Chapter 89: An Old Man's Escape

Endless Paradise

'Is it possible to escape the asylum without dealing with the black phantom?' Bai Mu wondered, recalling the gaze they had just shared.

So far, the only people Bai Mu had actually seen get killed by the black phantom were the soldiers.

However, as Bai Mu and Stephen chased their target out of the women's ward, he found a glaring hole in his theory.

A thick stench of blood hung in the air just outside the women's ward. Bai Mu could only describe the scene before him as a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

Hundreds of mangled corpses were piled together like discarded trash.

Their bodies had been twisted and wrung out like wet rags. The sheer volume of blood spilling from them pooled into a massive puddle, dyeing the very soil red.

Even the torrential downpour could not wash away the lingering stench of blood and rotting flesh.

Stephen leaned against the wall, dry-heaving from the overwhelming stench. Judging from the remaining features on the corpses, there was no doubt that these were the asylum patients.

This could only be the work of the black phantom. It did not exclusively target the soldiers after all.

He crouched down and picked up a few white chrysanthemums from the muddy ground.

The heavy rain battered the petals off their green stems. The muddy, snow-white petals drifted along the rivulets of water, flowing into the pool of blood until they were dyed red and swallowed completely.

There were no flowerbeds or wild chrysanthemums growing nearby. Someone had intentionally picked these flowers and laid them before the mound of bodies.

White chrysanthemums were a traditional funeral flower used for mourning. Whoever left them here was showing pity for these asylum inmates who had died without a proper burial.

Bai Mu raised his Camcorder, recording a grisly scene that would undoubtedly be classified as forbidden footage.

[You have recorded Evidence: The Blood Pool Outside the Women's Ward.]

"Have a piece of candy, Stephen. It might make you feel a bit better," Bai Mu said, tossing a fruit drop into the man's hands.

"Th-Thank you, Bai." Stephen unwrapped the candy and popped it into his mouth. "This is an absolute hellscape, but I feel like we're getting closer to the truth. I just hope we live long enough to make it back."

"We will," Bai Mu assured him, helping Stephen to his feet.

A crack of lightning thundered overhead, briefly illuminating the inner courtyard of the asylum.

Deep footprints were clearly visible in the muddy earth, matching the size of an adult man's shoes.

The two resumed their pursuit of the priest's tracks. They braved the wind and rain as they crossed the expansive courtyard. Simple recreational facilities like swings and a small court were visible through the gloom, indicating this was likely the outdoor exercise yard for the asylum inmates.

With few obstacles to block their line of sight, it didn't take long for Bai Mu to spot a figure sprinting through the storm ahead of them.

"Found him!" Bai Mu declared, drawing his Baseball Bat.

The target was an elderly man, after all, and his running speed was painfully slow. If he were younger and confident in his physical prowess, he wouldn't have needed to rely on so many traps and cheap tricks.

"Don't you run, you old fraud!" Stephen shouted passionately into the rain.

His injuries appeared completely healed as he sprinted furiously, raising the crowbar he had found earlier in the Power Room.

Stephen was in the prime of his life. Despite his somewhat chubby physique, he possessed an impressive amount of stamina and explosive power. That was likely the result of traveling all over the world year-round to chase front-line news stories.

The bulk on his body wasn't just fat; it was stored energy.

Thinking about it, using a healing item to save Stephen hadn't been a complete loss. Even if Bai Mu failed to complete the man's Side Quest, he had essentially gained a highly motivated bruiser.

Stephen's combat capabilities might not be top-tier, but he would never abandon a Player to save his own skin.

In a critical moment, he would even be willing to take a bullet or act as a sacrificial decoy without a single complaint. If the only goal was to clear the Script, bringing Stephen along drastically increased a Player's chances of survival.

Putting those thoughts aside, Bai Mu and Stephen sprinted through the courtyard, throwing all their strength into chasing the priest.

Hearing the shout, the bald priest glanced over his shoulder. He immediately pumped his legs as if his life depended on it, desperately increasing his stride to squeeze out a tiny bit more speed.

For a moment, it was hard to tell who the good guys were and who the bad guy was.

If an uninformed bystander witnessed this scene, they would probably assume Bai Mu and Stephen were the villains. Taking the situation out of context, it objectively looked like two able-bodied young men armed with deadly weapons were viciously chasing down a bald, elderly man in priestly robes.

It looked as though the old man would be beaten to death if caught, explaining his frantic struggle to escape. However, everyone had their physical limits. Bai Mu and Stephen rapidly closed the gap, quickly arriving right at his heels.

Bai Mu was slightly surprised that Stephen managed to keep pace without falling behind. After all, with his title's buff, Bai Mu's Agility was at 17 points, far surpassing the limits of an ordinary human.

The Script's mechanics had likely scaled up Stephen's stats to ensure he wouldn't be left in the dust by the Players during this segment of the story.

Furthermore, Bai Mu noticed that swapping his title back out hadn't affected Stephen's perception of him. It seemed the 'Walking Headline' title only needed to establish a first impression with a Script's characters; changing the title afterward wouldn't erase its effect.

The priest's ragged gasps were now audible. He was thoroughly exhausted, wheezing heavily as he tried to speak.

"Outsiders, you... why... why are you so relentlessly stubborn?"

"Cut the crap!" Stephen lunged forward, grabbing the priest by the collar.

But the wily old man actually managed to slip out of his robes like a snake shedding its skin. His scrawny body was exposed to the biting rain, clad in nothing but an ordinary white undershirt. Honestly, seeing his frail back shivering in the cold made the situation look rather pitiful, like they were bullying a helpless senior citizen.

But today, bullying an old man was exactly what they were going to do.

Bai Mu stepped forward and delivered a swift sweeping kick, tripping the priest.

He purposely hadn't used his Baseball Bat. If he had struck the frail man with it, the priest likely would have died on the spot.

The priest lost his balance and crashed into the muddy puddles. To his credit, he managed to maintain a solemn expression, looking as dignified as a man officiating a funeral. However, his scrawny frame was trembling violently. It was impossible to tell whether he was shaking from the freezing rain or sheer terror.

"Outsiders, you... gasp... gasp... what exactly are you seeking?" the priest gasped. "Why... are you... so determined?"

"You're going to answer my questions. Can you do that?" Bai Mu demanded, hauling the priest up by his undershirt.

"What do you want to know?" the priest asked.

"I said, you're going to answer my questions," Bai Mu replied coldly, resting the head of his Baseball Bat against the priest's ear.

Stephen played the part of the menacing lackey flawlessly, drawing a small army knife and jabbing it forward a few times for emphasis. Paired with his chubby face, the display was rather comical. It felt like he might lick the blade at any second and declare, "This blade is coated in a deadly poison."

The priest fell silent for a few seconds. His eyes darted to the bloodstained Baseball Bat resting against his head before he murmured, "I can."

Bai Mu dragged him under the nearest overhang to escape the rain. "First question. What is that black phantom?"

"The blasphemers call it the Walrider. But I know the truth... it is the avatar of God," the priest answered.

"Keep your religious delusions to yourself," Bai Mu warned. "Tell me, what does the name Walrider mean to the people who run this place?"

"They use it... as the codename for a weapon," the priest admitted, practically choking on the blasphemous word.

"So the Walrider is a man-made weapon? Tell me how it was created."

"You could say that. Sometime during the last century, a group of people operating here accidentally managed to bridge the Walrider to our world. It has existed among us ever since."