Origin of the Plague

[Plague Town Medical Log]

[Not only have we discovered an outbreak of plague in this small town, but also that strange mist. The mist produces a hallucinogenic effect and can pull people into a strange world (suspected).]

[It is said that many people saw their deceased relatives in that world... and even...?]

[The news has spread—]

[Those poor residents who lost their loved ones actually chose to inhale the mist voluntarily, and we cannot stop them.]

[Many residents have gone missing without leaving a single clue, leaving behind only puddles of unidentified black liquid.]

[Ah, compared to the utterly terrible situation right now, perhaps that isn't a bad thing.]

[Anyway, we are doomed.]

...

"A new one?" Tian Xiaotian found a new clue inside the clock tower. She pondered over it, as this was completely different from the records she had obtained during her first visit to Plague Town.

The things recorded on it were different as well.

"Mm." Ye Chuan looked at the log. It was roughly what he had guessed. After all, Tian Xiaotian had only received a low-rank evaluation last time she was here, so there was still a lot of information she hadn't excavated.

"To dare pull me into that kind of Inner World... this Plague Town really has no reason to exist anymore," Ye Chuan said with a faint smile, but his expression gave Tian Xiaotian a chilling sensation.

"It's just above us..."

"Mm."

Ascending the clock tower once again, the stairs were still coated in blackish-brown slime and withered vines. The stench of rot was several times more intense than it had been below.

Pushing open the dilapidated wooden door on the top floor, what came into view was not Qin Tianya from before, but a mass of unidentified fleshy tumorous monstrosity coiled in the center of the clock tower.

This monster was over three meters tall, its entire body a nauseating dark red, looking like countless pieces of rotting flesh forcibly glued together. Its surface was uneven, covered densely with bumps and folds.

Every bump was wriggling slightly, as if countless worms were frantically burrowing beneath the skin. Occasionally, semi-transparent plasma would ooze from the folds and drip onto the ground, corroding small pits into the floor.

The monster's body had no facial features, yet it was covered with countless closed eyes—eyes of varying sizes, some as small as fingernails, others as large as fists. The sclera were a cloudy yellow, and the pupils were deep black vertical slits. At this moment, they were staring unblinkingly at Ye Chuan and Tian Xiaotian.

Tian Xiaotian gripped her Spirit Sword tightly. "Big Shot, this monster... it's different from the one I met before..."

She looked at the grotesque thing before her, her brows locked in a frown.

The monster she encountered last time was not this one.

Although the monster before them made no sound, it exuded an oppressive force that could be felt deep within the soul.

The moment it noticed Ye Chuan and Tian Xiaotian, the blood vessels on the monster's surface suddenly grew taut, and all those closed eyes snapped open instantly, seemingly threatening the pair!

"We've entered a different ending, so it's normal for the BOSS to be different." Ye Chuan narrowed his eyes; he sensed a familiar aura on this monster.

"This mist and the plague—I assume you're the one who created them?"

"I was just thinking that the pitch-black fellow in the Inner World died too quickly, and I didn't get the chance to properly entertain it," Ye Chuan said as he walked toward the aberration.

The tentacled horror suddenly began to squirm, and clouds of dense mist surged from its body. After the mist covered the top of the clock tower, plague entities began to manifest one by one.

"Big Shot, I'll help you."

"Stand still." Ye Chuan cut off Tian Xiaotian's attempt to move forward with a single phrase.

"Uh..." Tian Xiaotian's movement paused.

Ye Chuan looked expressionlessly at the horror in the distance. He gripped the Spirit Sword in his hand, and then slashed out—

It looked like a plain and unremarkable blade of energy, yet it seemed to slice apart the surrounding scenery, cleaving the horror before him in two.

The clock tower, along with a large swath of buildings behind it—and even the entire Plague Town—began to collapse!

Tian Xiaotian looked down in disbelief, discovering that with Ye Chuan's single strike, the entire earth seemed to have been sliced open!

This...

