Community Traversal: I Have a Daily Rescue Kit

37: Should I avoid your sharp edge?

Hearing the commotion downstairs, Su Chen didn't hesitate for a moment. He immediately raised his composite bow, aimed at the stairwell, and nocked an arrow. His whole body was on edge as he waited quietly.

He waited for a long time, but nothing came up from downstairs, and not a single sound came out. It was so quiet that he could clearly hear his own heartbeat.

Su Chen waited patiently for nearly half an hour, but there was still no movement.

His expression became more serious.

"Did I discover it and it's trying to stall me? Or... has that thing already left?"

Both possibilities exist.

So now, should we take the initiative or continue to wait?

The question had barely crossed his mind when Su Chen already had the answer.

He held the composite bow steadily in one hand, the arrow never leaving the string, while his other hand hung at his side, his fingers pressed against the red-tasseled spear handle at his waist, ready to draw his spear and fight at any moment.

He could actually have switched to a pistol.

However, considering that the gunshot might cause more trouble and the lethality at this distance, he still chose the composite bow.

In fact, a compound bow only has the chance to fire the first arrow.

If one arrow isn't enough, there's still plenty of time to draw your gun!

He stepped lightly on the floor, controlling all his muscles to try not to make a sound.

Her steps were lighter than a cat's, like a cheetah poised to pounce, cautiously inching her way downstairs.

"Squeak—"

As soon as I stepped onto the third-to-last step, the old wooden plank emitted a sharp, piercing groan, which sounded particularly abrupt in the quiet room.

Su Chen immediately stopped in his tracks, even slowing his breathing, and listened intently to the sounds downstairs. After a while, when he heard no further sounds, he breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking down.

With each step, the stairs creaked, sometimes softly, sometimes loudly.

And so, when he came to his senses, he realized that he had actually touched every inch of the little wooden house.

There were no monsters, nor any trace of people.

Completely safe.

Su Chen gradually relaxed.

Until—he saw that door.

A wooden door embedded in the floor.

Su Chen squatted down and studied it for a long time before finally reaching out and tapping it.

bang bang.

A distinct, hollow echo came from behind the door.

It seems there's a basement downstairs.

Upon seeing the door, Su Chen's interest immediately piqued.

He hadn't forgotten that when he first entered that deserted community, he also found something useful in the basement, but he couldn't take much with him back then.

Things are different now.

We have to explore this basement!

Good stuff, must buy it!

Move everything out!!

He leaned closer to the wooden door and listened intently—it was quiet inside, with only the thumping of his own heartbeat in his ears.

Su Chen pressed one hand against the wooden door and slowly lifted it upwards.

"Squeak—bang!" The wooden door was lifted up and placed aside.

Su Chen stood up and took a few steps back, cautiously staring at the dark opening in front of him. A staircase led downwards, into complete darkness.

He found a small stick, wrapped it with several layers of plastic bags, lit it with a lighter, and made a makeshift torch.

The faint light illuminated a small circle in front of him, and he slowly walked to a corner on the first floor—the noise earlier seemed to have come from this area.

Realizing this, Su Chen gripped the red-tasseled spear and stepped into the basement.

puff.

Stepping onto the basement floor kicked up a cloud of dust.

The dust made Su Chen cough twice. He waved his hand to disperse the dust and peered inside by the firelight.

The room was filled with all sorts of odds and ends: broken wooden crates, tables and chairs with missing legs, and tangled hemp ropes, all covered in a thick layer of ash. In many places, dense spider webs hung, the spider silk gleaming eerily in the firelight.

As his gaze swept across the pile of clutter, he suddenly noticed something with a peculiar shape—a palm-sized metal disc with a twisted pattern engraved around its edge and several dull-colored pebbles embedded in its surface. It didn't look like an ordinary object at all.

Su Chen curiously bent down to pick it up, and weighed it in his palm—it was quite heavy and had a cool touch.

You have obtained the hunter's relic, the "Music Box".

A notification sound rang in his mind. Su Chen looked at the music box in his hand and thought: This is the music box of this world? I don't see any batteries, what's it for?

Just as he was thinking this, a spider suddenly jumped out in front of him, startling him.

On several spider webs, several palm-sized spiders were crawling around—the miniature human face mask on their heads and chests was the Nightmare Spider he had seen in the "Demon Hunter's Handbook"!

Su Chen subconsciously took half a step back. Where did all these spiders come from? They're incredibly good at hiding!

His eyes darkened, and he was about to draw his red-tasseled spear and thrust it forward. His hand naturally clenched tightly—unexpectedly, he triggered the mechanism of the music box!

buzzing-

The disc emitted a clear, melodious sound. Su Chen found it quite pleasant, but the Nightmare Spiders suffered the consequences!

As the music wafted through the air, their eight legs began to tremble violently, and their "faces," which had been mimicking calm expressions, became distorted. They fell off their webs, struggled on the ground for a few moments, and then lay still.

Su Chen stared at the scene in surprise, then looked down at the object in his hand, a surge of joy rising within him: "Could this be something the owner of the cabin specifically used to deal with spiders? The sound it's making... could it be high-frequency sound waves?"

