Chapter 108: Fragrance

Chen Ling's gaze swept across his surroundings. He avoided the streets that Xi Renjie had already cleared and walked directly towards the most chaotic area.

So far, Frost Street and Snow Street had been completely cleared by Chen Ling. Before leaving, he told the residents to lock their doors and windows, not to make any sound no matter what happened, and never to open their doors casually. After all, according to the killing logic of those disasters, this was the safest approach.

At this point, Chen Ling's deterrent effect came into play. No one in either of the two streets dared to question his orders; they all nodded like chickens pecking at rice before promptly shutting themselves inside their homes.

Chen Ling even felt that even if a major earthquake struck at that moment, collapsing their houses, not a single one of these people would run outside.

Along the way, panicked residents occasionally ran wildly through the streets, aimlessly. If Chen Ling encountered anyone controlled by shadows, he would kill them on the spot. If they were not controlled, he would lead them into an empty house and tell them not to run around.

Chen Ling walked through street after street, where broken bodies littered the ground. The closer he got to the outskirts, the more bodies there were. Most had been killed after their doors were forcibly broken open, or completely slaughtered in one go by disasters hidden in shadows while fleeing in groups.

Compared to these streets, Frost Street's minor losses could be considered a "no-damage" clear.

He let out a breath.

In the ruined street, Chen Ling pulled his dagger from the body of a flesh monster and let out a long sigh.

More than two hours had passed since the disaster invasion began. Chen Ling couldn't remember how many flesh monsters he had killed; his hand gripping the knife was weary, several handgun magazines had been emptied, and even the self-inflicted stab wounds from earlier had almost healed.

Even his Blood Garment was struggling to endure such intense combat. A deep sense of exhaustion welled up in his heart.

Just as Chen Ling, numbly gripping his knife, walked towards the next street, his nose twitched slightly, and he suddenly stopped.

"It smells so good..." Chen Ling mumbled to himself.

A long-lost spark appeared in his dull eyes. He turned and looked around, finding the direction from which the alluring scent emanated, and instinctively walked towards it.

In this neighborhood, where the air was thick with the smell of blood, this scent was like a bonfire in an extremely cold world—so noticeable, so warm, that it instinctively drew people closer... Chen Ling quickened his pace, walking through half a street before finally stopping in front of a shattered house.

This was a brewery. Its main door had been smashed open, and blood and severed limbs lay at the entrance. Blazing fire burned deep inside the house, as if something had been ignited.

Chen Ling frowned slightly, tightened his grip on his dagger, and stepped inside.

The shop's interior was completely chaotic. The muscular shop owner held a black rod, its tip engulfed in flames, shouting and frantically smashing it towards a flesh monster trapped by wall debris across from him.

With each strike of the flaming rod, half of the flesh monster's body was set ablaze, and the rich, fragrant scent emanated precisely from it.

"Die! Die! Die!!"

"Damn it! I'm not someone to be trifled with!"

"You want to eat me, huh?! I'll scald your mouth for you!"

The shop owner grabbed a jar of wine nearby, took a hefty gulp, then sprayed it onto the tip of the black rod. The burning flames suddenly expanded several times, and with a courageous roar from the owner, the blazing tip was shoved into the flesh monster's mouth!

Swallowing the flames, the flesh monster's body struggled violently, and a sharp shriek echoed through the shop, making the owner's eardrums ache.

Boom—!!

In agony, the flesh monster forcefully broke free from the wall debris pinning it down. Its half-burning body stumbled, knocking over a large section of furniture, and charged rapidly towards the shop owner!

The shop owner hadn't expected the creature to still be able to move, and his face instantly changed. He tried to pull out the burning rod but had no chance; his body felt as if it had been hit by a scorching train, slamming hard against the wall behind him.

Just then, a black figure rushed whistling in front of him!

A heavy whip kick struck the underside of the massive flesh monster, sending it directly flying. The shop owner only felt a gust of wind sweep past his face as the centipede was kicked into the corner.

While enduring the sharp pain in his chest, he looked up and saw a young man in a black trench coat standing calmly before him, looking thoughtfully at the burning shadow centipede.

Chen Ling glanced at him. "Can you still move?"

"...Yeah, I guess so."

"Go find a place to hide."

After saying this, Chen Ling no longer looked at him, but instead walked directly towards the centipede.

In the corner of the room, the largely charred centipede was writhing frantically, stripped of its original ferocity and strangeness. Chen Ling casually pulled the rod from its mouth, and the centipede's painful shriek echoed once more.

Chen Ling stared intently at it, unmoving like a statue.

Disturbed by the centipede's sounds, the shop owner instinctively covered his ears. Just as he was about to say something, he saw the figure in the black trench coat, and his Adam's apple bobbed...

"You..."

"Don't you think it smells good?" Chen Ling suddenly asked.

The shop owner was stunned.

He stared blankly at the writhing, charred centipede. Perhaps due to the burning flames, the air was filled with a sour, acrid smell of burning plastic.

"What did you say?" He felt he had misheard.

"Nothing."

Chen Ling waved his hand. "You should go."

"Don't you need my help? Although I'm not an enforcer, I'm actually quite capable in a fight," the shop owner finally blurted out what he was thinking.

He was indeed very capable in a fight and resourceful; becoming an enforcer had been his youthful aspiration... Unfortunately, his family's financial situation wasn't enough to support him in becoming one. And this enforcer before him might be his only shortcut.

Chen Ling had no time to say more to him now. He spoke again, his voice low: "Go."

Seeing Chen Ling's cold attitude, a flicker of disappointment crossed the shop owner's eyes. He lowered his head and eventually walked out of the shop.

Once Chen Ling was the only one left in the room, he finally let out a sigh of relief. He looked at the fragrant roasted centipede before him, and couldn't help but swallow another mouthful of saliva.

From a distance earlier, Chen Ling hadn't felt much. But standing before this fire-scorched centipede now, some physiological reactions were uncontrollable... The aroma of wine and the creature's flesh mingled perfectly under the炙烤 of the flames, emitting an intoxicating fragrance. It was sweet but not greasy, remarkably similar to the Huadiao chicken that Chen Ling used to eat often.

At this moment, Chen Ling was already utterly exhausted and famished. The moment he smelled this wine-scented roasted centipede, his mouth watered uncontrollably.

His rationality told him this was a disaster, absolutely not to be eaten. Who knew what was inside its body—bacteria? parasites? or something else? But even so, he couldn't help but take a step, slowly approaching the roasted centipede...