Deep Sea Embers

Cold, damp, the smell of rotting flesh, and the noise of iron chains scraping against the ground.

Many strange perceptions flooded into Duncan's mind, but he failed to open his eyes for a while. At this moment, he felt as if his soul was divided into two parts. One part was still on the Lost Home, but the other part was still on board the Lost Home. Part of it was stuffed into a completely unfamiliar body. This body was as difficult to control as an old and broken machine. Mixed and chaotic perceptions were rushing through the nervous system, mixed with a certain sense of slowness and numbness. He tried to open his eyes, When you move your fingers, you can't feel the existence of these corresponding body parts at all.

This uncomfortable feeling lasted for several seconds, and the unspeakable numbness and dullness in the nervous system finally gradually faded away. Duncan felt as if his "body" had awakened from a long hibernation and resumed its activities little by little. ability.

He finally opened his eyes and saw clearly the situation around him at this moment.

What he saw was a groggy, cave-like space. There were burning torches inserted into the stone wall in the distance. The swaying firelight reflected the terrifying scenes around him. Duncan saw many people or many people. The dead bodies were thrown in various directions among the damp and waterlogged soil and rocks. Most of them were in ragged clothes, but a few of them still had complete clothes on them.

There were condensed water drops dripping from the top of the cave. In the distance, there was a faint sound like the flow of sewage in an underground river or drainage channel. The sound of the friction of iron chains seemed to come from deep in a corridor connected to the cave, and Already drifting away.

Duncan blinked, trying to figure out what was going on. He looked down at his right hand. What he saw was a completely unfamiliar and thin hand, and the tattered clothes on his arm. The hand he had been holding in his hand before The brass compass has long since disappeared.

He looked up and looked beside him again. He still remembered that he had caught a glimpse of a shadow following him when he was traveling through the network of stars and light. The outline of the shadow looked like some kind of bird, but of course , he found nothing.

The bird-like shadow didn't seem to follow him into the real space.

Duncan slowly shook his hands, suppressed the nervousness in his heart, and then tried to rub his fingers.

A cluster of extremely weak green flames emerged from the fingertips.

It has to be said that this bunch of flames now looks much weaker than what Duncan is familiar with, but he still feels a little at ease, and while the flames are burning, his still somewhat confused spirit is slightly refreshed, and it is stronger than before. I felt more clearly just now...a spiritual tearing and connection.

He clearly sensed that another part of his spirit was not here. He sensed the existence of the Lost Home, and sensed himself sitting at the desk, holding a brass compass in his hand.

This feeling was very strange, but Duncan immediately vaguely realized what the situation was like:

His spirit underwent... some kind of projection, or extension. The part of his projected mind crossed an unknown distance and now entered another unfamiliar body.

And in this projection state, he can still clearly feel the existence of his "body".

It must have something to do with that brass compass! Could this be the ability of that "abnormal item"?

Duncan had some suspicions in his mind, but he didn't let his random thoughts take up too much time. After confirming that his body was still safe and sound, his mind was still under control, and now he had only temporarily entered a distant and nameless body, he had calmed down a little and was ready to confirm what was going on with his "new body" .

First of all, the first point is that the surrounding environment is definitely not on a certain ship.

This is land, the land he has been unable to find after wandering on the sea for so many days!

The second point is that this gloomy cave does not look like a good place, and the corpses scattered around do not look like a normal "burial" scene. The body that I occupy now... is trapped because of some unlucky reason. In this hell on earth?

Duncan took a deep breath and sat up. His body had been leaning on a big rock before. That position was not comfortable.

And just with this inhalation and standing up, Duncan suddenly felt a huge strangeness in his body. He felt that the air he had breathed into his body was released all at once, and some kind of empty and strange feeling also spread from his chest. Come, even the movement of getting up has been deformed.

Duncan looked down in surprise and saw a big hole.

The big hole opened at the heart, and the contents inside were naturally gone. A cool wind blew through it, mixed with the breath that Duncan had taken in that had not completely dissipated just now, and finally escaped in the humid air. .

Duncan even clearly saw the scene behind him from a certain angle.

"...What the hell?!"

No matter how thick his nerves were, even if he had gained more "worldliness" on the Homeless Ship, Duncan still felt like he was breaking out in a cold sweat at this moment. He felt that his goosebumps were endless. The hair on my hair stood on end!

And after this sudden shock, what he realized immediately was: he was still standing here well, and even had the power to curse.

With his heart missing and a big hole in his chest, he didn't even feel any pain from this body!

"Is this... a corpse?"

After a while, Duncan woke up. He further understood his situation and quickly calmed down.

Possessing the body of a corpse and getting up and moving may not be something worth fussing about. After all, he also has a ghost ship that can sail on its own and a wooden goat first mate who can make people noisy until their brains boil. He also recently met a A cursed doll that can act separately and is good at riding the wind and waves on the boundless sea. Which of these is not more terrifying than "The Dead Man Talks"?

At any rate, he just lost his heart now, and Alice's head is often not on her neck...

With these random thoughts swirling in his mind, Duncan regained his composure at a speed that surprised him. Then he confirmed the movements of his current body, and then slightly adapted to the abnormal movement of his chest. Then he walked towards the corpses dumped in the cave.

"really……"

Duncan looked at the first corpse, not surprised after seeing the horrifying hole in the other person's chest.

It was a middle-aged man with a haggard face and ragged clothes. He looked like a beggar on the roadside. He had been dead for a long time, but his angry look still conveyed his struggle and despair at the moment of death.

Duncan continued to walk forward and saw corpses that had lost their hearts one after another. They fell miserably on the cold stone. There were only two exceptions. Those two people had hideous wounds on their heads, which seemed to have been caused by a violent impact. on the rocks and killed instantly.

Duncan couldn't help but have some associations. Perhaps these were two people who committed suicide before facing the pain of having their hearts cut out.

To be honest, the things in this cave are a bit too exciting for ordinary people. Even Duncan felt a little overwhelmed after checking all the corpses, so that he had to go to a farther place after checking the condition of all the corpses. I found a relatively clean stone and sat down, sorting out my situation bit by bit, and speculating on the truth of all this while calming down.

Obviously, this is a horrific murder, but judging from the too cold and uniform killing method, it seems that this is not just murder, but also reveals some kind of evil... ritualistic feeling.

Duncan summoned the spiritual flame again and felt the connection between himself and the "body". He knew that he could cut off this "projection state" at any time and return to the safety of the Homeless Ship.

But he felt he needed to figure out what was going on here.

Even if it's just to get some information about the land.

Duncan exhaled, feeling the feeling of air leaking from his chest, and stood up from the big rock where he was resting temporarily. He looked at the tunnel deep in the cave, and remembered that the sound of the iron chain rubbing came from there before.

There are not only corpses in this underground space, but also other people moving around. Those who can move freely in this terrible place... should be able to give him some answers.

It was certainly not safe to rush over to check the situation, but Duncan didn't care.

Anyway, I feel relaxed now.