INSIDER Chapter 5

“You too…” Lu Chu was extremely worried. He wanted to ask, but suddenly remembered that the man couldn’t hear. So, he started writing in the man’s palm, feeling grateful that his parents had taught him to write in a way he thought he’d never need.

——Do you still have a sense of touch?

The man nodded.

——Yes, I still have a sense of touch.

This conclusion left Lu Chu unsure whether to be relieved or saddened. The man had not been affected by the “curse” that had befallen the town, and Lu Chu had thought he might be immune to the town’s so-called “fate.” However, seven days later, the man silently lost his sight and hearing.

Now, the only thing they could be thankful for was that he still had his sense of touch. Without it, what would differentiate a person from a walking corpse?

“Bang bang bang—bang bang bang—” As Lu Chu was deep in thought, the door was suddenly pounded on violently, producing a sound that suggested it wouldn’t hold up much longer.

This had happened more than once. In the past, Lu Chu stayed in the bedroom, listening to the muffled sounds from outside, while the man would go and deal with it.

But now—

The man couldn’t even hear the furious knocking on their door.

Their hands were still holding each other. Sensing Lu Chu’s anxiety, the man asked, “What’s wrong?”

——Someone is at the door. I’ll go check.

“Don’t open the door.”

——Don’t worry about me.

After writing the last word in the man’s palm, Lu Chu got up and walked to the door, his bamboo cane in hand.

The person outside seemed tireless, pounding on the door relentlessly. Over the past seven days, the door had been hit countless times. Despite the man’s repeated repairs, it was now barely holding together. Dust was falling from the frame, some of it landing on Lu Chu’s hair.

Lu Chu leaned his body against the door, listening to the noise outside.

The pounding seemed erratic, like the aimless thrashing of a mindless creature. “Who’s there?” Lu Chu called out.

“Bang bang bang—bang bang bang—”

The door continued to be struck with no response. Lu Chu raised his voice and asked again, finally confirming that the person outside had lost their hearing.

The consequences of the city losing its senses were something Lu Chu had speculated about more than once. Humans, having lost the basic abilities for survival, could no longer work or produce, but their biological needs, such as eating and excreting, remained.

How would these needs be met?

Through plunder.

Humans, after initial panic, would naturally turn to looting, driven by the instinct to survive.

Hunger? Then eat, consume anything that can fill the void.

Fear? Then go mad. Everything is an illusion anyway. You can’t see, hear, or even touch anything.

Without senses, you’re left with only yourself and a natural desire for life.

The nauseating stench of blood and decay seeped through the door, causing Lu Chu to wrinkle his nose. Radish, his dog, was at his side, growling and ready to attack.

Lu Chu crouched down and patted Radish’s back: “You go back to the bedroom.”

“Woof—” Radish growled softly, refusing to leave.

The door was being hit harder and harder. Lu Chu helped the man back into the bedroom, knowing he couldn’t make Radish stay there, so he gave up.

He had to open the door.

The person outside might have also lost their sense of touch, slamming into the door relentlessly. If they couldn’t feel pain, they wouldn’t stop until they died or their body gave out. But the door wouldn’t last until that moment.

Lu Chu gripped his bamboo cane tightly, took a deep breath, and leaned against the door, listening to the sounds outside. Confirming there was only one person, he opened the door.

“Roar!” As soon as the door opened, a foul stench hit him, making Lu Chu instinctively take a step back. He quickly swung his cane toward the sound.

Lu Chu had an advantage over these “senseless” people; he was used to the darkness and familiar with the layout of his home. He could easily determine the position of the “senseless” attacker and strike.

The “senseless” man roared like a wild beast, thrashing aimlessly. Without senses, he didn’t know what to do, only flailing his arms in desperation, trying to grab anything to fill his void.

Anything, even that sticky fluid from before.

Lu Chu dodged several attacks, with Radish biting the man’s legs. Finally, Lu Chu mustered all his strength and struck the man’s head until he stopped moving.

Panting heavily, Lu Chu collapsed to the floor, then dragged the “senseless” man out and closed the door.

Exhausted, Lu Chu wiped the sweat from his forehead, not knowing if he had killed the man. But he knew that if he showed mercy, there would only be more of that putrid blood.

It would be his own.

Radish licked Lu Chu’s face, and Lu Chu smiled, hugging the furry head: “I’m fine.”

Returning to the bedroom, Lu Chu felt for the man’s hand.

The man sensed Lu Chu and asked, “Are you alright?”

——I’m fine.

“We need to leave here.”

Leave? Where would they go? The whole town was in chaos. To leave, they would have to escape the city, but no one had ever left. Lu Chu didn’t even know what the “mountains outside town” looked like. Could he really, without sight, lead Radish and the man through the chaos and over the mountains to survive in the outside world?

Sensing Lu Chu’s thoughts, the man added, “Not outside. To the center of the city.”

——The center?

“Yes.”

The center of the town…

——The tower.

The towering, windowless structure that reached into the sky, according to others.

“That’s right.”