Chapter 79 “Flickering Light”
Deep within a vulgar old alley far from the abandoned factory, an inconspicuous rundown house suddenly lit up after the oil lamps came to life.
Under the flickering lights, one could see the arrangement of the household: simple and old furnishings, a moldy ceiling, and faded and peeling wallpapers.
“…… The World Creation is out,” the girl named Shirley exhaled softly after checking her companion’s exhausted appearance. “Good thing we made it back home before nightfall; otherwise, we may have to die in some smelly old gutter like a dead dog.”
The skeleton hound immediately raised his head and objected: “Just say it, don’t bring dogs into the conversation.”
“Oh, you can still talk? I thought half your life went out the window when you jumped into the shadow rift.” Shirley narrowed her eyes at her friend and commented sarcastically, “You going to explain yet? Why did we suddenly run away and use the most dangerous shadow diving method at that! Didn’t you say countless demons of the Deep Sea would love to chew you out?”
“No matter how many demons there are in the Deep Sea, I can still avoid and dodge them. But just now…” Dog finally sounded like he’s regained some energy and faced Shirley’s accusing gaze, “You should be glad I reacted so quickly when that guy turned his attention away from us. Otherwise, we might not even have that chance to flee!”
Shirley frowned and slowly kneeled down to eye level with her companion: “So what’s going on? Why are you so scared like this? That guy named ‘Duncan’… did you meet him before? Is he some big shot from the Annihilation Sect? Or is there some demon standing behind him?”
The Dark Hound, who seemed to recall some extremely terrifying picture, clattered its bones and muttered: “I haven’t seen him before, and I don’t know him.”
Shirley cocked an eyebrow in confusion: “Why are you so afraid if you never met him before?!”
“Even if I haven’t met him before, as a Deep Sea demon, I can ‘see’ a shadow more terrifying than death behind the guy!” The Dark Hound suddenly got all serious as those hollow red eyes glowed with force, “Behind the shell of that human is a vortex of light and shadow. Just staring at it is enough to TMD make me lose my sanity. How can I not be afraid of something like that?!”
Speaking of this, Dog paused as if to organize the language best needed to describe his feelings to Shirley. After a good minute of silence: “When it spoke, I could hear a thousand voices overlapping one another. It was roaring at me, a mishmash of death and life. You don’t get it Shirley. The only time I ever saw anything like that was when I got an audience with the Deep Sea Lord! But the Lord doesn’t move, and this person did!”
Shirley felt her hair rising now due to the emotions transferred through her connection with Dog. Muttering as a shudder ran down her back: “Why didn’t I feel anything back there then…. I thought he was quite nice….”
“That’s why I sometimes envy you humans’ with that inefficient and dull perception. The barrier of ignorance is truly a treasure this world gave your kind. Even in the face of distortionary madness, you humans can still smile and die happy.” The Dark Hound suddenly deflated and lay back down again after exclaiming his own grievance, “Just stay blind. This way, the world will keep looking nicer. Poor puppy I am not so lucky. Every couple of days, there would be something so scary that a dog will drop dead at a glance….”
“…… How can the world have such a TMD cowardly demon like you?” Shirley couldn’t resist shooting a disappointed look at her friend before getting an idea. “But when you say it like that, I think we shouldn’t have run back there… if the guy is really as powerful as you claim, wouldn’t it be better to cling to his legs?! He spoke so nicely to us and clearly had more questions for us to answer. Maybe he could’ve helped us deal with the suntists as well. I’m quite good at acting cute, you know? Who knows….”
However, before the girl could finish speaking, the loud rattling of the chains startled her. Next, the loud exclaiming anger of the Dark Hound blasted the ears: “Put away your crazy idea immediately! Your level of madness is almost enough to open the subspace channel!”
Then Dog paused before continuing with a warning: “Listen, never make deals with something that would bear the skin of a human. Those types are the most cunning and sinister of them all. They may have a peaceful conversation with you, but that’s only the appetizer before the feast. Don’t judge everything by the surface, okay? If you had told him everything, do you think he would’ve allowed us to leave?”
It seemed that the harsh tone from Dog had finally taken effect on Shirley. Sounding like a child that’s made a mistake before the adult, the girl mumbled in a moping manner: “I get it. Why do you sound like an old mother now….”
Dog huffs and retorts: “That’s obvious. I raised you!”
Shirley snorted, then looked out the window where the sun’s light had disappeared, replaced by the firm darkness of the night. Without another word, she inched closer to the windowsill and dragged Dog over by the belly.
“What are you doing? Can’t you at least let a dog rest for a bit? I’m exhausted from all the fighting today….” Dog protests and bemoans.
“The one who mainly fought was me, okay?” Shirley glanced out at the murky glass without much emotions, “I’m checking the situation outside… The street lights had just come on.”
“This is the slums after all, you can’t expect the authorities to ensure every street is maintained properly. It’s good enough that they actually came on after dark to repel the evil spirits.” Dog muttered, then glanced at the oil lamp on the dining table, “Let’s turn off the lights here. Oil is expensive.”
Shirley pursed her lips: “… I’ll snuff it when I go to bed, otherwise it’s too dark in the house.”
Dog grumbled but didn’t comment.
In the city-state, the city managers and architects strictly planned the location of each street light to ensure coverage on every dwelling. This was the most basic device for repelling evil, and the most effective.
But even the most prosperous cities have forgotten corners. For example, the slums where Shirley and Dog lived. There are far fewer gas street lights in the slums, which are older and more dilapidated than even the lower sectors. Sure, it’s good enough to ensure safety during the day, but at night, such an arrangement was obviously not reassuring enough.
So, the occupants here would resort to oil lamps and grease candles as precautionary measures. At the very least, until the street lamps came on if they were late.
Of course, there was another important reason why many poor households used oil lamps and candles -they could not afford the relatively high cost of electricity conversion. Electric lights are bright, clean, and safe, and in a safe and secure urban area, it has long been the first choice for lighting every home. But in this dilapidated house of the slums…. The only sense of security for Shirley and Dog remains to be that swaying flicker of light from the old oil lamp.
“… Do you still want to remain active for the next while?” Dog’s hoarse and rattling voice came again through the dim lighting.
Shirley: “Mhmm.”
Dog: “You mean making trouble for those sun mongrels, right?”
Shirley: “Not trouble, getting intel.”
Dog: “It’s not much different. From how they sounded, they aren’t very clear on what happened eleven years ago either. They are asking the locals about it….”
Shirley: “This is because the group today happened to be from Lunsa. There may be a harvest next time.”
Dog: “Okay, if that’s what you want.”
Shirley: “Dog, you focus on knitting me a better camouflage first. Don’t leave me exposed halfway through like today.”
Dog: “I just hope we don’t run into that terrible guy today. I suspect the reason why our presence got exposed early was due to such a strong ‘interference’ on the scene…”
Shirley: “Okay, okay, if that’s what you want to think…”
