INSIDER Chapter 7

Radish was highly sensitive to the pungent smell of blood, rubbing its head against Lu Chu’s pant leg. Lu Chu had told it before leaving not to bark unnecessarily, so even though it struggled to contain its animal instincts, it refrained from making any noise.

The man also remained silent. Since he couldn’t see or hear, he couldn’t assess the situation. If Lu Chu was trying not to alert anyone, the man’s speaking out of turn could only make things worse.

As soon as Lu Chu caught a whiff of that smell, he instinctively pulled the man back a step, narrowly avoiding the little girl’s reaching hand.

“Big brother…” The girl’s voice was filled with innocent curiosity, “Where are you?”

She was very close now. Judging by her voice’s direction, Lu Chu estimated her height to be about waist-high to him, roughly six or seven years old.

“Big brother? I can’t see you…” The girl’s voice held a note of grievance, her hand groping blindly. “Where are you? I’m so hungry and tired…”

“Move away quickly!”

Just as Lu Chu was thinking of how to converse with the girl, a sudden shout came from a distance. Lu Chu instinctively pulled the man back two steps.

“Thunk—” The sound of something blunt piercing flesh was followed by a warm, sticky liquid splashing onto Lu Chu’s face. At the same time, the girl let out a piercing scream.

Realizing what had happened, Lu Chu shouted at the newcomer, “What are you doing?!”

“What am I doing?” The man’s voice was rough and irritable, “I’m saving your life!”

“Ah! It hurts… it hurts…” The girl’s sharp cries pierced Lu Chu’s eardrums. Lu Chu stepped forward, intending to help the girl up by following her voice, but the rough-voiced man roughly shoved him aside.

After being shoved, Lu Chu worriedly supported the man at his side, anger in his voice, “What are you trying to do?”

“Do what?” The man’s voice suddenly rose, sharp and crazed, “Didn’t I tell you already? I’m saving you! If it weren’t for me, you! All of you! Would be eaten by this little demon! Eaten, do you understand? Your legs would be torn off and devoured raw!”

A chill ran through Lu Chu as the man’s words seemed to confirm his earlier suspicions.

At this moment, the little girl lying on the ground began to sob again, “It hurts… it hurts…”

Lu Chu crouched down. He didn’t believe that a six or seven-year-old girl who had just lost her sight could pose any real threat. In fact, the “loss of all senses” event had little impact on his own living, judgment, or self-protection abilities.

Lu Chu softened his voice, “Tell big brother, when did mommy fall asleep?”

The rough-voiced man had struck the girl somewhere, and she kept crying out in pain, “Mommy… mommy has been asleep… for a long time…”

“Did mommy say anything?”

“Said… what…” The girl mumbled, “Mommy said she didn’t hurt, said she’d find me food… raw food, bloody meat that’s very fishy… that could be eaten too…”

Upon hearing this, the rough-voiced man started to rush over again, but he tripped and fell, unable to find his way. He panted heavily, unable to hide the anger in his heart, “Hahaha, what did her mom teach her? Let me tell you. Do you think she looks pitiful? A little girl… hahaha…” The man suddenly burst into wild laughter, then began coughing uncontrollably, “Cough, cough! At first, I thought so too. The world was already chaotic, and surviving was hard enough. One day, this little girl crawled to my doorstep. My wife said, in such chaotic times, how could a little girl survive on her own? So we let her in.”

“Things were fine at first, but two days later, my wife was gone…” He paused, then suddenly began to cry out in pain, “Gone? Tell me, you tell me, how does a healthy person just die?!”

“Later, I smelled it, the stench of blood filling the house, and felt my wife’s leg covered in blood, the flesh turned inside out!”

Hearing this, Lu Chu felt a wave of nausea, the extreme emotional discomfort making his hands and feet instantly cold. Sensing something wrong, the man tightened his grip on Lu Chu’s hand and wrote in his palm.

——What happened?

Since everyone in this town had lost their sight, such small gestures went unnoticed.

——I’m fine, don’t worry about it.

“She eats people.” The rough-voiced man finally uttered those words.

“Mommy said, it doesn’t hurt… it doesn’t hurt…” The little girl’s innocent voice sounded again, but it was chilling, “People who don’t hurt can be eaten…”

“Hahaha, my wife lost her sense of touch. Even if you sawed off her leg, she wouldn’t feel it!” The man roared in pain, “Tell me, is she still human?!”

The more innocent, the more cruel.

The word “instinct” was most vividly embodied in the purest of people.

“Pain… pain—” The little girl’s cries suddenly stopped.

“Dead?” The man’s voice rose, sounding both joyous and resentful, “Serves her right! Everyone in this world deserves to die, deserves to die!”

The man was half-mad, mumbling incoherent words, staggering and falling to the ground.

“I also deserve to die.”

After a long time, the man fell silent.

Lu Chu stood still, feeling heavy-hearted.

Radish rubbed against Lu Chu’s pant leg. Lu Chu lowered his head, sighed softly, and wrote in the man’s palm——Let’s go.

————

Once out of the complex, a few steps away was a large intersection, likely already jammed.

In such a situation, Lu Chu dared not make a sound because he didn’t know how many desperate, crazed people might be lurking unseen. Seven days—just a week had passed, and the once peaceful town was gone.

If this was fate, then what was the origin of all this?

Because of his blindness, Lu Chu had endured strange looks from others since childhood, which had made him mature and steady. After his parents passed away, his character became even more independent and resilient.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t scared or confused by what was happening now.

“Radish, is there a way ahead?” Lu Chu asked in a low voice.

Radish barked twice, indicating that the way ahead was blocked.

As expected.

Lu Chu knew another small path, full of twists and turns, confusing even to those with normal vision. But for someone as familiar with every corner of this town as Lu Chu, it wasn’t hard to navigate through it to bypass the intersection.

——Hold my hand tightly.

——Okay.

Lu Chu took a step forward but noticed the man hadn’t moved.

——What’s wrong?

——Once inside the tower, you’ll know what you want to know.