The Last Gentleman

When Jin directly detonated the larvae in the pit,

Yi Chen immediately joined forces with Little Grape to scan the surroundings. After confirming no patients were approaching, they both let out a slight sigh of relief.

‘Jin's way of doing things is always like this; we can only try to curb her reckless behavior moving forward.

That said, this kind of reckless tactic doesn’t seem to matter much here.

Since the internal area has already been severely gray-eroded, much like the Twilight Clinic, there must be some unknown presence monitoring the forest, akin to Mr. Lee. In fact, it’s possible that every tree here serves as its eyes.’

“Jin, let’s go.”

“Alright! Hurry up, I can’t wait any longer.”

With the tree walls no longer restricting them, Jin walked ahead with her light steps.

However, she would occasionally glance back to ensure the distance between her and Yi Chen didn’t exceed five meters.

The dark and misty inner forest was treacherous; speeding up or losing focus could easily result in losing one’s way.

The trees here were incapable of retaining marks. Even deep cuts made by a blade would heal within minutes.

Without a reconnaissance gentleman like Yi Chen, the team would likely get lost in the forest.

After about thirty minutes of walking through the woods,

They finally spotted something other than vegetation—a rotting, moldy signpost covered in mushrooms. Despite its decay, the words "Shepherd Village" were faintly visible.

The signpost acted as a boundary line.

Crossing the sign, they found a stone-paved road stretching ahead. Through the layers of fog, faint lights could be seen in the distance.

Not long after,

A two-story building, entirely out of place with the times, emerged by the roadside. It had a medieval aesthetic,

Constructed of stone bricks, with a gabled roof and a signature chimney.

The fenced backyard lacked any crops or livestock, leaving only a puddle of foul-smelling black water.

Bright firelight shone through the horizontal wooden mullioned windows on the first floor,

While faint light seeped through the recessed attic windows embedded in the gabled roof. Shadows seemed to flicker faintly behind the glass.

A thin plume of black smoke rose from the chimney,

A sign that someone was likely living there.

“This is strange. This building seems to stand alone outside the village… The stone road extends further, so the village center must still be some distance away.

It feels like… a watchtower?”

Jin nonchalantly replied, “What’s so strange about that? Let’s go in and take a look.”

As Jin moved toward the wooden door on the first floor, Yi Chen quickly stepped ahead of her.

Seeing this, Jin merely smiled faintly, stuffed her hands into her pockets, and deliberately slowed her pace to walk behind him.

SHe knew exactly what Yi Chen was thinking—cautious and rational, trying to gather as much information as possible at the start of the investigation. Her former teammates were just like that.

However, she seemed to tolerate Yi Chen’s approach much more.

"Let me see how the first Gentleman Acceptor handles things~"

When they entered the building, Jin intentionally kept a certain distance from Yi Chen.

From this point on, she decided not to intervene but to observe as a “spectator on site.”

Crackle!

Something long and unidentifiable was burning in the fireplace, completely charred and unrecognizable.

The wooden dining table was cluttered with moldy, rotting food,

The picture frames on the walls had been torn apart, making it impossible to gather useful information.

The kitchen was equally disorganized, filled with unwashed utensils.

After confirming that no one was on the first floor, Yi Chen carefully ascended the staircase beside the fireplace to the second-floor attic, making almost no noise.

This gabled attic had limited space and restrictive corners.

As Yi Chen reached the last step, his footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

In front of him,

In the corner of the attic, a nearly burnt-out white candle flickered weakly, its flame threatening to extinguish at any moment.

By its dim light, Yi Chen could barely make out the end of the attic, directly facing the staircase.

There stood a wooden rocking chair, and seated in it was an elderly man on the verge of baldness.

His back was turned,

Revealing only sparse white hair atop his head, dotted with black spots resembling those of a corpse.

The rocking chair swayed slowly back and forth.

Every slight creak echoed strangely in the narrow, pitch-black space of the attic.

As Yi Chen cautiously took a step forward, the rocking chair’s pace quickened slightly, as if it had detected the young man's presence.

Jin, who had followed him to the attic, leaned against the stair railing with one hand supporting the face, watching the scene unfold with amusement.

"Hello, is this Shepherd Village?"

Yi Chen’s question received no response from the other party.

Seeing this, Yi Chen could only continue carrying his suitcase, moving closer to the old man—deliberately slowing his steps to enhance his visual acuity.

‘Is that… a cat?’

When Yi Chen reached halfway across the attic, he noticed what appeared to be a black cat lying on the old man’s legs, blending almost perfectly with the dark surroundings.

The cat fixed its yellow eyes on Yi Chen, silently staring without a sound or movement.

Sensing a hint of danger, Yi Chen placed one hand on the lock of his suitcase as he cautiously approached the old man.

Creak... Creak...

The rocking chair groaned louder as he got closer, its frequency increasing with every step.

Five meters.

Four meters.

Three meters.

Two meters.

At this distance, the rocking chair's speed exceeded what would be physically possible for an ordinary person, no matter how much effort they exerted.

One meter!

As Yi Chen’s leather shoe touched the floor, the frantically rocking chair suddenly froze—like a remote control had paused it.

Suddenly, the old man in the chair jerked his head around, his neck twisting a full 90 degrees to face the intruding young man.

It was a face devoid of any features—no eyes, no nose, no mouth—only a gaping, hollow pit.

The sunken cavity of his face extended deep into his esophagus, and from within the cave-like opening protruded a grotesque "tongue."

The tongue was covered in black fur and stretched outward all the way to his legs—its tip connected to the black cat perched there.

To be precise, the cat was a part of the tongue!

"Meow!"

As the old man violently jerked his head, the black cat-tongue flung outward, aiming straight at Yi Chen.

The cat’s body split open vertically from its abdomen, revealing a row of fine, sharp teeth that formed a maw large enough to latch onto a human face—reminiscent of a headcrab. It hurtled toward Yi Chen’s face.

At such close range, there was no time to draw a weapon or strike back.

The old man had deliberately waited until Yi Chen was within range for a fatal blow!

The black cat was less than five centimeters away from Yi Chen’s face when his gloved left hand intercepted it mid-air.

A green light burst forth!

Spear-like roots shot out from Yi Chen’s palm, piercing through the black cat’s body and pinning it to the ceiling.

Before the old man could react, Yi Chen’s other hand landed directly on his head. His five fingers spread wide as sharp, root-like spikes emerged from his fingertips.

“Roots piercing through the skull.”

Enhanced by his heightened intelligence and the gloves' power, there was no need for a slow infiltration via the nasal cavity or ears.

Crack!

The sharp roots pierced straight through the old man’s skull, allowing Yi Chen to perform a live "central nervous system extraction."

Clearer fragments of the old man's memories flooded into Yi Chen’s mind while nourishing his brain.

The old man convulsed violently during the process.

When the extraction was complete, Yi Chen pinpointed the location of the pathogen core.

Retracting the roots, he released the old man’s head and let his palm glide down to strike the old man’s abdomen.

Swish!

Roots shot out from Yi Chen’s palm, piercing through the old man’s stomach and shattering the pathogen core within.

The old man and the black cat on the ceiling stiffened instantly, their bodies withering and rapidly decaying into mummified remains.

"Marvelous!"

Jin’s applause and cheers rang out from the stairway.

TLN- [Hey guys, again in this chapter Jin was mostly referred as the pronoun "她" (tā), which is a feminine pronoun in Chinese, meaning "she" or "her", But from what I gathered while translating it's mostly left ambiguous on what "Jin's" gender is, but 她" (tā) is mostly used, so yeah. sorry again for any confusion that might occur ahead, will keep translating as it's written]

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