about the small bowl.

"Of course, let me put my things away first."

The cartographer took off his backpack and his linen cloak. The boy beside him dutifully tidied up the cartographer's belongings. The cartographer instructed the boy to sort the supplies in his backpack and then use some of the canned goods and the remaining ingredients in the safe house to prepare a meal. The boy remained silent, like a block of wood, only nodding quietly.

While the two were interacting, I walked over to the girl. She was looking down at her sketchbook, seemingly unaware of my approach. The sketchbook was full of childish doodles; I wondered if she had drawn them herself.

Her eyes were vacant, and her lips were slightly parted, reminiscent of a patient in a mental hospital. Her pupils seemed unfocused, making it difficult to tell whether she was actually looking at the picture book or simply posing as if looking at it in a daze. Due to the low ambient light, an ordinary person would not be able to discern what was on the picture book unless they squinted and looked closely.

Considering my position as a guest, I felt I should show some friendliness, so I said, "You can't see clearly like this, and it's not good for your eyesight to be in such darkness. Let me help you."

Upon hearing this, the girl remained unresponsive, like a wax figure. I then took it upon myself to summon a small fireball as a new light source. Considering the dimness of the safe house might also serve to conceal me in the vicinity, the fireball I summoned wasn't particularly bright; it was just enough to illuminate the pages of the book, given its proximity to the girl and the sketchbook.

Perhaps sensing the new light and temperature, the girl finally reacted, slowly moving her neck like a plant welcoming daylight, turning her face from the picture book toward me.

To be precise, it moved to the little fireball I was holding in my hand.

She seemed unfazed by the glare, her eyes slowly widening as she stared at the fireball for several seconds. Just as I was about to remind her to protect her eyes, her slightly open mouth suddenly opened even wider, and a sharp scream escaped her throat.

"--ah!!!"

Her reaction was so violent, it was as if someone afraid of snakes had been bitten on the nose by a flying snake. It was hard to imagine that the girl who had been so quiet just moments before could now experience such a dramatic emotional outburst. She screamed and kicked backward in her chair, losing her balance and falling heavily to the ground.

"What happened!?"

The cartographer had looked over when I summoned the small fireball, and seemed equally puzzled by the girl's inexplicable reaction. He quickly went to the girl's side and bent down to help her up.

I briefly explained what had just happened. The cartographer's face seemed to be full of question marks. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Anyway, I'll take her inside to rest for a bit..."

He picked the girl up in his arms and carried her to a room deep inside the safe house.

He was probably spending time calming the girl down, and it was quite a while before he returned.

He looked at me with a very strange expression.

"I think I did something wrong?" I asked.

“…I saw it all just now. You meant well, but…” the cartographer said sadly, “That child’s situation is a bit special. She used to be in another survivor group, and her parents might still be there.”

"But one day, a powerful monster that could manipulate fire attacked her group, and she was the only survivor. After that, she became dazed and confused, as if she had lost her mind. Although I protected her, I can only hear snippets of words from her until now; most of the time she doesn't speak."

"That powerful, strange entity that manipulates flames, specifically refers to...?" I felt a connection forming in my mind.

The girl's excessive stress reaction may stem from psychological trauma related to fire. As for powerful and bizarre beings that manipulate fire in the apocalyptic era, the only one I know of is the Great Demon of Calamity.

The Great Demon is one of the countless strange creatures that roam freely across the apocalyptic land; it could even be said to be the king of the strange creatures of this era.

Of course, manipulating fire isn't a rare power; countless strange beings in the modern world fit this description, let alone in a post-apocalyptic world. Ma once told me in a conversation that she had some unknown knowledge that the total number of strange beings appearing in a post-apocalyptic world might be hundreds or even thousands of times greater than the total human population in the modern world. Therefore, it's possible I'm simply ignorant.

Based on my experience, all unfortunate coincidences eventually come true in my life.

The cartographer glanced at me and then replied, "...I don't know either, she didn't tell me."

Then he turned around, picked up the blessing lantern, and said, “Let’s go upstairs first. Didn’t you want to see my crazy friend? I’ll take you to see him now.”

He moved towards the stairs, and I followed. The boy had already gone to prepare the meal, and Tanxiang, not wanting to be left alone, quickly followed us as well.

(End of this chapter)