【Brain storage area. The first few chapters are written a bit slowly. When you begin to gaze into this book, the Old Gods will begin to rummage through your mind.】
On the floor of the porch, there lay a "fish."
To be precise, it was the corpse of a dead fish with a human face.
Its grayish-brown scales shimmered with dampness under the firelight, its cloudy eyeballs stared fixedly at the ceiling, and its features vaguely resembled those of a human. The stench of rot mixed with the salty brine of seawater, piercing straight into the nose.
Lu Yuan stared intently at the thing under his feet, covering his nose with his hand, his voice tight:
"Fine, I transmigrated... but showing me this right at the start, isn't that a bit too bizarre?"
The firewood in the fireplace crackled, and the dim yellow firelight cast distorted shadows on the walls.
As an unlucky mineral hunter, Lu Yuan had been dodging a black bear in the deep mountains one second, and was dragged to this ghostly place the next.
Compared to that man-eating bear, although the thing in front of him was disgusting, it was at least dead.
At least he didn't have to worry about losing his life the next second.
Lu Yuan frowned, cautiously lifted his foot, and gave it a gentle nudge.
The "fish" did not move.
"Is it really dead?"
He waited a while longer, confirming that the thing had no movement at all, before picking up some nearby clothes to wrap his shoe. He pressed his foot against the side of the "fish's" belly and pushed it aside bit by bit.
A slimy sensation traveled up through the sole of his shoe, giving Lu Yuan a layer of goosebumps all over his body.
As for whether the smell was contagious—that was no longer something he could consider. From the moment he appeared until now, he had already inhaled plenty of it.
After finally moving the heavy and slimy corpse to the corner of the porch, Lu Yuan felt as if the fishy stench emanating from the 'dead fish' was about to marinate him completely.
Only after confirming that he had no direct contact with that cloudy mucus did Lu Yuan turn around to inspect the house.
The entrance led to a slightly spacious porch. On the left side stood a shoe rack and several small cabinets. One of the cabinets held a bronze rotary phone, with a notebook filled with numbers and names pressed beside it.
The first floor had no living room in the traditional sense; the entire floor was an open space filled with glass jars of various sizes and two small beds placed side-by-side.
A slightly yellowed curtain hung between the two beds.
The dim yellow light bulb suspended from the ceiling would sway slightly with any significant movement.
The shelves were packed with glass bottles of all sizes, containing soaked plant roots that he couldn't name, and even what looked like the organs of some kind of animal.
Lu Yuan leaned close to a dust-covered wide-mouthed jar, squinting at the yellowed label on it.
It was a string of characters he had never seen before, looking somewhat like a form of Latin.
"I can't understand it at all..."
Lu Yuan frowned, as this was not good news. If he couldn't understand the language and script, whether he could survive in this world was a question.
But just as this thought occurred to Lu Yuan, it felt as if something had sprouted in his brain, followed by a sudden wave of dizziness.
Then, a bizarre scene unfolded.
The unfamiliar characters before his eyes began to squirm, rotate, and disassemble like living creatures.
In just two seconds, those 'earthworm-like' characters actually rearranged themselves into Chinese characters that Lu Yuan was familiar with.
——【Dried Red-leaf Grass Roots】
At the same time, a small black box suddenly floated in the bottom right corner of Lu Yuan's vision, followed by a line of small, grayish-white text that appeared quietly and disappeared in the blink of an eye:
【Imperial Language - Reading: +1, 1/1000】
Lu Yuan froze for a moment, instinctively rubbing his eyes.
Was it a hallucination?
Lu Yuan quickly looked at another bottle nearby.
The process of the text twisting and reorganizing appeared again. Although it was still a bit mentally taxing, the speed was noticeably faster.
【Triple-leaf Hemp Extract (Used to soothe pain)】
【Imperial Language - Reading: +1, 2/1000】
"It comes with its own translation and a proficiency level?" The panic in Lu Yuan's heart settled slightly. "Transmigration comes with a golden finger; the legends didn't lie to me."
In this strange place where he was a total stranger, being able to read the script meant having the ability to obtain information. In short, at the very least, Lu Yuan wouldn't starve to death.
Bypassing the infirmary, Lu Yuan carefully circled the building and soon confirmed one thing:
This place was indeed that "fish's" home.
On the desk in the first-floor bedroom, all the daily necessities were there, along with some worn-out clothes and miscellaneous items.
Some newspapers that looked quite old were tossed in the corner, covered in dust.
The second floor was packed with various books, which he didn't look at closely.
Because in the notebook pressed on the bedroom table on the first floor, Lu Yuan found a few pages with neat handwriting, which roughly recorded the house owner's information and recent itinerary.
The first item was good news:
The fellow who had turned into a 'fish' seemed to be a doctor, and his reputation in this area was quite good. This could be seen from the scattered patient conditions and fee records on the paper.
The second item was more like a pleasant surprise than just "good news."
Because there was a notice recorded on the paper.
The notice read: 【I have gone to the Royal Capital to further my medical studies, so the clinic is temporarily closed. If I do not return for a long time, I have entrusted a friend to look after it. —Laisen】
Lu Yuan looked back at that "fish" in the corner, which had died with its eyes open, and clicked his tongue.
Because up until the moment Lu Yuan was summoned here, this doctor himself—or rather, that "humanoid monster fish"—had been lying obediently at the door.
Further studies? Perhaps in a sense, he had already "graduated."
This lie was very amateurish. As long as any neighbor paid attention, the light in the room would eventually give away his presence. However, it seemed he had no neighbors.
Lu Yuan then realized that this was an excellent cover for him.
"Since the doctor chose to claim to the outside world that he 'entrusted a friend,' then from now on, how about I pretend to be that friend?"
In this place without any identification documents, the identity of the doctor's friend could save Lu Yuan from countless troubles.
The premise was that Lu Yuan had to figure out what kind of thing this unlucky guy named Laisen had gotten into, and if he had truly just told a lie, rather than actually having made a friend.
Lu Yuan sat back in the chair and opened the notebook. He didn't read it from the beginning but flipped directly to the last few pages.
December 15th (Two days ago)
"My moments of clarity are becoming fewer and fewer... the sea in my dreams is calling me... my time of lucidity is dwindling... I have a premonition that I don't have much time left... I hope that ceremony can save me..."
The handwriting was scrawled, and some parts of the paper were even punctured by the pen tip. It was clear that the writer was in a state of extreme anxiety and madness at the time.
"Ceremony?"
Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and he continued flipping back.
December 3rd
"Damn it! The 'Strange Dream' on the Iron Whale is actually contagious! Clearly, many doctors have been in contact with those sailors... why am I the only one infected... do I have to go to the Nightwatchers as well? No, they will purge me! Fortunately, there is still some Guangyin Grass left, I still have time!"
November 21st
"The Iron Whale brought back more than just ore; it seems there's also a disease? As long as the sailors fall asleep, they dream of the sea. Some even dream of themselves turning into a fish and start failing to distinguish reality... the medicine I prescribed can still delay the illness. Damn it! Why haven't the other doctors arrived yet?!"
Lu Yuan closed the diary with a 'snap,' his face turning somewhat pale.
Rate on N.U.
