Translator: Cinder Translations
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"You're saying you have amnesia?" The fatty blinked, and then, as if comforting himself, muttered, "Well, that's a relief."
Jiang Cheng looked up, his gaze strange as he stared at the fatty.
The fatty, who had been slow to realize, froze for a moment. Clearly, Jiang Cheng was waiting for an explanation. "Well..." The fatty scratched his head awkwardly, and then said, "Don't misunderstand, but based on my years of reading novels, usually when the story starts with parents being sacrificed to the heavens, a beautiful female boss squeezing out profits, a cool-headed and intelligent protagonist, with just a slight bit of character flaws—"
The fatty grew more animated, "That's definitely the hallmark of a protagonist! And with your amnesia, that's even more solid!"
"The protagonist, do you understand? They're the ones with a halo – a plot armor, they won't die easily!"
"That might be true for me," Jiang Cheng countered. "But then what about you? How does that effect extend to you?"
"I'm your number one lackey!" The fatty proudly slapped his thigh, shaking off any gloom from earlier, and continued, "In other words, I'm your number one supporting character. A protagonist's main sidekick doesn't die easily either."
Jiang Cheng gave the fatty a glance, silently stood up, and headed upstairs to sleep.
The fatty hurriedly followed.
"Why are you following me?" Jiang Cheng frowned.
The fatty stood in the doorway holding a blanket, "Don't misunderstand doctor, I just feel scared. I'm a normal person without any self-defense ability. What if something happens during the night..."
Jiang Cheng pointed in the opposite direction, "Get out."
"Alright, doctor."
Just as the bedroom door was about to close, the fatty turned and came back.
"Wait a minute." Seeing Jiang Cheng's expression shift, the fatty quickly added, "I still have some things from the last mission I haven't figured out. Can you explain them to me? I won't be able to sleep otherwise." He spoke in a pleading tone.
Noticing an opening, the fatty couldn't wait to ask, "How did you figure out that being eaten by the old woman's summoned creature would mean passing the trial?" He paused awkwardly, then added, "I mean... isn't that a bit hard to figure out?"
"Who was the first one to be eaten?" Jiang Cheng leaned against the wall and asked.
"The motorcycle girl," the fatty answered without hesitation.
"Think carefully before you answer."
The fatty froze, followed by a long silence. Suddenly, a light seemed to shine in his eyes. He quickly said, "It was the child placed on the stone plate by the old man."
Jiang Cheng nodded, "That's right. That child was eaten, and then what happened?"
"Then... the curse began! The natives were slaughtered, and the invaders were transformed into new natives, waiting for the next group..."
The fatty spoke faster and faster, growing more agitated as he recalled the faces of the slaughtered, their smiles representing relief.
And the invaders who ruthlessly killed.
They lost their sanity after the child was devoured, transforming into those monstrous forms. It was the curse; once it activated, the blood-red light of the curse affected them.
"It's reincarnation," Jiang Cheng tilted his head and glanced outside at the night, which felt even quieter than usual. His tone turned melancholic, "A new reincarnation has begun, and that marks the end of the previous cycle."
"So... to end this current cycle, we have to offer a sacrifice," the fatty stuttered. "But it's not to the natives or the revived statues, it's a sacrifice to the old woman?"
"No, no, I mean to the monster attached to the old woman."
"The priestess of this generation is the old woman, and the woman in the white dress was the priestess of the previous generation. Their roles are the same: to ensure the curse continues." The fatty swallowed. "Is that right?"
"Mm."
The fatty sighed, feeling ashamed of the gap between him and the doctor. If it were him, he would have been dead for sure by now.
"One more thing, the people from Blackstone Town had warned us," Jiang Cheng spoke indifferently, "They said there was once a child born in the town, they called him a monster, the one who ate the nun who oversaw the construction of the church."
The fatty thought for a moment, then nodded, "That's right, doctor," after a while, he seemed to realize something, and looked at Jiang Cheng, "So... this is a clue, right? But there's interference. The important part isn't that the monster ate the nun, but that the monster attached to the nun ate her!"
"Doctor, you're amazing!" he sincerely praised.
"Ha—" Jiang Cheng sighed, his gaze shifting to the fatty's face. A melancholic expression reflected off his face.
"This wasn't entirely my idea," Jiang Cheng explained. "I only came up with part of it. But based only on what I hypothesized, I wasn't confident enough to bet on this."
The fatty blinked, then seemed to realize something. "You're talking about Chen Ran, right?"
"Mm," Jiang Cheng nodded, not hiding it. During the last dungeon's battle, he was completely dominated by that young man, who was around the same age as him.
Moreover, from the look in Chen Ran's eyes, Jiang Cheng sensed something strange, yet familiar.
Yes, it was from his eyes.
That was the real reason Jiang Cheng destroyed his eyes with a knife.
Because of that familiarity, that inexplicable disgust, and even a deep-rooted fear.
"Doctor," the fatty noticed the abnormality in Jiang Cheng's face. He seemed to be suppressing something, looking somewhat pained. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." After a moment, the familiar Jiang Cheng returned.
The fatty blinked, growing even more confused.
But he still seized the moment to ask his final questions. From what he understood of Jiang Cheng, this person answered questions based on his mood.
If his mood was good, he might entertain you with a few words; if not, he wouldn't bother speaking at all.
He was worried that when he woke up, Jiang Cheng would be in a bad mood.
"Do you remember the milky-white fuel inside the lighthouse? What was the deal with that?" The fatty quickly asked.
He had heard Jiang Cheng say that the fuel emitted a strange smell when burned, which not only had a hallucinatory effect but could also awaken nearby stone statues.
Liang Long died because of it.
Both Su Xiaoxiao and Chen Ran had also made a big deal out of this fuel.
Jiang Cheng fell silent for a rare moment before speaking, "That's probably the fat from some creature."
The fatty sniffed and quietly said, " Doctor, do you still remember it? The thing smelled so great after it was burned. Plus, you wouldn't feel so hungry after sniffing it after a while. "
(End of the Chapter)
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