Chapter 80 Humble Alley Lights
Chapter 80 Humble Alley Lights
Far away from the depths of an ugly alley somewhere in an abandoned factory, in an inconspicuous and outdated hut, an oil lamp was suddenly lit up.
In the swaying light, one could see the simple and old furnishings in the hut, the slightly moldy ceiling, the faded and peeling wallpaper, as well as a pitch-black crack in the corner of the room that was slowly creeping and contracting.
The lurid-looking skeleton hound was lying next to this crack, as if it was motionless like a dead dog that had lost all of its strength, while at the other end of the pitch-black chain, Shirley, who was dressed in a long dress with a white border on a black background, carefully adjusted the wick of the oil lamp, and then came to the window, uneasily confirming the color of the sky outside.
“…… World Creation is out,” the girl exhaled softly, “fortunately I went back home before the night fell completely, otherwise I’m afraid I’ll die like a dog in some stinking gutter.”
Not far away lying on the floor to support the corpse of the profound hound immediately raised his head, his throat issued a hoarse split sound: “You say it, don’t take the dog to say things.”
“Still talking, huh? I thought you lost half your life on this trip to the Phantom Shuttle,” Shirley twisted her head to look at Dog, “Can you talk now? Why are you suddenly running away – and using the most dangerous of all the Profound Shuttles? Didn’t you say that there are countless demons in the Profound Deep Sea waiting to chew up your black bones?”
“No matter how many demons in the Profound Deep Sea I can walk around, I can still run if I can’t beat them, but just now …… that’s really something that if you don’t hurry up you might not be able to run away,” it was only then that the Profound Hound finally seemed to catch his breath and slightly raised his head to look at Shirley. “You should be glad that I reacted quickly and opened the rift in the moment when that horrible guy shifted his gaze, otherwise as long as his gaze still falls on you and me, I can’t even open the escape passage!”
Sherry frowned and slowly came to the Profound Hound, “So what the hell is going on? Why are you so scared like that? That guy named ‘Duncan’ …… Dog have you seen him before? Is he some big shot from the Church of Annihilation? Or is there some kind of Profound Demon standing behind him?”
The Profound Hound seemed to recall some kind of extremely terrifying feeling all of a sudden, and all the bones in its body clicked for a moment before it lowered its voice and grunted, “Never seen him, and I don’t know him.”
Sherry instantly glared, “You’re scared like that if you’ve never seen him!?”
“Even if I’ve never seen it, as a Spectral Demon, I can ‘see’ shadows more terrifying than death!” The Profound Hound suddenly raised his head, his empty red eyes staring straight at Sherry, “Inside a human’s body, there’s a ball of light and shadow vortex that makes me feel mentally disturbed even if I take a look at it, do you think I’m not afraid of it?!”
At this point it paused for a moment, as if it wanted to organize its language to describe its feelings to Sherry, who was a human, and only after half a day of organization did it slowly speak: “When he spoke, I could hear 10,000 overlapping voices hissing at the same time, and when he looked at me, I could feel that all of my destinies, from my birth to my demise, were being spread out and flattened out on the ground for others to see, I’m telling you, the last time I encountered a human like this, I felt that I was not afraid of it! Let me tell you, the last time I encountered such a scary thing was when I saw the ‘Holy Lord’ from afar in the deep sea! But the Holy Lord can’t move, but the man we met today, he can walk and move!”
Shirley was made to shiver by Dog’s intimidating tone and eyes (even though its eyes were just two glowing holes), but she still subconsciously muttered, “How come I didn’t feel anything at the time? …… I still think he’s quite kind… …”
“That’s why sometimes I envy you humans for your inefficient and sluggish perceptions – this barrier of ignorance is truly the world’s greatest gift to you, it allows you to die with a smile on your face even in the midst of your insanely twisted demise,” the Phantom Hound breathlessly plopped down once more “Stay blind and blind and the world will be a better place – poor little dogs like me aren’t so lucky, every now and then I have to see things that can scare a dog to death …… “
“…… How the hell in the world would there be such a cowardly profound demon like you,” Shirley couldn’t help but slant a glance at Dog, and then seemed to consider something thoughtfully, hesitantly said, “But when you say it like this, I On the contrary, I don’t think we should run ah …… If that one is really as you said, a super powerful big man, then maybe we can hold a big leg ah! You see, he was quite kind to us just now, and even asked us about things, and it looks like he’s not dealing with those sun bastards, so isn’t this an opportunity? I’ll be petulant and play cute, in case it’s a backer ……”
Before the girl could finish her sentence, she heard a clatter of pitch-black chains, and Dog, who had been lying on his back a second before, sprang to his feet, “Put away this crazy idea of yours at once! Your level of madness is almost enough to open a subspace passage!”
