Chapter 57.2
Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked up and found that it was a building that looked like a baobab tree. No, not only looked like a baobab tree, it really seemed to be a baobab tree!
The baobab tree had a huge canopy and a very large trunk. It was 30 meters high. Unlike ordinary baobab trees, it had doors and windows that only buildings could have.
“This is the Baobab Tree Pub,” Duan Hongzhen said indifferently. “Because the ingredients are fresh and delicious, many people choose to drink and eat here… and it is also the intelligence trading center in the S-district.”
Tang Mianmian immediately blurted out, “Intelligence trading center? It sounds so cool!”
Xiao Tangqiu’s focus was not the same as Tang Mianmian’s, “Fresh ingredients? Where do the ingredients come from?”
He had never seen any animals in the City of the Abyss. In the Novice Village and D-district, other than the vending machines that were equivalent to system stores, he had never seen any place that produced food such as restaurants and bars. Where were the fresh ingredients from in the Baobab Tree Pub?
Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow, “You are quite sharp.”
He casually explained, “That’s right, the City of the Abyss does not have any ingredients, and the fresh ingredients of the Baobab Tree Pub are brought back from various instances.”
Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were both shocked, “Brought back from instances?”
Duan Hongzhen said mildly, “That’s right, the things in instances can be brought back, but that needs specific s.p.a.ce artifacts.”
Xiao Tangqiu was dumbfounded. Specific s.p.a.ce artifacts? There was actually such a thing?
“In addition, the wild animals in the Beast Arena, all kinds of high-tech products, and many scarce resources… all these things in the S-district are brought back from instances,” Duan Hongzhen shrugged. “So there are people who specialize in this type of work, they will keep on entering instances to do missions until…”
“Until?” Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help but ask.
“Until they die in the instances.” Duan Hongzhen’s lips hooked up, revealing a mocking smile.
Xiao Tangqiu was stunned and he suddenly remembered the people in the Novice Village who were very unwilling to pick up missions until the system forced them to be sent into an instance… Compared to those who kept on entering instances for their livelihoods, their starting points were clearly different. But in the end, it was simply different paths to the same destination, like a cosmic joke.
So what was his fate? Would there be something waiting for him down the road? Maybe it’s death…
As Xiao Tangqiu was in a daze, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist. He looked up and saw the Shen Yuan’s dark and heavy eyes.
Although Shen Yuan didn’t say anything, Xiao Tangqiu seemed to understand something from his eyes, and his heart settled down a little.
The four of them entered the Baobab Tree Pub. Although the pub was a bit strange, the interior was no different from an ordinary pub. There was a bar for bartending, dozens of wooden tables and the air was filled with a strong aroma of alcohol.
Although it was still daytime, many people were already drunk. They were drunkenly collapsed on the wine table, numbing themselves in a drunken haze.
Duan Hongzhen led them through a group of drunks and went to a private room in a corner. He didn’t knock at the door and pushed the door open.
In the room, other than Xue Junli and the others, there were a few more people Xiao Xiaoqiu didn’t know. But all of them were women and at the head was a cool and elegant big sis in red.
When Duan Hongzhen saw the red big sis, he folded his hands over his chest, “Bai Yushan? What are you doing here?”
The red big sis gave a cold laugh, “What do you think an intelligence dealer appearing here is for?”
Duan Hongzhen directly turned to Xue Junli, “What information do you want to buy from this profiteer?”
Xue Junli said softly, “Let’s talk after you guys come in.”
Duan Hongzhen snorted, walked into the room, found a place to sit down and pick up a gla.s.s of wine from the table.
Although Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t figure out the situation, he could figure that something was up. He originally wanted to find a corner to sit down, but he had only just entered the door when his wrist was caught by the big sis in red.
Bai Yushan grabbed Xiao Tangqiu’s wrist. She used too much strength, pinching until Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help but make a pained sound.
Xiao Tangqiu was baffled, he didn’t remember knowing this big sis in red. Shen Yuan, who was standing on the side, had immediately reacted. His expression was dark and he slapped away Bai Yushan’s hand.
The others were also shocked by this sudden situation. Duan Hongzhen jumped up first, “Profiteer Bai, what do you want?!”
Xue Junli also frowned. “Bai-xiaojie, what do you mean by this?”
Bai Yushan looked at Xiao Tangqiu’s expression but was very excited, “You have the smell of a devil worm!”
