Flash Flood

Translator: Cinder Translations

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Influenced by the emotional state of the blonde man, the expressions of Jiang Cheng and the others grew more serious, even Chen Ran, who usually appeared casual, involuntarily became much more reserved.

"What happened a few days later?" Jiang Cheng asked calmly.

The blonde man pressed his lips together, then drank deeply from his cup. The woman serving him, either lost in thought or scared by the blonde man's expression, failed to refill his glass.

"A few days later, the person responsible for guarding the forest's edge suddenly barged into my home, excitedly telling me that the people who had gone missing earlier had returned."

"Returned?" the Fatty asked, his eyes widening.

Jiang Cheng gave him a glance, and the Fatty immediately fell silent.

"Yes, they returned," the blonde man paused, then continued, "No matter how you look at it, this is a huge blessing for the town. The elderly have their children back, the women have their husbands again, and the children... have their fathers."

"That night, we held a welcome feast in the town for the returning warriors. It had been a long time since the town was this lively, everyone brought out their best wine, and the men vowed not to return home until drunk."

"While drinking, they shared the stories of what happened after they entered the forest."

From this point on, the blonde man's memories became somewhat unclear. Perhaps it was due to his own condition, or perhaps the men who had returned from the forest had distorted memories.

In any case, according to the blonde man's recollections as the town mayor, the hunters encountered an unusually heavy rain soon after entering the forest, which triggered a flash flood.

At that time, they were in a low-lying area with very little space to take cover. The flood came rapidly and violently, sweeping away anyone who couldn't evade it. After the flood receded and they counted their numbers, they discovered one person was missing.

That person was a very young hunter, though experienced, and one of the leaders of the group.

The bond among the townspeople was deep; they had been playing together since childhood, so naturally, they couldn't just abandon him. Even though they knew he had little chance of survival, they followed the flow of the flash flood to search for him.

No, to be more accurate, they were looking for his body.

The chances of surviving after being swept away by a flash flood were almost nonexistent, especially deep in the mountains.

What they needed to do was recover the body for burial.

If they could actually find it.

At this point, they had already given up hope of finding the other missing people because, based on the weather, they had likely encountered a similar disaster, and their chances of survival were slim.

However, to their surprise, following the floodwaters led them to a place they had never been before.

This was deep in the forest, where they discovered a giant stone slab.

The stone slab was pure white, with strange glowing lights shimmering on its surface.

It was clear that the stone slab had been buried under dirt before, and had only been uncovered due to the flash flood.

To their astonishment, they found fruit trees near the slab, and the fruits were incredibly sweet. A small stream wound around the slab, its water clear enough to see fish swimming below.

The men excitedly discussed the mysterious nature of the stone slab, leaving the townspeople stunned.

They became so absorbed in the stone slab that they forgot their initial purpose of searching for people.

It was no wonder they were so interested in it—today's oceans no longer provided for them like they once did. Food from the sea was becoming harder to find, and the unexpected discovery of this strange stone slab seemed to offer a remedy for their resource scarcity.

Especially considering it was a good source of water, it seemed that migrating there might not be a bad idea.

Without much discussion, they unanimously decided that the next day, the hunters would lead the way, and everyone would go into the forest to take a look.

That night, the blonde man, as the mayor, drank too much wine in his joy. As a result, he was carried away before the banquet was even halfway through.

Lying in bed, he was awoken by someone shaking him urgently, calling his name in a low voice.

When the blonde man opened his eyes and saw the person, his previously foggy mind became instantly alert, and his hair stood on end.

The person squatting in front of him was covered in mud, with only two bloodshot eyes staring directly at him. Despite his disheveled appearance, the blonde man immediately recognized him.

It was the young hunter who had been swept away by the flash flood!

But... wasn't he supposed to be dead?

Could it be...?

As the blonde man trembled in fear, unable to speak, the young man who had been swept away by the flood spoke.

"Mayor," he said, his voice choked with tears, "We encountered the flash flood, and everyone in the group died except me!"

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, the Fatty's heart likely leapt to his throat. If the men who returned were telling the truth, then the young man in front of them was a ghost!

But if the young man was telling the truth, what were those men out there at the feast?

However, the Fatty quickly realized that the young man who had sneaked into the blonde man's room was telling the truth. He was human.

Otherwise, seeing the pale blonde man, the Fatty would never have had the opportunity to tell this story.

A cold chill ran down his spine as he thought about the strange and terrifying creatures outside. But what scared him more was the white stone slab the blonde man had mentioned.

In Su Xiaoxiao's recounting, there had also been a strange white stone slab.

And around it, piles of white bones.

Moreover, those bones could come to life and attack anyone who approached.

The things Su Xiaoxiao and her brother encountered were likely the same beings the men from the forest "returned" as, in the blonde man's story.

What were they?

Ghosts?

The Fatty thought for a while but couldn't figure it out. They didn't match his typical image of a ghost; instead, they seemed like eerie entities driven by some primal instinct.

It seemed like something deeper was controlling them, but the Fatty couldn't make sense of it for now.

As for what happened after that night, the blonde man did not mention it, but from his eyes, it was clear that something significant had changed in the town after that night.

Because his next words were, "I brought the remaining men from the town..."

Remaining...

"Finally, we found the stone slab," the torchlight flickered across the blonde man's sharp face, casting shadows. His voice was hoarse, as though he had swallowed sand. "The area around the stone slab was a barren wasteland, not a blade of grass grew there. The dark red soil seemed to be soaked in blood. On the stone slab..."

He paused, then suddenly looked up, his eyes as red as though they were about to bleed. "Layer upon layer, there were the corpses of townspeople! Men, women, children... everyone who had gone missing was there!"

(End of the Chapter)

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Translated 4 Series, 1.65K+ Chapters and 2.01M+ Words.