After a pause, it continued to exhort uneasily, “Listen, don’t ever deal with this kind of thing that wears a human shell and is unnameable on the inside; they’re more cunning than pure demons, more sinister than real humans, and their calm conversations with you will always be just the appetizer of a feast- -Don’t look like he was quite amiable just now, but do you think he’s going to let you leave in one piece after you’ve told him everything you know?”
As if the stern tone of the Profound Hound’s never-before-seen voice had had an effect, Sherry seemed to be a bit subdued, and she finally gave up on her bold idea, but still cooed, “I know, I know – but why do you sound like an old mother, Dog? ……”
The Phantom Hound slumped to the ground, “Crap, I raised you!”
Sherry grunted, then looked out the window at the sky, and after seeing that the night was already getting low, she stepped towards the window.
The black iron chain was taut, along with the girl’s footsteps, the Profound Hound that wanted to lie down and rest was helplessly dragged on the ground and moved up, this huge and heavy Profound Demon in Shirley’s hands even seemed to have no weight as if it was dragged around, “What do you want to do again, can’t you let me lie down, I’m exhausted after such a big battle today… …”
“I’m the one who put in the effort in the fight, okay?” Shirley looked outside without looking back, “I’m looking at the situation outside …… It’s completely dark, and the streetlights just came on.”
“After all, it’s a slum area, it’s already good enough for the authorities to make sure that these streetlights can maintain the most basic ability to ward off evil spirits, don’t expect them to light up before twilight like other urban areas,” Dog muttered, and looked back at the oil lamps placed on the stale dining table, “Put out the lights in a while, the oil’s pretty expensive .” Shirley pursed her lips, “Let’s put it out before …… going to bed, or it’ll be too dark in the house.”
Dog’s stomach rumbled, but he didn’t say anything.
In the city state, the city managers and builders strictly planned the location and number of “street lamps”, the most basic exorcism device, the gas lamps distributed throughout the city can ensure that after nightfall, the entire city is under the protection of the city, so that the surface of the residential area, whether it is to use electric lamps or oil lamps are just as safe, and even in the street lamps after the lights out of the room lamps are also safe. Even the lights in the rooms are safe when extinguished after the street lamps have been lit.
But even in the most prosperous city there are forgotten corners, in the depths of the slums, which are even more outdated and dilapidated than the lower city, the number of gas street lamps is far fewer than in other areas, and these street lamps are barely enough to maintain safety during the day and night, and this state of “barely enough” is obviously not enough to make people feel at ease.
Therefore, in the slums, oil lamps and tallow candles, which are lit by flames, are a necessity in every household.
If the street lamps were a moment late, the firelight in the home could at least temporarily protect against the darkness after sunset.
Of course, many poor families use oil lamps and candles for another important reason: they can’t afford the relatively high cost of retrofitting electricity.
Electric lights are bright and clean and safe, and have long been the lighting of choice for households in safe and secure urban areas, but in this hut in the slums ……
The only thing that still brings Shirley and Dog a sense of security is the flickering flame in the old lamp.
In the dim light, the voice of the Profound Hound breaks the silence, “…… Are you still going to go out and do activities this bout?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Keep up the trouble with those Sun Bastards?”
“Was looking for them for information.”
“Pretty much anyway …… But now it seems as if they don’t know very much about what really happened eleven years ago, and look at the way things are going today, even they’re looking for the locals for information …… “
“That’s because today’s wave of people all happen to be coming from Lunsar, next time there might be a catch.”
“Alright, if you’re happy with that.”
“Dog you just be more reliable next time you weave a disguise for me, don’t expose it halfway through again.”
“I just hope I don’t run into that scary guy from today again – I suspect that our scent was exposed early today because there was such a strong ‘interference’ at the scene… …”
“Fine, fine, whatever you say ……”
(End of chapter)