Chapter 623: Meeting Zeus
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Like Cinderella, who had to return at the first stroke of midnight, the warm orange fire lights dimmed one after another as the minute hand touched 12. The darkness beyond the wall crept in, slowly filling every inch of the resting zone. The stalls closed, and the people quieted down. The mood took a nosedive and turned somber.
There was a cold air of dread hung heavily in the air. Everybody seemed both anxious and worried about the arrival of the second day, as some of them knew they might not get the chance to see the sunset tomorrow when the game ended.
After she had nudged out of the crowd of puppets, Lin Sanjiu was taken aback by what she saw. There weren’t any people around them. Earlier on when the night was still young, she could somewhat hear the noises of people shuffling here and there, but now, everywhere her eyes looked, all she could see was darkness and empty umbrellas.
Those posthuman couldn’t be blamed for not wanting to stay near them. After all, Puppeteer was too volatile; n.o.body knew when he would suddenly turn hostile and go on a killing spree. She did not want to share an umbrella with him either, even if he had promised her that he wouldn’t kill her.
Of course, the feeling was mutual; the last thing Puppeteer wanted was to share the same s.p.a.ce as them.
“Sis, can we sleep here?” the grand prize grumbled as he followed behind Lin Sanjiu. “I’m sleepy… I cannot walk anymore.”
No sooner had Lin Sanjiu and Ji Shanqing walked away that Puppeteer shooed Soulsqn away as well. Snaking beside Lin Sanjiu, Soulsqn sighed, “It’s so cold at night.”
“Both of you have become more fragile after spending some time with him.”
Lin Sanjiu commented while pulling a long face and continued walking forward without turning her head. Most of the posthumans had already succ.u.mbed to sleep. It was quiet, and the night air was filled with snores and the trio’s footfalls.
Although there were quite a lot of posthumans that slept on the cobbled floor without any scruples since they knew they had nothing to lose, some of them were circ.u.mspect. This was because the rule that kept those that harbored evil designs at bay lifted when the morning came. Hence, more of them had set up some protection to make sure they were safe for the night while they were fast asleep.
Whether it was hanging on the wall like a coc.o.o.n, hiding under a b.u.mp on the ground, or building a makes.h.i.+ft shelter using Simmons’ mattresses… There was a motley variety of barriers that Lin Sanjiu couldn’t count them all on the fingers of one hand. Turning a deaf ear to the complaints behind her, Lin Sanjiu stopped and studied her surroundings. Then, she pointed to a direction and said, “Stop complaining! Look, isn’t that a… hotel?”
Lin Sanjiu’s voice turned smaller, as she wasn’t sure if it was her eyes or her mind playing a trick on her. The grand prize rushed forward, and following her finger, he saw a pale white lantern swinging in the dark. Somebody had probably scratched out the original word with black ink. There was now the word “hotel” written on it.
“A hotel?” The grand prize frowned. “It looks suspicious. Are we going in?”
“Let’s find out!” Lin Sanjiu answered readily.
The three of them hurriedly walked towards the white lantern. A dingy house emerged from the darkness.
“It’s a hotel!” shouted Soulsqn. Her cries had seemingly aroused the people in the house. A series of footsteps rang out behind the door before it was opened from inside with a creak. The next thing that met their gaze was a grisly white face. A dead man.
Lin Sanjiu’s hair bristled, and Mrs. Manas yelled in shock inside her mind. Before she could unleash her Higher Consciousness, the dead man spoke, “Staying in?”
The three of them were so dumbfounded that they were ripped of their ability to speak. The corpse in front of them was talking. Not only had rigor mortis set in, but his eyes were gla.s.sy and empty as well. The only thing that it lacked was the smell of death.
There were more dead bodies behind the corpse, sleeping in the rows of coffins that filled the s.p.a.cious hall. A dead body grumbled and turned over when he heard the noise.
“Don’t worry, we are not duoluozhong ,” the corpse yawned. Lin Sanjiu could not tell its gender from its highly decomposed face. Its voice came out of its decayed vocal cord as it drawled, “This is my Special Item. You will become a corpse once you set foot into this complex. It’s the best item for escaping from your hunters. After all, n.o.body wants to meddle with the dead.”
Then, the corpse extended its arm outside the door. As the arm drew out further, all color returned.
“What if the person is unconvinced and stabs us to make sure we’re dead?” the grand prize asked.
“Oh, then you will be dead for real,” the corpse answered as it withdrew its arm back into the door.
Lin Sanjiu had never seen such a useless Special Item before. She wondered, “What’s the use if it cannot even secure your safety?”
“You’ll sleep better here. Anyway, are you guys gonna stay or not?” The corpse yawned again. Seeing that Lin Sanjiu was still hesitating, the body stretched its arm and prepared to close the door. “Well, I’m going back to sleep now. There are some guests inside. If you change your mind, just knock on the door.”
