novelraw Chapter 506: The House of the Little Ones
Chapter 506: The House of the Little Ones
"Can you see it?" Lu Li turned to Anna, who was holding the oil lamp.
The second stage of the Door was supposed to transition from "hearing" to "seeing," but Lu Li wanted to be sure.
Anna nodded slightly, and Lu Li continued to read.
[The flames of vengeance are about to consume everything, and you and your loved ones will be burned by hellfire... Just kidding.]
Reading this, Lu Li became absolutely convinced that Richard was the author.
[Just wanted to give you a scare. If you're reading this, you've probably already killed me, you executioner. Though, perhaps the merciful savior, Richard, has spared you, you miserable little thief.]
[In any case, I have an errand for you. You can consider it an order. Though, if you don't like that word, let's call it a request.]
[First, I must make something clear. Do you think I, the future savior, could possibly care about money? Don't underestimate me. If I'm hungry, I can steal food from my neighbors or dig through a garbage can! All the money you gave me, I gave to the orphans.]
[But we both know that money isn't enough. Poor little Jimmy... The last time I saw him, he was licking stones he'd found on the shore. The rumbling in his stomach was louder than the sound of the waves.]
[I need you to take them some food—and lots of it. Your heart is so full of darkness that a little bit of kindness won't change who you are.][You'll find them in Dead End Alley, at the sewer entrance on the beach side. Don't get it wrong. There's a sign at the entrance to their hideout: "The House of the Little Ones."]
[Take care of them. If you can't...]
[...then blame this cursed world.]
[Don't forget to do as I've asked.]
Lu Li flipped the paper over, but the back was blank.
"Is it a trap?" Anna asked, lifting her head.
"I don't know."
The man was an unpredictable lunatic, and the letter only reinforced that impression, painting an even more contradictory picture of Richard: a madman willing to condemn thousands of innocent Belfast residents to become Gnashers, who was now showing compassion for homeless orphans.
Then again, the word "madman" explained everything.
"Should we go after dinner, or now?" Anna knew Lu Li would go, even if it was a trap.
Lu Li glanced out the window. The fog made the deserted street look even gloomier than before.
"We'll go now."
A group of hungry and defenseless children was unlikely to survive a night shrouded in this strange fog.
Leaving the oil lamp for the sculpture and the sleeping black cat, Lu Li and Anna left the long house. They flew over the rooftops, making their way toward the waterfront.
Before heading to the sewer and the shop, Lu Li wanted to stop by the Investigators' headquarters to exchange his tokens for shillings, see if there was any word from Tesla, and find out what kind of anomaly had appeared over the sea.
A thick fog shrouded Belfast, obscuring everything. Visibility was down to ten meters. Ignoring the stares of passersby, who could only make out a fleeting shadow in the mist, Lu Li reached the repair shop within minutes.
Unfortunately, there were no letters from Tesla, and the investigator on duty knew nothing about the anomaly over the sea. He informed Lu Li that the United Organization was at the port, currently investigating and working to eliminate it.
The sooner the fog-creating anomaly was eliminated, the longer Belfast would survive.
Fortunately, he was able to exchange his tokens. Lu Li received 5,000 shillings at the standard 1:10 rate.
After leaving the repair shop, Lu Li headed for a familiar store.
The store was one of the only ones permitted to operate in Belfast, as it sold essential supplies.
Canned goods were still in stock, but most people subsisted on black bread and dried fish. For them, canned food was a luxury.
Lu Li bought two boxes of canned meat at 20 shillings per can.
The price had nearly doubled from the 12 shillings it was two weeks ago.
While the shopkeeper gathered the order, Lu Li glanced at the spot under the awning where he had previously seen a stray cat.
The cat was gone.
It was probably dead.
Anomalies were indifferent about who they killed. Although they targeted humans more frequently, other living creatures were also in danger. After the Night Calamity, countless lives had been lost to the endless night.
It was hard to say whether the animals were fortunate or not—they had no understanding of what was killing them.
But there were exceptions. Some small animals, like rats and flies, had managed to survive. However, with the collapse of the food chain, flies had become far scarcer, and rats only survived thanks to human cities.
The shopkeeper struggled out from the back room with the two boxes of canned goods and asked Lu Li where to set them down.
"You can just let go," said Lu Li.
Anna had already taken care of it. Like balloons, the two boxes of canned food lifted into the air and floated beside Lu Li. The expressions of the shopkeeper and other customers shifted from surprise to utter astonishment. Without lingering, Lu Li left the store and rose into the fog, heading for Dead End Alley on the outskirts of Moon Bay.
...
The sound of waves crashing against the shore was relentless, day and night. The sea breeze carried a vague, ominous feeling with it.
Anna felt it too, so she flew protectively close to Lu Li.
The sand underfoot gradually gave way to brown earth as they neared the edge of Moon Bay. They weren't far from the Elm Forest, and the lighthouse on the reefs was just nearby.
At the entrance to a long-abandoned sewer tunnel, Lu Li saw the sign Richard had mentioned.
Carved into it with crooked letters were the words: "The House of the Little Ones."
"Halt!" a child's voice cried out. A thin girl holding a makeshift spear fashioned from a tree branch emerged from the sewer.
In the dim light, her wide eyes reflected the glow of Anna's lamp as she stared at Lu Li and the floating boxes. "Are you here to eat us?"
"Richard sent me," Lu Li said.
The girl seemed unfazed by the display of supernatural power. She blinked her large, dust-smudged yet clear eyes and asked, "Richard... sent you to eat us?"
Lu Li's gaze softened slightly. "I brought you food."
Snap.
The lid of one box snapped open, revealing the neatly stacked cans inside—a sight more precious than money at a time like this.
The girl swallowed hard, trying to maintain a mature composure. "Thank you," she said solemnly. "Please, come in."
She picked a candle stub up off the ground, blew it out, and then led Lu Li inside, walking along the edge of the light cast by the oil lamp.
Although the sewer had long been abandoned, its proximity to the sea kept it damp. As they went deeper, children's drawings began to appear on the walls.
Most of the drawings depicted food, children, and families. There was also a recurring figure that resembled Richard—his face colored in with white chalk, likely to represent his pallor.