Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 202: Night Encounter with Ghoul

"It's not a bad situation, really," Yin En said earnestly. "The god of Godless Shrine has agreed to help us, so we have a powerful ally now. And if the Dark Willow Gang tries to harm us, we can always take Mian Gu Lu to seek refuge in Godless Shrine."

At this moment, Otonashi Takuya, who had been mostly silent, unexpectedly spoke up. "That might not be the case. Mian Gu Lu has already been possessed by the Eldritch God Taketori. So, I doubt the god of Godless Shrine will allow Mian Gu Lu to enter the shrine."

With Otonashi Takuya's words, Liu Xing also realized that Kanna Ryoko would probably not permit Mian Gu Lu to stay in Godless Shrine. After all, in the Cthulhu RPG Game, there were no truly safe places, and even if there were, they wouldn't be accessible to players.

"Well, that's a problem. How about we go to the police station to lay low?" Watanabe Jiang suggested with a sudden idea.

"Think about it, both the police chief and the Dark Willow Gang are against us, and they don't even trust the mayor. So, if we hide at the police station, Dark Willow Gang probably won't launch a direct attack on it. Yin En can have his father-in-law get us out when the time is right," Watanabe Jiang elaborated with a straight face.

However, Gu Jun shook his head and spoke seriously, "Watanabe Jiang, that's a flawed plan. If we all hide at the police station, it's equivalent to locking ourselves in, and Dark Willow Gang will attack us the moment we leave. Besides, our time is precious; we need to resolve the Eldritch God Taketori's world-ending crisis. So, unless you want to wait and die at the police station, we should stay away from it."

After exchanging intelligence, the group continued discussing various topics for a while before having dinner and going their separate ways.

Since it would take an hour by car from Chen Wenbin's house to Unseen Pond, Liu Xing decided to leave early and book a hotel near Unseen Pond. After all, who knew how long he had been chatting with Ghoul.

After confirming that the livestream setup was functioning properly, Liu Xing prepared to depart. However, at that moment, Watanabe Jiang had another unconventional idea and said with a grin, "I have a bold idea. What if I record Liu Xing's livestream and upload it directly on the n-site? What do you think would happen?"

Liu Xing smiled politely but awkwardly. Watanabe Jiang's idea was indeed audacious, and Liu Xing was well aware of the potential consequences: it would trigger the achievement - "National SAN Value Assessment."

After bidding farewell to the others, Liu Xing went to Unseen Pond. Unseen Pond was located right next to Godless Shrine, so it was often considered a subsidiary attraction of the shrine. Unseen Pond was quite spacious, resembling an open park.

Around Unseen Pond, there were extensive yellowed grassy areas and some basic sports equipment. By the water, there were three small pavilions, each with several centuries of history, as per the information Liu Xing had obtained from the Ziwu City tourism manual.

Even though it was already 9 PM, there were still people strolling around Unseen Pond. Liu Xing took a walk around the area, getting a feel for the surroundings. However, he couldn't help but notice that Unseen Pond had limited lighting. Apart from the government-maintained walking paths, there were no streetlights in most areas. This presented a challenge because Liu Xing's phone, which he used for livestreaming, didn't have night vision capabilities.

Feeling somewhat unprepared, Liu Xing left Unseen Pond and found a guesthouse to rest until midnight, the agreed-upon time to meet the yet unseen Ghoul. Once he was fully prepared for the livestream, Liu Xing returned to Unseen Pond.

At this hour, Unseen Pond was deserted, but thankfully, the streetlights were still on. Liu Xing found a well-lit spot and began waiting for Ghoul's arrival.

After a while, Liu Xing spotted a Ghoul emerging from the darkness. To his surprise, this Ghoul had a resemblance to the traditional Ghoul image but with a face that was much more human-like, as opposed to the typical canine-headed appearance.

However, this was not entirely unexpected, considering that this Ghoul had originally been a human. In urban legends, such Ghouls were often described as Half-Beasts rather than dog-headed creatures.

"Hello, I'm Aoki, the one who invited you to Rose Graveyard today," Ghoul said in a familiar voice.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected this Ghoul to be named Aoki, and most likely, Aoki was the second-in-command among the mercenaries. It seemed Ghoul had come for a serious discussion.

"Hello, I'm Liu Xing. It's a pleasure to meet you," Liu Xing replied with a polite smile.

Aoki scrutinized Liu Xing for a moment and nodded. "I thought you might be just curious, but it seems you're not afraid of me."

Liu Xing chuckled politely, responding earnestly, "Without a diamond drill, don't handle porcelain work. If I say I want to cooperate with you, I must be prepared. Besides, I've seen Ghouls even more fearsome than you. In the end, you're still human, after all."

Liu Xing's words surprised Aoki, and he looked at Liu Xing with astonishment. "What? Do you know our identity?"

Liu Xing inwardly rejoiced; his hunch had been right. Maintaining his composure, he smiled and said, "As I mentioned earlier, I didn't come here on a whim today; I came prepared. So, I know you are the mercenaries who once served Sawada Tomohiko."

Hearing this, Aoki sighed and said earnestly, "It seems you've heard the story, but Liu Xing, you should know one thing: history is written by the victors. We were indeed hired by Sawada Tomohiko, but we were not traitors."

Seeing this, Liu Xing realized that the events from back then were far from straightforward.

"I'd like to hear the whole story," Liu Xing said, looking at Aoki with seriousness.

Aoki nodded and began narrating an alternate version of the story. Aoki, in his earlier days, came from a destitute samurai family. Despite learning martial arts from his father, he couldn't become a true samurai due to a lack of opportunities. As a result, he joined a local mercenary group, specializing in protecting villages from bandits and marauders.

When the news of the appearance of the supernatural creatures in Ziwu City reached their area, Aoki's elder brother, who was also the leader of their mercenary group and currently an elder in the Ziwu City Ghoul clan, decided to accept the mission.

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