Chapter 8: Night Watchman
The first ray of morning sunlight pierced through the hole in the roof, slanting down onto Xu Le's face like dappled flower shadows, a beautiful sight.
Especially after experiencing the terrifying darkness.
This bright sunlight seemed particularly precious.
After getting sufficient rest and shedding tension and fatigue,
It must be said that Xu Le's face now looked quite handsome, with some of the charisma from his previous life. Compared to celebrities like Yan Zu or Guan Xi, they were all about the same level.
...
"Ah Le? When are we leaving? Ah Le, Ah Le!"
"Old Zhou!"
Old Zhou's calls jolted Xu Le awake from his slumber. Ignoring the pain and stiffness in his neck, he quickly grabbed the bed board and looked around.
"It's already light out."
Xu Le felt the medal in his pocket, and only relaxed after confirming it was still there.
But he immediately tensed up again as he stood, because his peripheral vision caught that the figure standing in the doorway was no longer the golden toad, but a person dressed in black.
If there was one thing in common between the two, it was that they were both smoking!
"The toad turned into a human?"
Hearing Xu Le's words, the man standing in the doorway immediately frowned.
"What toad turned into a human?
Has this kid already been contaminated by ancient music to the point of mental confusion?"
However, the man didn't say much else, just "tsk tsk" and took a few quick puffs to finish the cigarette in his hand.
He tossed the butt and stomped it out, then turned to look at Xu Le:
"You're awake?"
Isn't that obvious? Xu Le thought, but he didn't dare say it out loud.
Especially since the other's attire, weapons, and the emblem on his chest all pointed to a certain unit in the original host's memory.
The Beacon's unconventional forces, walkers in the darkness, the Beacon Night Watchers.
The Night Watchers' organizational structure was not detailed to outsiders.
However, Xu Le learned from the original host's memories that some of them were responsible for guarding the Beacon's safety.
Another part of the Night Watchers needed to go out to explore dangerous areas, eliminate threats, and create safe zones.
The public's perception of the Night Watchers also varied greatly.
Some people felt they were the guardians of the Beacon, worthy of support.
But there were also some civilians who felt they were too mysterious. People who could walk in darkness, were they still human?
With such sentiments, they naturally developed resistance towards the Night Watchers.
"Are you... a Night Watcher?"
Hearing Xu Le speak out his identity, the man gave a cold laugh.
"Heh."
But he didn't answer Xu Le's question, instead turning to look at the doorway, as if waiting for something.
Xu Le also followed his gaze to the door. Soon, several people wearing the same black-gray combat uniforms walked over.
Three men and three women, including the man at the door, making a team of seven in total.
The man at the door nodded to them, making a hand gesture that Xu Le didn't recognize.
Then he asked:
"Chief, how do we handle this now?"
Handle? Although Xu Le didn't know what these people had communicated secretly, he had a strong feeling.
The "handling" they spoke of was definitely not about safely escorting him back to the Beacon with good food and drink along the way.
Kill him? Abandon him in the wild? Or make him into a specimen to bring back?
If they wanted to kill him, what should he do? Use another ancient music fruit to summon the golden toad again?
Thinking of this, Xu Le's mood became a bit chaotic.
The one who answered the man was a woman's voice:
"Is it him?"
"Yes, just discovered. His companion has already mutated. There are some signs of struggle at the scene, but not much.
As a solitary night stayer, with only a pile of campfire, sleeping here without dying is quite strange.
Probably contaminated."
Contaminated? This word was no simple vocabulary in this world.
The contaminated generally referred to those polluted by the power of ancient music.
Some of these people would mutate into anomalies, while others would die directly.
The woman nodded slightly:
"Let me take a look first. If confirmed, we can deal with it later."
Xu Le heard the conversation between the two clearly. The so-called "dealing" probably meant killing him, then burning the corpse with real fire.
This was the most convenient and quick way to deal with the contaminated.
