novelraw Chapter 236: The Shadow
Chapter 236: The Shadow
At the break of dawn, as the sky began to pale, Lu Li discovered flipper prints on the dim expanse of sand.
The tracks led up from the sea, scattered haphazardly along the shoreline and weaving around the trees. Amidst them, a set of human footprints stood out—the ones Lu Li himself had left behind.
The nearest flipper prints were a mere thirty meters from his shelter. It appeared something had been wandering about, leaving a random pattern of tracks as if it were searching.
The sand wall and the deck chair had helped conceal his shelter. Or had the Deep Ones noticed him, yet chosen not to approach for some unknown reason?
Friday's black cloak concealed more than just her body; it hid her secrets as well.
Once he was certain the Deep Ones who had left the tracks were gone from the island, Lu Li picked up the water-filled pitcher and headed back to his shelter.
Just as he was about to enter, Lu Li froze, having caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye.
Straightening, he backed away from the cliff face, moving behind the sand wall, and lifted his gaze.
About five meters off the ground, plastered against the uneven rock face, was a dark, human-shaped shadow. It clung motionlessly to the stone.
The cliff had been bare yesterday, before nightfall.The shadow seemed to adhere to the rock, like a black petroglyph. Its head was pointed down, its hands clinging to the stone, holding the pose of a person in descent. Its path was aimed directly at Lu Li's shelter.
“It’s moving far slower than I expected,” a nearby voice remarked.
Friday emerged from the shelter and stood beside Lu Li, gazing at the shadow with him.
Narrowing his eyes, Lu Li silently observed the strange, ominous shadow.
Just as Friday had said, it was moving.
But its movement was incredibly slow, almost as imperceptible as the sun drifting behind the clouds. In half a minute, the shadow descended by a mere centimeter.
“Is that the thing from the hut?” Lu Li asked, his eyes still fixed on the shadow.
“Mhm.”
Friday gestured with the oil lamp in her hand. “I'll return this evening.”
She left the beach, her figure vanishing around a bend in the cliff.
Lu Li tore his gaze away from her path and resumed watching the dark shadow on the cliff. If it kept descending, he would have to consider abandoning his shelter.
Yet, as soon as Friday left, something changed. The black shadow on the cliff began to slowly pivot. The rotation was as agonizingly slow as its descent. By the time Lu Li had set the pitcher down by the fire, eaten two small fish for breakfast, and finished the water from the previous evening, the shadow had only shifted by a small angle.
Friday had distracted it.
Or, more accurately, the shadow was following Friday.
What would happen when it reached Friday, Lu Li could only guess.
That was why Friday constantly moved between the hut and the shelter.
His breakfast had done little to sate his hunger. He still had three cans of preserves, but Lu Li had no desire to eat food that was somehow even worse than Anna's cooking.
Slipping on his shoes, Lu Li followed the shoreline toward the eastern coast, where he found a small tide pool. The overnight tide had retreated, leaving behind two small fish, one of which was the very same one he'd failed to catch the day before.
Only one new fish had found its way into the pool all night. Without any bait, it was pure chance that it had ended up there at all.
To turn the tide pool into a reliable food source, Lu Li needed to find bait that would lure more fish.
There was one such place on this island.
A few minutes later, Lu Li came to a stop in the forest. Not far from him, near a pool of water, lay a carcass covered in fur.
It was a dead monkey, decomposing naturally, with no insects to be seen.
Just in case, Lu Li’s hand brushed against his Spirit Gun. He sensed no overt hostility from his surroundings, nor from the carcass itself.
Holding a sharp stone fragment, Lu Li approached the body, sliced off a piece of hide with the fur still attached, and returned to the tide pool on the shore.
First, he caught and killed the two small fish. Then, he minced the piece of flesh and tossed it into the water. Now all he could do was wait and see what the evening tide would bring.
On his way back, Lu Li gathered several sea snails from the rocks before returning to the shelter. The human shadow on the cliff had nearly completed its pivot and would soon begin ascending back toward the hut.
Once inside the shelter, Lu Li set the fish on a flat stone to roast over the embers. Next, he cracked open the snail shells and extracted the slippery meat. He trimmed the ends and placed the morsels on another stone to cook.
The moisture evaporated, and an appetizing smell wafted up.
The fish was ready quickly, but Lu Li cooked the snails for a long time, roasting them until they were nearly charred before he ate them. After a drink of warm water, he decided to rest.
The deck chair concealed the entrance. Before drifting off, Lu Li placed his Second Spirit Gun behind it as a precaution against any unwelcome visitors. Then, curled into a ball in the farthest corner of the shelter, he sank into a deep sleep.
...
Drip... drip... drip...
Drops of water fell into the sink, echoing in the silence of the empty room.
The sound of dripping water was the only sound in the dark room.
A body lay against the wall, its unseeing eyes seeming to try and say something.
Drip... drip... drip...
Suddenly, the door flew open, and a figure burst into the room, shattering the prevailing silence.
The figure held a parchment scroll. He glanced at the body in the corner, looked around the room, and whispered, “Two auras here.”
He paced around the room, which looked like a crime scene, muttering to himself, “One aura has dissipated, the other is gone... That way!”
The figure ran out of the room, the door slowly closing behind him.
Drip... drip... drip...
The muffled sound of dripping water once again filled the room. In the corner, the body lay forgotten.
Following the aura, the figure arrived at a narrow alley. Here, he sensed one aura dissipating into the air and another that had departed long ago.
This discovery made the figure frown and mutter, “This ghost is destroying other ghosts...?”
Slightly bewildered, the figure pressed on, eventually reaching a third location where the aura had briefly lingered—the attic of an abandoned house.
Cautiously climbing the stairs, the figure peered into the attic, looking from side to side.
The walls of the dark attic were covered in chaotic scrawls, but the figure paid them no mind, clutching the parchment and focusing on the aura.
“Just like last time, one ghost's aura has dissipated, and the other is moving away...”
He was too late again, but he felt he was getting closer to his target.
The figure descended the stairs and continued to follow the aura.
The trail led to a junkyard, piled high with refuse and streaked with foul-smelling runoff. The figure paused, pinching his nose, before stepping inside.
He could feel the aura right in front of him, unmoving.
Silently hiding behind a barrel, the figure peered out.
In that same instant, a chill ran down his spine.
He saw a ghost in a white dress, standing in the middle of a clearing. Beside her, the aura of another ghost was fading away. The shadow beneath her white dress was almost tangible, radiating a disquieting, dark energy.
This ghost was about to become a vengeful spirit!
And at that moment, a quiet whisper echoed through the area.
“Lu Li...”