Lin Sanjiu and the grand prize exchanged glances as the corpse closed the door. She took a step back and looked up, only to find that the original word beneath the black ink was “morgue”.
“Interesting,” Lin Sanjiu muttered under her breath. She contemplated for a moment before walking forward and rapping on the door, startling the grand prize and the flesh worm. The grand prize asked, “Sis, are we going to stay here? What if the owner is lying, and he’s trying to trap us in there?”
“If that happens, then this morgue will be mine.”
Lin Sanjiu was not exaggerating, as she was not afraid of being trapped. Besides, if anything happened, there was that rule—”one cannot attack other contenders”—protecting them. Hence, she decided to follow her gut and rest for the night in the morgue.
The moment Lin Sanjiu finished speaking, the wooden door shoved open by the corpse again. After she asked about the fee to stay for one night, she took out everything she had gotten from selling her noodles tonight. In the end, the morgue’s owner returned the [Super Duper Extremely Other-worldly Powerful Weapon] and the sausage to Lin Sanjiu. He said, “I don’t want these. n.o.body would pick up these pieces of sh*t even if they were lying on the ground. Change to another item if you want to stay in my hotel.”
Left with no other alternatives, Lin Sanjiu took out the [Mermaid Cultivating Drink] and the [Tranquilizer Gun] she obtained from the Garden of Eden. With these two items and the rest of the things she acquired from selling noodles, they got themselves three coffins in the corner of the morgue.
“There’s one thing good about your sis,” Soulsqn grumbled as she squeezed her body into the coffin, “and it’s that she isn’t superst.i.tious. Sleeping in a coffin is not something everyone can do.”
“Yeah,” the grand prize replied nonchalantly. It appeared that he did not favor sleeping inside a coffin.
Once again, Lin Sanjiu ignored their complaints. She placed the birdcage on the floor and laid down on the white satin. Although it was a little bit cramped inside, the cus.h.i.+on was soft and comfortable. Resting her head on top of her ghoulish white arm, she fell into slumber very soon.
This night was different from any other night she had throughout her entire life. It was a unique experience. She plunged into the sweet darkness the second she closed her eyes.
It had been a long time since Lin Sanjiu had a good sleep. When Lin Sanjiu opened her eyes, it was already morning. She could vaguely see the sunlight filtering through the slit in between the wooden doors.
She sat up in the coffin and saw that all the corpses were rising, probably woken up by the morgue’s owner. Her eyes widened in awe, as it was a scene that one would only be able to see in those zombie blockbuster movies. All of them looked like a bunch of dead bodies coming back to life, and their faces were decomposed beyond recognition.
“I’m an honest businessman,” the morgue’s owner said as he trudged towards the wooden door, “Whenever there is a new guest, they will ask me a lot of questions. I know you guys are suspicious about me and everything about this hotel, but look, didn’t you have a good night’s sleep? Anyway, please help me promote my hotel to your friends. I will give you a discount on your next visit…”
As the corpse was talking, the wooden door opened with a creak. The pale sunlight fell partly on its body and the floor. Like a flock of demons afraid of light, the darkness quickly retreated to the deeper side of the morgue.
Lin Sanjiu stretched her body and watched as her grand prize’s head popped out of the coffin he was in. His corpse was different from the others’. In addition to the pale complexion and vacant eyes, all his clothes were tattered and torn, and his body was full of scratches.
Just as she opened her mouth, she sensed a gust of air behind her. Then, before she could do anything, she saw a dark figure crash right into the wall at the back of the morgue.
Dumbstruck, she yelled at Soulsqn and Ji Shanqing, “Don’t move!” The remaining corpses had gotten out of their respective coffins. All of them looked even paler than before.
There was a hole in the chest of the morgue’s owner. His body slid down the wall and connected with a meaty plop on the ground. This honest businessman probably never expected that he would be killed inside his own morgue.
“Who are you?” a gaunt corpse screamed. His body was as stiff as a ramrod.
Lin Sanjiu’s face was ashen-white. She gestured to the grand prize and the flesh worm to grab the birdcage and take cover behind her. Then, she summoned the [Tornado Whip] into her palm and stared fixedly at the door.
A tall figure stood silhouetted against the weak sunlight as he moved closer to them.
“Oh my,” an indifferent, effeminate male voice wafted from outside the door, “I thought he was a duoluozhong . So is he also a contender that works hard to honor me?”
Lin Sanjiu couldn’t breathe for a second.
“Ah well, what’s done is done. There’s nothing I can do.” The man finally stepped out of the sunlight and into the morgue. He showed them a wide grin as he continued speaking, “Let me introduce myself: I’m Zeus, the highest G.o.d. I guess you guys can forgive me for accidentally killing someone, right?”