The bisected horror, however, wriggled its flesh and began to reassemble itself.

Ye Chuan remained expressionless and delivered another slash.

Followed immediately by another.

No one knew exactly how many strikes Ye Chuan had unleashed in that split second. All that was known was that when he slowly lowered his sword, the horror before him, along with the entire Plague Town behind it, had instantly turned into dust!

Amidst a chorus of wailing sounds, Ye Chuan had buried both the anomaly and the entire Plague Town!

The monster was dead—utterly obliterated!

Tian Xiaotian: "?!"

At this moment, Ye Chuan stood silently. He didn't speak, simply lowering his gaze—

Tian Xiaotian noticed that her clearance window had appeared.

[C: Eliminate 20 Plague Hosts, obtain the Log (C), and eliminate the Clock Tower Monster

B: Enter the Inner World and survive for 7 days

A: Eliminate the Plague Bishop

S: Enter the Inner World and eliminate the Plague Source

SS: ??

SSS: ???]

[Defeated Final BOSS: Plague Source. Cleared [Death Train: Plague Town]. Evaluation: S]

[Rewards have been fully deposited. Return channel open.]

[Your constitution has increased.]

"Big Shot... we seem to have cleared this dungeon," Tian Xiaotian said.

"Mm." Ye Chuan glanced at his phone; it also indicated that he could return.

He felt as though there was something left undone.

But Ye Chuan was tired. Clearly, the events of the Inner World had affected his mood, and he no longer had the patience to continue with the dungeon's affairs.

"Let's go. The return channel is over by the train. It's time for me to go back too," Ye Chuan said.

"Understood, Big Shot..." Tian Xiaotian nodded upon hearing this, though there was a hint of reluctance in her eyes. "Next time..."

"Can we meet again next time?"

"Mm, there will be opportunities," Ye Chuan replied.

The two returned to the station of the Death Train. By now, the return channel had appeared at the carriage door.

The mist gradually dispersed. Plague Town had been destroyed by Ye Chuan, but the station remained perfectly intact.

"Huh?" Just then, Tian Xiaotian seemed to notice something, a flash of disbelief crossing her eyes.

She saw a group of people standing in the distance. The moment they saw Tian Xiaotian, a woman in the crowd raised her hand. "Xiaotian!"

"Zhang Ya!" Seeing that her partner hadn't died, Tian Xiaotian ran over excitedly. "Y-You guys aren't dead?!"

"Yeah," Zhang Ya said.

"It's good that your partners aren't dead," Ye Chuan glanced at the remaining people and then said to Tian Xiaotian.

"Mm!"

"Alright, I'm heading back then." Ye Chuan waved his hand.

"Big Shot... thank you." Tian Xiaotian wanted to say more, but in the end, she simply bowed deeply.

"Small matter." Ye Chuan paused in his steps, looking back at Tian Xiaotian. "See you next time..."

"Mm! See you next time!" Tian Xiaotian responded forcefully.

Ye Chuan smiled faintly before stepping into the return passage. A brilliant white light enveloped his figure, and in moments, he vanished without a trace.

Tian Xiaotian lingered for a long while, her eyes fixed on the spot where he had disappeared. Reluctantly, she finally withdrew her gaze, turned around, and said,

"Alright, let's head back, too..."

But in the very next instant, the expression on her face froze. Zhang Ya and the others were staring at her with an eerie, unsettling intensity.

At the same time, Tian Xiaotian noticed something horrifying—black, fleshy tendrils were beginning to spread across their bodies, branching out like darkened veins.

"You guys...?" Tian Xiaotian felt her scalp go numb with terror, and a bone-deep chill swept through her body, as if she had been plunged into an ice cellar.

Zhang Ya, standing at the forefront, fixed her gaze on Tian Xiaotian. Suddenly, she tilted her head to the side. Her mouth split open, grinning all the way to the roots of her ears in a grotesque smile.

"Xiaotian..."

"Stay here... and keep us company..."