Xu Le's mind raced quickly, thinking that to survive from human hands, force alone might not be enough.
Not to mention whether the golden toad was a match for these Night Watchers.
Even if the golden toad really had the ability to kill them all, he still needed to pass the Beacon's security check to return.
By then, it wouldn't be so easy, and the golden toad couldn't possibly fight against the entire Beacon.
It might not even be a match for this team of people in front of him.
Taking a deep breath, Xu Le began to clear his thoughts.
The fact that he could sleep safely until dawn was probably due to the toad protecting him as promised.
But how should he talk to these Night Watchers now?
Should he confess and hope for leniency but serve a long sentence?
Or resist and face severe punishment but get to go home for the New Year?
If he were to make up a story, how could he make these people believe him?
This was a question worth pondering deeply.
...
While Xu Le was thinking, the woman called "Chief" had already walked up to him.
The woman before him was about thirty-something years old, with some traces of age on her face.
She was above average in looks. If she were ten years younger, she might have been considered outstanding.
Before Xu Le could stand up, this woman directly grabbed his arm and lifted him up like picking up a chicken, looking him over left and right.
Her manner was very rough, showing no consideration for Xu Le's feelings at all.
She also didn't seem to care about asking for Xu Le's opinion.
It was as if she wasn't handling a human, but a chicken.
The woman's gaze was cold, only pausing briefly when sweeping over the gunshot wound on Xu Le's chest. At other times, it was almost a cursory glance.
After looking him over, the woman simply let go, dropping Xu Le to the ground.
She didn't make a conclusion about Xu Le, but turned to another team member behind her and said:
"Wang Shu, you take a look."
"Yes."
Wang Shu walked up to Xu Le, nodded to him:
"Sorry about this."
"Huh?"
Before Xu Le could react, Wang Shu had already put on white thread gloves and began examining Xu Le's body.
This person's touch was much gentler than the woman's. When pressing on bones, it wasn't as painful.
As he examined, he began to recite his findings.
"Judging from the bones, about 18-22 years old, male, height around 180cm, weight 60kg.
Chest has explosive gunshot wound, no burn marks, not shot at close range.
Quite a bit of blood on the body, both human and anomaly.
Initial assessment of anomaly contact: ghost entities, zombies, others unknown.
Obvious residual ancient music energy on the body.
Risk assessment: high, suspected contamination.
Chief, what do we do now?"
The middle-aged woman listened to Wang Shu's examination results and nodded with satisfaction:
"Little Wang Shu's professional skills have improved quite quickly. Yes, that's basically it.
As for how to deal with this kid, what do you all think?"
After the woman spoke, another team member was the first to respond:
"If it was a normal two-person team it would be fine, but now he's alone and his companion is dead.
Definitely a solitary night stayer. Bringing someone like this back is too risky. Let's deal with it on the spot."
"Yes, the possibility of contamination for a solitary night stayer is too high. Let's handle it here."
"I agree."
Xu Le listened silently to these people's conversation. All these talks pointed to one conclusion, which was that he had been contaminated by anomalies.
The other team member had already said very directly that he should be dealt with on the spot.
What did dealing with on the spot mean? Xu Le knew without having to think.
The survival instinct made Xu Le instantly clear his thoughts.
To survive, he needed to accomplish two things.
First, he had to prove that he wasn't contaminated.
Then, he needed to demonstrate his own value.
Because just proving he wasn't contaminated might not be enough to survive in this somewhat dark world.
The human heart isn't necessarily ugly, but it's not necessarily kind either.
People of no use would be abandoned to some extent, especially in the dangerous wilderness.
He needed to demonstrate value to survive.
And he needed to demonstrate multiple layers of value, step by step.
He took a deep breath, letting that feverish heat fill his entire body.
When the people in front of him gradually distorted in his vision, Xu Le slowly opened his mouth:
"I, Xu Le, am not contaminated."
(End of Chapter)
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