Plague Doctor

The pouring rain appeared to be trying to wash the island clean. The gale picked up the scent from the decaying ground. But the moment Gu Jun stepped through the front door and into the old manor, he was hit by another smell. It was similar to the scent inside Chen Defa’s cave. It was like the intermingling of several thousand decaying substances. It was the unique scent of a zombie’s house.

The old manor was barely lit. The floor, wall, and windows were covered in a thick layer of dust. Raising the oil lamp, Gu Jun looked around him. This appeared to be the commode for a wealthy family. The foyer was decorated with many obscure yet pretty looking art pieces. He could not recognize the artistic style, but they were strangely familiar to him, as if Gu Jun had seen them somewhere before.

He turned to ask Wu Siyu for her opinion. The latter shook her head. “They do not have any distinctive style to them. Perhaps I just don’t recognize them.”

The design did not resemble any of the artistic styles on Earth. They did not look like animals or anything corporeal for that matter. They consisted of very abstract shapes, making it hard to describe in words.

The pair circled around the first floor carefully. At the front were the foyer and the stairs. To the sides were the drawing rooms. The kitchen and bathroom were located at the back. They searched through the ground carefully, but they did not find anything. At first glance, it looked like an old home that had been abandoned for a long time, which was something strange. How did it manage to be spared from thieves and bandits?

In any case, they returned to the foyer. Gu Jun’s eyes wandered to the wooden staircase that led up to the second floor before making his way toward it. Gu Jun moved with lightened steps, but as his weight landed on the old wooden steps, they still creaked noisily. Thankfully, the stairs did not collapse from his movement. They successfully reached the foyer on the second floor. They found themselves standing before a large window. The storm brewing outside had blurred everything from view.

“That room door is left open,” Wu Siyu said softly. Gu Jun turned to look. The room door at the end of the left corridor was left slightly ajar. No light spilled from the gap. They slowly approached it. Gu Jun carried the oil lamp in his left hand, and his right brandished the sword, ready to strike…

When they were several steps away from the door, Wu Siyu pulled on the bow and loosed an arrow at the door. The force knocked the door open, and the light from the oil lamp spilled through. Instantly, the duo could see what was inside the room. Gu Jun’s heart wrenched as he took in the sight of the human specimens. There were seniors, teenagers, children, and toddlers. Some of them were standing; others were sitting. These humans looked rather different from homo sapiens. Their facial features were slightly longer. When they were still alive, they would have radiated grace and softness. However, suspended in death, they only looked creepy. Clearly, some kind of antiseptic was applied to preserve their bodies. Their faces had stitched on smiles. The horrible stench of putrefaction came from this room.

“Hmm…” Wu Siyu’s brows creased as a chaotic message rushed into her mind.

Gu Jun was reminded of something else. A chill crawled through his smile, and his heart was bound by an unknown fog, causing it to pulse with pain. ‘This place… appears to be Mr. Chandler’s home that was mentioned in the watcher’s diary. And this room, it is the gallery maintained by Mr. Chandler.’

The wind outside screamed louder, muddling his thoughts.

‘But how is that possible? Mr. Chandler’s house should be located at Warsong in the foreign world, and they were in the dream world… Could the dream world be the foreign world? That can’t be!’

Gu Jun knew that was not the case.

‘So, what is this? A projection? Illusion? Memory? What kind of place is this island? Mr. Chandler and Ol’ Uncle Dog, they are both zombies, and they have both inhabited the dream world one time or another…’

Gripped by a premonition, Gu Jun whipped his head around to glance at the foyer. It was still dark, and there was nothing there. According to the watcher’s diary, he would see a black shadow standing at the second-floor window every night, but later, he found out that it was not Mr. Chandler.

“Did you feel that?” Gu Jun asked Wu Siyu to confirm whether it was his mind playing tricks on him.

“I… feel too many things…” Her face was startlingly white. “It is too chaotic here. This place is like a tomb for too many trapped souls…”

“Dirty-minded Yu, stop what you’re doing now!” Seeing that, Gu Jun immediately demanded her to stop connecting with the world around them.

Just as he was about to resort to a smack, Wu Siyu sighed. “Oh well.”

“Be careful, this house is more than it seems,” he said as he moved back toward the foyer.

The floorboards creaked noisily under their weight. He walked all the way back to the window, but nothing strange stood out at them. He glanced out the window and peered through the gathering storm. Chilblains covered his body because the scenery outside had swapped completely. Gone were the decaying ground and withered trees. Instead, there was a luscious forest and paved streets. Not far away, there was a small wooden shed that appeared to have recently been built. Inside that shed, there was a simple table and chairs. Next to them stood a young man, holding an oil lamp, his eyes fixated on the window Gu Jun was standing at.

The young man had the appearance of the dead bodies in the gallery, which Gu Jun now realized was of the foreign civilization’s race. He looked about twenty-five. His face was lined with nervousness and tiredness. This young man appeared to be the watcher, the author of the diary in Gu Jun’s mind. Right then, the watcher pulled his gaze back, sat on the chair, and turned to look away at the rain.

“…” Gu Jun’s heart twitched. ‘Is it part of the illusion? One created by the house?’

“Siyu, come here and take a look at this.”

Wu Siyu had been following close behind. She also let out a gasp when she saw the change outside the window. “Is that Ol’ Uncle Dog? But that man does not look that old.”

“It’s not him,” Gu Jun said while thinking, ‘So, she can see this change as well.’

“This might be an illusion. We should return to the first floor for now.”

It was hard to tell when they fell into the illusion. Regardless, he wanted to check if the watcher could see them or not and what his response would be should that be the case. Therefore, the two went down the stairs back to the first-floor foyer. The scene outside the house had not changed. The wooden shed was just twenty meters away.

“Maybe we should head out to talk to him.” Gu Jun gripped the sword as he moved toward the front door. The freezing rain slapped at his body.

At the same time, the young man in the shed turned their way. He jumped up in a hurry and shouted, “Mr. Chandler, you have to stay in your house. You have been put under quarantine. Please stay put. The Carlot Doctors will be here in a few more days.”

The chill froze Gu Jun’s brain and he stopped moving. Wu Siyu asked in confusion, “What is he yapping about? Can you understand him?”

“Yes, I can,” Gu Jun said seriously. The watcher was speaking in the foreign language. It seemed like that Afterlife Cult had its hand in this after all.

“Mr. Chandler?” The young man stood on alert. “What are you talking about? Who are you talking to?”

The pair shared a look and it dawned on them. The young man appeared to be able to see only Gu Jun.

“I am not Percy Chandler,” Gu Jun said as he continued to move out the front door. “Ol’ Uncle Dog, what kind of perverse trick is this? Do you think this will work‽”

The watcher responded in panic. Seeing the sword Gu Jun was holding, the watcher grabbed some kind of device from the table and warned desperately, “Mr. Chandler, please respect the quarantine protocol! This is for your own good and the good of Warsong. I promise you, the Carlot Doctors will be here in a few days to help you!”