Chapter 115: Huadu Again?

Chapter 115: Flower Capital, once more?

Although we can be fairly certain that this so‑called ‘monster’ is actually a human, the apparent hunt by Chen Jian’s squad turns out to be of no real help.

For they still lack any traceable clues, sufficient evidence, or even a direct means of locating it.

But the attribute ‘human’ is exceptionally special.

Especially a human who is obsessed with walking through the ‘door’.

From this alone it is enough to show that the creature retains a considerable degree of human habits.

And human habits differ from those of low‑intelligence animals as heaven differs from earth.

They are destined to seek a perfect shelter, to have social needs, and even in a barbaric environment they will strive to approximate genuine human life.

This in fact already confines the monster’s range of activity to a very small area.

Chen Jian’s gaze swept over the aerial footage relayed by the drone, and then he spoke:

“He Shuo, focus the reconnaissance along the rivers and lakeshores.”

“Pay particular attention to small clusters of artificial structures, to abnormal smoke and abnormal heat sources.”

“Fly several times, spend a few hours conducting a preliminary survey of the circular area with a five‑kilometre radius centred on Wushan Lake.”

“Save all the aerial images; later we will organise a unified analysis and discussion.”

“Tonight we will stay in Wuxue Town.”

“This monster hasn’t appeared for half a month, and with each passing day the probability of it attacking Wuxue Town again rises.”

“If we happen to run into it, that would be ideal.”

“Even if we can’t catch it on the spot, as long as it leaves a trace the drone can nail it down!”

“Understood.”

The squad members replied in turn; at this moment the entire exterior of the building had been thoroughly inspected.

Apart from the trait Chen Jian found in the claw marks, they discovered no other valuable clues.

Chen Jian stepped into the half‑collapsed building, and the others followed him inside.

The air was thick with a putrid stench, and Zhao He frowned as he asked:

“Sirs, it’s very… very dirty in here; do we really have to look?”

“Of course.”

Chen Jian nodded calmly and then replied:

“Since we can be fairly sure the monster is actually human, your claim of completely random ‘savage killing’ no longer holds.”

“A monster may kill without motive, but a human always has a reason.”

“Even a random killing stems from some motive—so what is special about this family?”

Zhao He fell silent for a long while, then answered:

“None.”

“They are just an ordinary family in Wuxue Town, living here since their ancestors.”

“They mainly make a living by supplying dry rations to merchants; the rotting stuff over there is the dough they have fermented.”

Following Zhao He’s finger, Chen Jian saw in a non‑stick pot whose coating had completely peeled off a mass of dough covered in mold.

“Why not dispose of it?”

“.No one wants to deal with it because it’s truly ominous. The house ought to have been burned down, but the weather has been dry and the forest is close, so we feared starting a fire and left it untouched.”

“Understood. As for this family’s social ties—I mean, how are their relations with the other townsfolk?”

“.Hard to say. But at least we can be sure there is no conflict.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I know every household here well; Wuxue Town is small enough that if there were any dispute I would certainly be the first to hear of it.”

Quite reasonable.

Chen Jian nodded inwardly, basically accepting Zhao He’s description.

Judging by the present situation, this household truly is the most ordinary residence in Wuxue Town.

And judging by the furnishings, there is absolutely no need for them to have been ‘plundered’.

There are no high‑value items, nor any ‘pre‑cataclysm treasures’ that would tempt anyone.

Like everyone else in the wasteland, they collect scrap and refuse from wherever they find it—including several clearly unusable batteries, large quantities of plastic bottles not yet sold to the Machine God Sect, and a few bits of metal.

These things have never been moved—frankly, who would bother to kill someone over a pile of junk like this?

Chen Jian searched carefully all around, but came up empty.

So he turned to Zhao He beside him and said:

“There are no more clues here.”

“Please compile the information on the other victims for me—write it out on paper, in detail!”

“No problem, no problem!”

Zhao He immediately turned to find someone to prepare the documents, while Chen Jian and the others walked out of the room.

But just as he was preparing to lead the team back to their base, Xie Liu suddenly stopped in her tracks, then turned and walked back into the collapsed room.

Chen Jian wanted to follow, but after a few seconds she came back out.

After taking several deep breaths, Xie Liu entered the room again.

This back‑and‑forth happened several times; Chen Jian found it puzzling but did not interrupt.

Until the final time, Xie Liu walked up beside Chen Jian and declared firmly:

“There is a strange smell in this room!”

“A strange smell?”

Chen Jian blinked, then asked:

“You don’t mean the putrid odor, do you?”

“No.”

Xie Liu frowned, thought for a moment, then spoke hesitantly:

“I have the feeling this scent is familiar, but if you ask me where I’ve smelled it before, I can’t recall at the moment.”

“It isn’t particularly distinctive, but I can guarantee it is far from an ordinary, common smell.”

“Where exactly have I smelled it then?”

“Perhaps the Hall of Holy Blood? No, that doesn’t seem right either.”

Chen Jian stepped into the room, inhaled a few breaths, then shook his head and said:

“I can’t smell it at all.”

“You definitely can’t smell it; the odor is almost gone—our sense of smell is a bit sharper than yours—Zeng Yi, can you smell it?”

“I can smell it, but I think it’s the first time I’ve encountered it; I’m unfamiliar with this scent.”

“But this smell is indeed somewhat distinctive—is it some kind of floral fragrance?”

“It’s not a floral fragrance.”

Xie Liu shook her head decisively, then said:

“We should go check the residences of the other victims; perhaps the smell is stronger there.”

“Those places have already been burned down.”

Zhao He, who had returned, hurriedly spoke:

“It’s not that we don’t want to leave clues, but we still have to live here; the residents purify ill omens with fire, and we’ve always done it this way.”

Zhao He’s words fell, and Chen Jian’s gaze toward him also carried a hint of suspicion.

But he lacked sufficient evidence; suspicion could only remain suspicion.

He turned to Xie Liu, who was thinking with eyes closed, and asked:

“Can you locate the source of the odor? Is it emanating from some object inside the room?”

“Definitely not.”

Xie Liu shook her head and said:

“If there were such a strong odor, you all would have been able to smell it.”

“It’s merely a residual trace of the smell—when it was left behind it must have been intense, but now it has long since dissipated.”

“I need to think about it carefully.”

“Don’t rush.”

Chen Jian comforted her:

“Take your time; this isn’t a timed mission, we’re not short on time.”

“Let’s first return to our base and analyze the drone imagery.”

“As long as this monster isn’t like the earth dragon we encountered before, living long‑term in underground burrows, we’ll always be able to find some trace of human habitation.”

“Understood.”

Xie Liu nodded slowly, her mind racing.

She faintly felt she had received some inspiration; that familiar sensation flashed through her mind, as if triggered by a certain word.

So which word was it?

Humans, underground burrows, earth dragon, monster, base, odor, floral fragrance—

Wait!

In Xie Liu’s mind a flash of lightning went off, the murky darkness instantly torn apart.

Flowers, basement.

She remembered where she had smelled this odor before.

The Blood Skull’s camp, that basement.

And also, many years ago she had once visited the City of Flowers!

“It’s the City of Flowers.”

Xie Liu said:

“The odor comes from the City of Flowers.”

“To be precise, it comes from the siren of the City of Flowers!”

(End of chapter)