Chapter 557: 11.83 First Green Star - Punishment World: "Labyrinth" (13)
After eating the dinner which was prepared by System Yue and System Yang from inside the Dimensional s.p.a.ce owned by Hei Anjing. Lan She reported everything that had to happen while Lord Hei Anjing was asleep.
He told him what happened by the gates of the labyrinth, on their way to the village, and while he was asleep in the inn with Lord G.o.d Ye.
Pouting like a child, Hei Anjing complained to his husband, "My husband~ you should have woke me up. I"ve missed all the fun~ hmp!"
Ye Xiajie didn"t hesitate to comfort and coax his wife. He pulled him to sit on his lap and help him rub his round tummy from eating too much during dinner. Hei Anjing felt relaxed with this rubbing and was smiling like a satisfied cat in the Evil G.o.d"s embrace.
"I didn"t wake you as I was afraid that you were resting in your sleep. Moreover, you didn"t miss all the fun. Prison... Lan She over here had found the hidden mission and shared it with the group. Plus there are still the dungeons where to gather the key fragments. You can still play around as much tomorrow." said Ye Xiajie.
Hei Anjing replied, "That"s good then. I will play as much as I want tomorrow~ you"ll come with me right?"
"Um. Anywhere you go," said Ye Xiajie.
The rest of the people inside the room had to suffer being force-fed with something called dog food on their faces. Even Zane, who is a foreigner, in reality, couldn"t help but choke with such sweetness.
Zane said to Han Ya, "H-Hey, that"s Abyss right? The Lord Abyss?! Why does he look like a lovesick man?" He whispered to Han Ya.
Han Ya whispered back and said, "Hold your tongue. I"m going to introduce you to the contract holder. The player in Abyss embraces Player Hei Anjing."
"Your contract holder is the lover and not Lord Abyss?" asked Zane.
An Yuan who was seated in between the two overheard their conversation and commented.
"Yes. In this group, Sir Hei has the highest authority. Even above Sir Abyss and Brother Chu." said An Yuan.
Shocked Zane, "Eh? For real?"
While the three of them were whispering to one another Lan She had finished reporting to the two lords. They didn"t notice that the others" gaze had fallen on them. That was until they heard Hei Anjing"s voice talking to them.
"Oh~ is this a new member?" asked Hei Anjing.
Zane fell stunned seeing a few rankers and himself.
"H-h.e.l.lo. I"m Zane Hillari. A childhood friend of Han Ya. My awakened bloodline is Vampire. It"s a pleasure to meet everyone."
He had formally greeted them. His gestures show the elegance he was born with though his way of greeting is different from those from C Country he is still able to portray his seriousness in meeting them. As expected from someone with Vlad"s Bloodline in reality.
Lan She and Chu Mo left to prepare some after-meal tea and snacks to help digest the dinner they"ve eaten before. Being left alone in the presence of Ye Xiajie and Hei Anjing made the other three a bit uneasy. The natural aura this couple emits makes them feel vulnerable. As if they could both easily end their lives on a whim.
Ye Xiajie asked with a dull face as if looking at death itself.
"You guys want him to join?" he asked.
Han Ya and An Yuan looked at each other as if they had decided something together.
"Brother Zane is a good person. When Xiao Ya wants to let me escape he helps us block the enemies." said An Yuan.
Han Ya spoke, "I can vouch for him. He is loyal."
Ye Xiajie just stared at them for a few seconds and looked down at his wife who was seated on his lap. Clearly, leaving the decision to the latter. Hei Anjing on the other hand had a mischievous smile on his face as he looked at Han Ya.
Hei Anjing asked, "Are you sure about this, Xiao Han?"
On his face is a meaningful smile as if he knew something. Seeing this Han Ya couldn"t help flinching. The mirth within those deep blue eyes was saying that he knows something about him. It left him speechless as no words came out of his mouth. He stares at Hei Anjing with a vacant face when suddenly a hand blocks his line of sight.
Ye Xiajie said, "Baby stare at me if you want to look at something~"
Feeling his husband"s jealousy Hei Anjing had appeased his other half first lest he ended up being too jealous which might lead to the Protagonist Gong"s death. Hei Anjing gives his husband fleeting kisses on his face to calm the anger of this man and prevent the vinegar pot from tilting beyond control.
Hei Anjing continued to speak with Han Ya while his eyes were on his husband.
"So what is your answer, Xiao Han? Is my question that hard to answer?"
"Please let Zane join the team. This is my answer," said Han Ya as he silently observed Hei Anjing but he only saw his lips upturns into a smirk.
Hei Anjing waves his hand and the contract scroll of the group appears in thin air. It"s a middle-grade group contract with 8 slots. With six already filled up with names and two free slots for new members that may join them.
"Sign your name and you"ll officially be one of our group," said Hei Anjing.
Zane was stunned by how the situation had ended. The thing in front of him is a middle-grade contract one that was upgraded from an ordinary contract. Just how many gold coins are needed to upgrade?
