Chapter 89: Xinlian Hotel (XI)
Garbage Street, 6:50.
The other three were shocked by Mu Yu's actions.
They watched with their own eyes as the bloody words that Mu Yu had carved on his arm disappeared again. After that, Mu Yu fell into deep thought, like an old monk in meditation...
Zhang Huawei asked: "Is this... finished?"
"It's done for now." Mu Yu stood up and said calmly.
It was only after Gao Zhanyuan suddenly recalled the picture of twelve people that he figured out the operating mode of this copy. After communicating with Lu Chongnian, he confirmed that everything was almost the same as he guessed.
"Brother Yu, what should we do now?" Gao Zhanyuan rolled up his sleeves, looking like he was ready to do a big fight anytime, Brother Yu, I will hit wherever you point your finger.
"To clear this instance, our three groups must coordinate their time with each other. We haven't found the most crucial clue about the Devil's Moon yet. Maybe all three groups of us have relevant clues on our maps, or maybe only one of us has them on our map," Mu Yu pondered. "Anyway, we must communicate with Lu Chongnian and the others before we get out of the fog. By that time—"
He paused and said, "We may really have to race against time."
Shen Leng and Zhang Huawei swallowed hard.
Mu Yu changed the subject and spoke cheerfully again: "But at this stage, our lives are guaranteed by the people in the night market, so we can try the remaining shops with peace of mind!"
...Zhang Huawei's stunned face suddenly twisted again.
What are they worried about? Even if their lives could be reversed, they would still be afraid...
Mu Yu thought about it and realized that there was still more than half an hour left before the end of the copy. They still had four shops to explore, so they had to hurry!
He turned around and asked the other three people: "Can we split into two groups?"
Gao Zhanyuan said reflexively: "Then Brother Yu, I will go with you..."
Zhang Huawei and Shen Leng: "Brother Yu, please protect us!! We will always be your little brothers!!!"
Gao Zhanyuan: “…” He was stunned by the two men.
Mu Yu blinked: "...How about a black and white match?"
Half a minute later.
Shen Leng was so happy that he jumped up on the spot, while Zhang Huawei knelt on the ground with his hands on his head and wailed.
Gao Zhanyuan held up his right hand, which he had briefly participated in, looking dazed and self-doubting.
Mu Yu sighed: "Zhuzhu, don't learn bad habits and gamble with others in the future."
If he loses this way, he won't even be able to keep his underwear.
He raised his hand and patted Gao Zhanyuan's shoulder, and lowered his voice: "Is it okay to be in the same group with Zhang Huawei?"
Gao Zhanyuan was startled and turned around.
Mu Yu tilted her head and looked at him calmly with a pair of clear eyes.
Gao Zhanyuan couldn't help but hold his breath.
...I feel that as long as he says "I can't" at this moment, as long as he shows the slightest reluctance, Brother Yu will immediately give up his principles and form a team with him.
...Yes, his brother Yu has always been so protective of his people.
Suddenly, a surge of blood rushed to his head, and Gao Zhanyuan became excited.
He turned around and shouted, "Brother Yu, I'm fine!"
——Even though he really wanted to be in a group with his brother Yu, it was not because he was afraid or timid, but because he admired his brother Yu and wanted to protect him!
But Brother Yu has never been someone who needs protection from others, and he has his own considerations when doing things.
At a time like this, Gao Zhanyuan would never hold his brother Yu back.
He can take good care of himself in the dungeon and won’t let Brother Yu worry!
After hearing this, Mu Yu looked at Gao Zhanyuan carefully again and felt relieved.
The four of them divided it up.
Zhang Huawei had a psychological trauma about the clay pot fish head shop, so the shop was handed over to Mu Yu and Shen Leng.
In addition, the fried food shop was also divided between the two of them, so the remaining fruit salad and kebab shop were under the responsibility of Zhang Huawei and Gao Zhanyuan.
Everyone acted separately.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, the crystal coffin rolled and slid on the ground, following behind them.
In the night, they seemed brighter than the lights, sparkling in the corners of their vision, attracting their attention.
Mu Yu turned his head and his gaze fell vaguely on the machine following behind him.
...Just now, he used the knife in this machine to carve words on his arm.
When thinking about that way of communication, Mu Yu knew that they would no longer be able to avoid these strange machines.
Knives are never provided in dungeons.
The vending machines that appear in every copy contain sticks, ropes, handcuffs... They contain all kinds of items, but there are never weapons like knives and scissors that can draw blood with a single blow.
As to why this happened, they had discussed it among the players before.
They all agreed that this was because dungeon monsters were never solved by "killing".
If players want to survive in the dungeon, what they have to do is to find the rules, abide by the rules, crack the rules, and use the rules.
Rules are the core.
Therefore, they never thought of carrying any knives with them to be alert to the dungeons that might come at any time.