He discovered that the patterns on the music box would glow when it was turned on and dim when it was turned off.

Amazing! It doesn't even need batteries. Is this some kind of magical artifact from this world?

Su Chen turned off the music box with satisfaction, looked at the Nightmare Spider corpse on the ground, and smiled slightly: "The weaknesses written in the Demon Hunter's Handbook really worked."

Just then.

A rustling sound suddenly came from deep within the pile of junk, breaking the silence of the basement.

Su Chen's smile vanished instantly. He gripped the torch tightly and looked warily at the pile of debris.

The pile of junk was tall and messy, with layers of broken wooden crates stacked on top of each other, and rags and pieces of wood stuffed in between, making it impossible to see what was inside.

Su Chen picked up a fist-sized stone from beside his feet, held his breath, and slowly threw the stone toward the spot where the sound had just come from.

With a "thud," the stone hit the wooden box, making a dull thud.

After throwing the stone, Su Chen took a few steps back and waited quietly.

However, there was no further movement from the pile of debris for the next few minutes.

Su Chen frowned.

This strange sound is probably the source of what we heard on the second floor earlier!

Now that he was already here, he decided to find out what was going on.

He first observed the basement and noticed several "fire pit"-like grooves on the wall. He tried holding a torch up to them—with a "whoosh," flames immediately rose up.

This appears to be the basement lighting system.

With the fire lit, the basement became much brighter. Su Chen was finally able to free his hands, gripped the red-tasseled spear again, and looked warily at the pile of clutter once more.

The basement was eerily quiet, with only the faint crackling of the flames and his own heavy breathing.

Why aren't they coming out yet?

After waiting for a long time, Su Chen was getting impatient. Looking at the large pile of miscellaneous items crammed between the wooden crates, he suddenly thought of a question—

Could it be... that the sound is just from these miscellaneous items collapsing due to the unevenness of the gaps?

Su Chen stared at the pile of clutter, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

If that's the case, wouldn't I be outsmarting thin air?

However, he remained vigilant.

He held the red-tasseled spear, approached the pile of debris step by step, and then poked it in with the tip of the spear!

slam-la-

A pile of debris collapsed like an avalanche.

There is no danger at all.

Su Chen felt a little relieved and poked it again.

Just as the spear tip pierced the pile of debris, before it even touched anything hard, a strange hand suddenly reached out from the gap in the debris and precisely grabbed the shaft of the red-tasseled spear!

What?!

Su Chen, who was always on guard, was not intimidated. He tried to pull the gun back, but found that the other party was extremely strong and the gun barrel was gripped tightly and could not be moved.

He looked closely by the firelight—the first thing that caught his eye was a pair of eyes flashing a scarlet light in the darkness, the light exuding an inhuman coldness that sent chills down his spine.

Then, a head emerged from the pile of debris. It was the head of a puppet, its wooden skin riddled with cracks, yet with faint, dark red blood vessels running beneath the skin—thin strands of flesh and muscle, like shredded chicken, attached to the wooden skeleton, looking utterly bizarre.

The strange wooden puppet held a red-tasseled spear, its mouth opening and closing, repeating a string of syllables that Su Chen couldn't understand at all, obscure and bizarre, like whispers coming from the depths of hell.

This puppet... is actually struggling with itself!

"You think I'd avoid your sharp edge?!"

Upon realizing this, Su Chen gripped the gun barrel tightly with both hands and thrust it forward with all his might, trying to force it back.

No matter how hard he tried, the tip of the red-tasseled spear could not pierce the puppet's body, as if it had struck hard steel.

"Damn it!"

Su Chen cursed under his breath.

He quickly released one hand, pulled the heavy hammer from his backpack, raised it high, and smashed it down hard on the puppet's hand that was gripping the gun barrel!

"I'll let you arrest me!"

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, the puppet's wrist snapped, and the hand gripping the gun barrel fell to the ground.

Su Chen was overjoyed and was about to step forward and deliver the final blow—

Just then, a thick, black liquid flowed out from the broken wrist. It was the color of oil and emitted an indescribable stench.

"It stinks!"

Su Chen was so overwhelmed by the stench that he took several steps back, covered his nose, and felt as if the top of his head was about to be blown off, and his stomach churned.

The puppet, missing its hand, seemed to feel no pain. It looked down at its broken wrist and then opened its mouth to utter a string of strange syllables that Su Chen still couldn't understand.

"What are you babbling about!"

Su Chen covered his nose, intending to suppress his nausea and smash it with a hammer.

But the next second, the scene before his eyes completely stunned him.

The puppet placed its severed wrist against a wooden container—and the wood of the container began to melt at a visible speed, turning into grain patterns that flowed into the puppet's wrist.

In just a short while, a wooden hand exactly the same as before grew back!

"what?"

Su Chen was stunned.

"No way! What on earth is this thing?!"

His eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief. He instinctively reached for the Demon Hunter's Compendium in his pocket, wanting to investigate the origins of this strange puppet.

However, before he could even take out the encyclopedia, the crimson light in the eyes of the puppet that had just grown its hands suddenly surged!

It suddenly leaped out of the pile of debris, waving its two eerie hands, and pounced straight at Su Chen!