Thoughts of Zane, "f.u.c.k! I know they are rich but to have enough gold coins to buy this expensive contract. Even the ordinary contract cost more than thousands of gold coins. I"ve been in the Abyssal World for years but my savings is not even half a million gold coins."
An Yuan tugged his clothes and gave him a pen, "Brother Zane signed your name. That way you would be one of us."
"Just sign it, idiot. What are you in dazed for!?" said Han Ya to Zane as he hits the back of his head to wake him up.
Zane stuttered for a bit, "C-Can I... really put my name on it?"
"Yes. Didn"t I give it to you to sign on it?" said Hei Anjing with a smile.
Zane didn"t know what happened afterward. He just finished signing the contract and officially joined the team of Han Ya and the rest. He was left dazed in the corner while An Yuan and Han Ya told the team about the abandoned library they had found at the corner of the village and showed them the three-book An Yuan hurriedly took before he and Han Ya left the store.
Lan She and Hei Anjing, who loves reading within the team, checked the three books with An Yuan. The books had no book cover design on them. It was just a simple black book. Once the cover was flipped Ancient Runes were written on it.
Lan She said, "These are ancient runes. Is this the t.i.tle of the book? The Joker that lives in h.e.l.l." He read the ancient rune in the book he had in his hand.
An Yuan was startled that Lan She can read ancient runes. This is a rune he had learned in that library in his dream and was taught to him by the old man in robes. That old man says that Ancient Rune is the common language of G.o.ds.
"Y-You can... read it?" asked An Yuan to his surprise.
Lan She responded nonchalantly, "You mean the Ancient Runes? I can read some. This is a common language in Abyssal City. It can be learned if you paid 500 gold coins. But the extent of how much you can comprehend depends on you. My hobby is reading."
An Yuan then looked at Lan She to Hei Anjing who was leaning so relaxed toward his husband. Ye Xiajie held the book for him as they read together. Ye Xiajie would flip to the next page as if he knew when Hei Anjing would finish reading the page.
This scene is too sweet and peaceful. Obviously, these two could read Ancient runes as well. Then he looked at Chu Mo who was peeking over Lan She"s shoulder looking uncomfortably at the contents of the book.
An Yuan asked, "Are you okay, Brother Chu? You can"t read it?"
"I can... But words make me remember my pile of unfinished reports at home and I feel dizzy just thinking how to solve all that when I go back," said Chu Mo
As the Lead Warden of the Nether System, Lou Wuye rarely handles reports as most of it is handled by An Liang instead. But there are some papers works he is in need to look through. Like the contents or information of the prisoners that enter the Prison.
His duty is to work at a location where the prisoners would be designated. He needs to put in mind the level of their sins and strength. The prisoners must be placed in a prison that could restrict their powers as G.o.d and prevent them from ever escaping Netherworld.
Just thinking how many years he had been away from his desk. The paper works left behind must have turned into small mountains. Just thinking about it made him cry without tears.
An Yuan on the other hand was startled by what he just learned. Just in case he also asked Han Ya and Zane if they could read Ancient Runes.
Han Ya replied, "I"ve learned it."
"Me too. But not as much as those guys behind you who can read it without looking at an ancient dictionary," said Zane.
Hei Anjing said, "This one looks fun. Aren"t nuns supposed to be sacred ladies? How come a demon took the figure of a nun in this book? Xiao An, are all the books in the horror genre?"
"Yes. Actually, these books are the clues I found in that library. But I don"t know how they could become clues..." said An Yuan.
"Heh~"
Hei Anjing looked at the books with a knowing gaze but didn"t tell what he thought of the teams. Ye Xiajie had understood him without even asking anything that he thought about it and instead told the team to read all the books and shared what was inside.
"Read all these three books. These must be clues of what is inside the dungeon. As long as you remember the important points, even if everyone gets separated, you will be able to survive." said Ye Xiajie.
Han Ya and the rest nod their head in agreement. They knew the possibility of being separated inside the dungeon. After all, this is the labyrinth village; everything in this place can be considered a mystery or a puzzle to be solved.
Hei Anjing had finished the book in his hand and exchanged it with the one Lan She is reading. Lan She allowed the exchange even though he hadn"t completed reading the one he gave to Hei Anjing.
Lan She started to read the t.i.tle of the book from Hei Anjing.
"The tainted one"s name is a forbidden word," mumbled Lan She then looked at the book in An Yuan"s hand. "An, What is the t.i.tle of your book?"
"Let"s play a fun game of life and death." answered An Yuan. The words he had spoken even made him shiver. Adding the word game with life and death made it eerie and dangerous.
But Hei Anjing who was listening by the side couldn"t help but feel excited upon seeing the books. Ye Xiajie seeing him smile made him pinch his soft cheeks.
Ye Xiajie asked, "Does it sound fun, baby?"
"Un! All three of them are interesting. I should be able to have enough fun~" replied Hei Anjing.
"After reading that book in your hand we can go to sleep. You can read the last book tomorrow instead," said Ye Xiajie.
Hei Anjing responded, "Okay~"