He decided to check her father's room. As he expected, the corpse of Mr. Maurice was there, lying cold on the bed. It was there he found an old journal on the bedside table.
Crash!!
Bai Xing shot up to his feet and looked out the door. Rapid footsteps were coming towards the stairs. In panic, he opened the bedroom window and jumped down with the journal. He landed on his side and rolled on the ground.
Fortunately, the ceiling of the house wasn't that tall. Although it hurts, he didn't break a bone.
He promptly ran into the thick bushes at the side road. There were enough trees to cover him as he circled the neighborhood. He should hide somewhere to read the journal. Maybe there would be a clue in there.
"!"
He noticed a bleeding man hiding behind a cargo cart. It was Jean. He got shot on his leg.
"Jean!" Bai Xing hurriedly came to him.
"Urgh…White. You got it?" Jean pressed his wound.
"I found a journal. There should be clues there," Bai Xing circled Jean's arm to his shoulder and supported him up, "Come on, we can't stay out in the open."
"Go to my inn. We have a storage basement. We can hide there." Jean grunted as his injured leg was dragged.
"S-Sorry, Jean. I'll patch you up later, so bear with it." Bai Xing sweated.
They reached Jean's inn as fast as possible. There were already many townspeople who got shot on the street. The rest has fled into their homes, but it was only a matter of time before Beauty broke in.
"Jean!" his sister gasped in shock when she saw his wound.
"Vivienne, open the basement. We need to hide now!" Jean urgently ordered.
Vivienne quickly did as she was told. She brought the earlier girl Bai Xing saved with her and their parents before locking it.
Bai Xing placed Jean down and took out the medical kit he prepared on the way there. He asked Vivienne to give him some light and took a deep breath.
It's alright. Just take out the bullet, disinfect it, and wrap it up.
"This is going to hurt." Bai Xing reminded Jean.
Jean chuckled, "I've been worse."
Bai Xing operated carefully. As much as he wanted to be quick, he wasn't skilled at this yet. Not to mention the room was too dim for him to see properly.
Fortunately, he finished the treatment without a hitch. As if to prove the injury wasn't that serious, Jean didn't flinch a single bit.
"Didn't think you're a doctor, White."
Bai Xing halted, "What did you say?"
"Huh? What?" Jean was stunned, "What was that?"
"…"
His auto-translate has been cut off. Did something happen with M?
He stood up and spoke to Vivienne in their local language, "Can I borrow the lamp?"
Vivienne gave the oil lamp to him.
Bai Xing found a table and opened the journal. Not only speech, the auto-translation has also been cut visually. The journal was completely written in the local language.
Fortunately, he was fluent in the language. It didn't make any difference with or without the auto-translate. The latter was more convenient though.
The journal was handwritten by Mr. Maurice. The first page told about the day of his marriage with his wife. Looking at the dates, Mr. Maurice didn't write his journal daily.
Bai Xing understood after reading the content that the journal was reserved to record special or important occasions. Mr. Maurice would also draw a small sketch on each entry.
Bai Xing skimmed the journal, using the drawings to speculate what the entry was about.
He stopped when he saw a drawing of a baby. It was about the day Belle was born. But he didn't find any clues from the entry.
The next one was a drawing of 3 lockets. It was an item Beauty's father made for his family. Each one has a different set of photos in them.
That was one candidate. Bai Xing folded the edge of the page to mark it and continued skimming. He reached the time when Belle's mother died. Soon after, Mr. Maurice and Belle moved out.
Then, he saw a sketch of an unfinished building. It was the time when Beauty's house was starting to be built.
'We finally found a town with empty land. We're going to build the house of our dream here. Dear wife, are you watching us from heaven?'
'Thankfully, I brought your painting with me. I can see our house starting to take shape just as you painted it. Once the house is finished, I will hang it for you.'
'The house is near completion. Our daughter is as clever as ever. She has bought all the necessary furniture and decorations. She remembers everything you told her about how you picture how our house will be on the inside.'
'Dear wife, our house is finally completed. It is as beautiful as your painting. I have hung it next to the entrance door for you to watch over us. Do you hear our daughter greeting you every morning?'
Bai Xing skimmed it until the end of the journal. The book was already fully written, so Mr. Maurice has probably changed to another book. He was lucky to take the correct one.
From the journal, there were 3 items that were possible to be used as a power source. The locket, the painting, and the house.
It would be great if it was the house since he only have the bomb left. Worst case scenario would be the locket. Since he didn't find one in Beauty's room, she must be wearing it. As for the painting…he didn't see one at the entrance.
Did the virus hide it?
"Shh!" Jean gestured for them to be silent.
The people inside stopped moving altogether and unconsciously held their breath.
Creak.
The creaking of the wooden floor gradually closed in to them.
Crash!!
The door of the basement got broke open. A fair pair of legs stepped inside, revealing the bloodied owner.
The virus looked around, not seeing anyone inside. She followed the blood trail and stopped in front of a wardrobe. She grinned maliciously and shot it before opening it.
But it was empty.
Her face went back to normal. She took step after step until she reached the end of the room. Her eyes glanced down to the hidden dark corner on her right and grinned wider than earlier.
"Found one."
"Eeek!!" Vivienne shrieked.
Before the virus could shoot her, she was tackled from behind by Jean and was slammed to the wall. If he still has his gun, he would already tranquilize her.
"Run, Vivienne! All of you!"
Vivienne and the others rushed out the door. Bai Xing grabbed the gun that got thrown away and aimed it at the virus.
It was too risky to kill the vessel, so he shot the virus's ankle. It should at least slow it down.
The virus screamed in pain and threw Jean off of her. Jean was stunned by the sheer strength used by such a fair girl.
"Jean, leave her! I got her gun."
Bai Xing pulled Jean up to his feet and they ran out together.
"What's wrong with her? Is she possessed by the devil? I'm certain that she wasn't that strong before this." Jean asked in disbelief.
"I don't think you're wrong–ugh!?"
Bai Xing tripped and fell. When he looked back, his ankle was caught by the virus.
"Whi–"
"Go!" Bai Xing threw the journal to Jean, "Find the painting and try destroying it!"
"What painting?"
"Read the page I marked. You'll know." Bai Xing hit the virus's head with the back of the gun and ran to the back of the inn.
Jean saw Belle go to chase Bai Xing. The injury on her ankle decreased her speed only slightly.
He didn't know what the hell was going on, but his gut was telling him to trust Bai Xing. He hurried to Belle's house while reading the marked page.
Bai Xing arrived at the stable and freed the horses, "I need your help!"
Once the virus was about to catch up with Bai Xing, 3 horses suddenly appeared and ram over her. She was flung a few meters away.
Bai Xing hurriedly went to her with ropes in hand and tied her as tight as possible. She has several broken bones, so hopefully, she wouldn't be strong enough to break the rope.
"You killed me four times, I will return the favor ten folds!! I will destroy this world, imprison you and let you taste hell!!" the virus laughed manically, "You will never return to your world! Don't blame me, blame M for this!"
Bai Xing didn't pay any attention to the virus's crazed shouting.
"And do you think your lover will be safe!? I will also take him and drain his blood until he becomes a garbage piece of skin! Then I will use his skin to make you a pretty cloak! Kakakakaka!!!"
