Secret

Lin Chen breathed in and out as he placed his hand on his thighs, causing him to wince in pain. "Shit! I guess I have to get this body used to pain, or else it's going to be a lot harder when I'm fighting even stronger foes.." Lin spoke with a groan as he pulled his hand back and bit his lips.

He then looked over at the undead whom he had secretly awakened while fighting the man in black, and then snapped his fingers in its direction. "You. Grab three of those bodies and lead me to a place where you can offload these corpses. I'm sure you're familiar with a few spots already. I'll take the other two dead bodies and follow you."

The undead nodded its head and did a little bow before walking over to the bodies of its dead comrades. It began grabbing the bodies and Lin Chen took a small bottle out from his pocket and popped open the lid. He took out a single pill and gulped it down immediately before kneeling in front of the man in black's body and trying to pull him up.

[ Are you sure you want to do this right now? You're badly hurt. Wouldn't it be better if you actually heal yourself first, and then try to move the body? Or maybe wait for the undead to return after dumping those three bodies and let it handle the other two as well. ]

"I don't think it'll be wise to leave these bodies out here for too long. There's a chance that the cops might arrive.." Lin Chen gritted his teeth as he pulled the dead body over his shoulder. Although this might be a shady part of the town, there was still a chance that these bodies could be taken by the authorities, or worse, stolen by weirdos living in the streets. Lin Chen couldn't risk that.

"Hey undead.." He then turned to look at the undead, who had already placed the three bodies over his shoulders, one above the other, and asked. "Show me where-"

Clank!

Before Lin Chen could finish his words, the undead walked a few meters into the alleyway, over to a backdoor that was hidden behind a bunch of trash cans, and turned the doorknob, opening it.

"....."

[ …. I guess you could just let the undead take care of the- ]

"I'll let the undead handle the rest of the bodies, yeah.." Lin Chen dropped the man in black's body onto the ground and let out a long sigh before leaning back onto the wall behind him.

----------------

The undead came back after a few seconds, seemingly after dumping the three bodies inside the building, and Lin Chen pointed his finger at the other two corpses down below. "Take them as well."

The undead took a glance at the two bodies by its feet and nodded its head before kneeling down to grab them, and Lin Chen took out the bottle of pills once again.

[ Are those healing pills? ]

The boar demon asked, and Lin Chen nodded his head. "Yeah. But they're cheap versions, so not exactly effective. They do reduce the pain a lot though, so I guess they're not totally shit."

[ Do they take a lot of time to heal? ]

"A lot. They're highly impractical in a battle." Lin said as he watched the undead grab the two bodies and walk towards the backdoor, and started following it. "But they're main selling point is that they're really cheap, which means that almost anyone can afford it."

The undead entered the building through the backdoor, followed by Lin Chen. He looked around the place, and realized that it was a large kitchen, seemingly part of a restaurant that was abandoned quite a while ago, as the place was filled with cobwebs and rusted equipment.

"This is an interesting place…" Lin Chen raised his eyebrows as he scanned the whole place. His gaze then shifted over to the undead who was walking in front of him. "Now I'm even more curious to know who you people really are."

The undead walked through the kitchen until he stopped in front of what seemed like a closet door. Lin Chen peeked at the door from behind, and then shifted his gaze back onto the undead, puzzled by its actions.

Clink!

The undead grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, and the door opened to reveal a staircase that led down to a basement.

"Oho? A secret pathway, huh? I certainly didn't expect this." Lin Chen seemed to be enjoying this more and more. The undead dragged the bodies down as it descended the stairs, and Lin Chen followed it.

[ These guys, although weak, have access to places like these… Something doesn't add up. ]

The boar demon voiced its suspicions and Lin Chen nodded his head. "They might be working for a larger organization. That's the only reason I can think of."

The undead reached the basement floor, and Lin Chen looked around, amazed by how large it was.

The place was filled with suspicious and shady materials, such as an operating table and weapons that were covered in dry blood, with a large furnace on one side. Lin Chen also found the other three bodies lined up next to the furnace, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Looks like you guys might've been more impressive than I thought." Lin Chen turned to look at the undead and then back to the large furnace, which looked like it could fit a whole human in it. "To think that you owned such places simply for burning bodies. The organization you work for might be more dangerous than I thought."

[ What do you plan on doing now, boy? I know that you were trying to get rid of all the bodies except for the man in black, but if you have access to a place like this where you could hide them, then wouldn't it be better to simply awaken all of them as undeads? You can rest all you want if you get exhausted, and can continue after you've recovered. ]

"Hm.." Lin Chen placed his hand under his chin and thought. The boar demon was right. Now that he had found a great hideout, why should he get rid of the other bodies, when he could eventually turn them into undead creatures one by one?

Lin Chen looked at the dead bodies that were lying on the floor, and then shifted his gaze back onto the basement, scanning the entire place, burning it into his memory.

"No, let's stick with awakening only the man in black." Lin Chen shook his head, abandoning the idea in the end.

Although the kitchen above seemed to have been abandoned for a long time, the basement on the other hand didn't feel like it was abandoned as long. It didn't have much cobwebs, and the weapons didn't have any rust on them either.

"Like I said before, this place is definitely not accessible for goons like these guys. Not unless they're working for someone more powerful." Lin Chen said as he walked up to the corpse of the man in black and kneeled next to him. "I don't know how often their 'colleagues' visit this place either. I can't risk getting caught by someone who might be more powerful than the man in black. Not right now, at least. Not until I'm strong enough."

The undead nodded its head as it grabbed one of the corpses to throw into the furnace, and Lin Chen began waving his arm over the man in black's face as a purple circle with mysterious runic alphabets written all over it appeared above the corpse's forehead.

[ Do you want my help? ]

"Just a little.." Lin Chen nodded. "We don't have to rush with the process like last time. Let's take it slow."