Xiao Tangqiu was stumped. Devil worm?
He suddenly remembered the bite he had received when he escaped from the underwater secret room… He hadn’t thought much of it. Now that he thought about it, he suddenly felt that the wound was starting to hurt. Clearly there was no feeling before!
“It’s Yuru’s devil!” Bai Yushan’s was getting more and more excited. She once again grabbed Xiao Tangqiu’s wrist. “Have you seen Yuru? Do you know where Yuru is?”
Xiao Tangqiu was once again stumped. Yuru? Was that the secret room woman?
Shen Yuan once again slapped away Bai Yushan’s hand, coldly ordering, “Let him go!”
His eyes darkened, filled with murderous intent, and Bai Yushan couldn’t help but feel a little stiff. After a while, she seemed to calm down, “…Sorry, I was a little too excited. But this gentleman, please tell me about you. Why is there the smell of a devil worm on you!”
At this moment, all the eyes in the room seemed to concentrate on Xiao Tangqiu. He was dumbfounded, he never expected that there would be such a moment of spotlight in his life.
He frowned slightly and asked Bai Yushan, “Who is Yuru?”
Bai Yushan gradually calmed down, “Yuru is my younger sister. Her name is Bai Yuru, she’s five years younger than me. This year happens to be her twenty-four-year-old birth year, so she should be wearing a red string on her hand. As for her looks, she and I look three-parts similar, but her face is a little rounder than mine and her eyes are a little bigger than mine…”
According to Bai Yushan’s description, Xiao Tangqiu slowly sketched out the appearance of the woman from the secret room. Although he didn’t pay attention to whether the secret room woman wore a red string, but she had looked similar to Bai Yushan upon a closer look. Of course, if it wasn’t for Bai Yushan suddenly rushing over to ask if he had seen her sister, even if he felt that the two looked a bit alike, he would only feel that it was a coincidence.
“But the most important thing is that the devil worm is a pet raised by my sister. There is only one in the whole City of the Abyss.” Bai Yushan became more and more calm, even a.n.a.lyzing it. “Although some S-level instances may have devil worms, your last instance was just a D-level instance. It’s impossible to encounter a devil worm…”
Xiao Tangqiu looked at Tang Mianmian and Tang Mianmian nodded. Both of them obviously had the same thought. Although they were made very miserable by the secret room woman, the secret room woman could only spend the rest of her life in that secret room. There was no harm in telling Bai Yushan about how she ended up, it could be counted as doing a good deed.
Xiao Tangqiu asked Bai Yushan, “Before your sister disappeared, did she enter another instance?”
Bai Yushan bit her lip, “Yes, Yuru did tell me that she was going into the next instance. After that, she disappeared. Everyone told me that she died in the instance, but I don’t believe she’s dead. There is a feeling in my heart, I feel that she is still alive. I think she is still waiting for me to save her…”
Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t bear it, but he still spoke of how they met the secret room woman in the last instance.
When Bai Yushan learned that her sister was likely locked in a submerged room forever, she couldn’t help but fall into a long silence and wasn’t able to extricate herself for a long time.
After a while, Bai Yushan took out a cigarette with a slightly trembling right hand. But she didn’t ignite it, just hanging it in her mouth. She asked Xiao Tangqiu in a quiet manner, seeming to be talking to herself, “She was kept in an instance like this, unable to live or die, just keep going through a cycle, her soul eternally suffering. Isn’t it better to die directly in the instance?”
Xiao Tangqiu felt a shock in his heart. He didn’t expect Bai Yushan to say this. He thought that for Bai Yushan, this big sister, having her younger sister not be completely “dead” would be a relief.
Tang Mianmian was also very surprised. He couldn’t stop from asking Bai Yushan, “Don’t you want to save your sister? Are you not an S-district elite?”
Bai Yushan couldn’t help but laugh, and she said, “Little bro, you are too naive. Many things can’t be done just because you want to. Not to mention I don’t know if I can even successfully survive the instance, first let me ask you, how am I supposed to find and enter that instance?”
Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian once again focused on different things. Tang Mianmian blurted out, “Even you guys in the S-district can’t guarantee to will survive in a D-level instance?”
Xiao Tangqiu frowned and asked, “You can’t freely choose an instance?”
T/N: Aaaa check out the lovely fanart of Xiao Tangqiu done by @JYzen__ (twitter)