The best way to deal with ever-changing situations is to remain unchanged.
But just now, Mu Yu suddenly realized that were they finally tricked by the copy in this matter?
If they had a knife with them, they wouldn't need to use the knives that came in the hotbed!
But Mu Yu changed his mind and thought that since the copy had placed all these machines here, it would definitely find ways to induce them to use them. Even if they brought knives into the copy, the copy could easily remove these knives from them.
—He is fully capable of doing so.
So thinking about this, Mu Yu gave up worrying about this issue.
It was just obvious that in those few seconds when he stepped onto the hotbed, closed the door, and took the knife, something was different.
When he stepped off the machine, he found that it seemed to emit a softer light.
It became more attractive and even emitted a certain tempting aroma, which was quietly telling him that there was a large amount of safe food inside it, which could sustain him for a lifetime.
Come up, come up.
Come up quickly.
The crystal machine following him gave him a silent call.
...This is the safest place. From now on, I don't have to think anymore, I don't have to worry anymore, I don't have to get hurt anymore, I don't have to be afraid anymore...
…This is a paradise, a hotbed…
...is the only refuge for mankind...
"——Mu Yu, Brother Yu, we're at the fried food shop!"
Shen Leng's panicked shout woke Mu Yu up.
He suddenly came out of the trance and stopped.
The crystal coffin slid to his side and remained still.
Mu Yu took a last calm and obscure look at the machine - it returned to its ordinary appearance in an instant, as if it was really completely harmless - Mu Yu pursed her lips, turned around, and looked at the store in front of them with Shen Leng.
The layout of this store is similar to that of the clay pot fish head store. It also has an oil pan facing the street.
At this moment, the oil pan was not on. A light green monster was standing behind the oil pan. It was wearing a floral apron and greeted people shyly and politely: "Hello, what do you want to eat?"
The two of them looked at the KT board posted below the oil pan.
“Deep-fry everything! Deep-fry sweet potato fries, deep-fry pumpkin fries, deep-fry carrot fries. The rich nutrition will make you feel like you are in the daytime in the dark! Deep-frying Xishi loves deep-frying, and she loves the crackling sound when the ingredients are put into the frying pan the most!”
Shen Leng swallowed hard.
He struggled for a moment, made a decision, and said to Mu Yu, "I really don't dare to go to the casserole fish head shop, so I'll try this shop, is that ok?"
Mu Yu paused and asked, "Are you sure?"
"……Um!"
Shen Leng certainly knew that there was another method of operation, "Let Mu Yu go to explore these two stores first, and then let him go after he knows how to pass the level", but no matter how thick-skinned he was, he was not so shameless...
No matter how good Mu Yu is, he can't do this. He should share some of the burden and try harder...
But what he can do is really limited. He is very confident about himself, so he told Mu Yu frankly...
"...Okay, then go ahead. I'll watch you. If it doesn't work, let Hong Yang teleport you back." Mu Yu said.
Shen Leng nodded quickly, then he thought about it, turned around and ran to his incubator machine and closed the door. Two or three seconds later, he came down with a table knife and, imitating Mu Yu, carved a line of words on his arm.
[I'm about to go into the store. Don't teleport until you really can't stand it anymore.]
Mu Yu was stunned.
Shen Leng whispered, "After all, teleporting repeatedly is a waste of time."
Seeing Mu Yu's slightly surprised expression, Shen Leng suddenly felt a little proud. It seemed that he had made some progress...
The dinner knife disappeared from his hand - the same thing happened when Mu Yu was communicating with Lu Chongnian just now. Once the items in the hotbed leave the hotbed, they seem to only exist for about a minute. If the player wants to use them again, he can only go to the hotbed again to get them.
However, Shen Leng had already carved out everything he wanted to say. He took a few deep breaths and walked forward.
"Hello, I want some fried sweet potatoes..."
The light green monster said happily and gently: "Okay, please wait a moment!"
Mu Yu also took a step forward.
He stood beside Shen Leng and looked intently at the oil pan in front of them.
What will the levels be for this store?
Will the players also be thrown into the frying pan?
They just watched the monster's every move.
It opened the frying pan and brought out a basket of raw sweet potato chips.
The oil pan gradually heated up and bubbles appeared inside.
The bubbles became more and more, the oil temperature gradually increased, and crackling sounds came from the pot.
The monster said shyly: "The sweet potatoes in our store are all the sweetest varieties, and they become even sweeter after being fried!"
"We cut every sweet potato fries into one centimeter width to ensure the taste. After researching and tasting the whole store, we all agreed that this size tastes the best!"
This monster just started to introduce himself...
Shen Leng leaned close to Mu Yu's ear and said tremblingly, "Why do I feel like I'm the same as the boss of the clay pot fish head shop? I'm not going to be in the frying pan later, am I?"
Mu Yu whispered, "Not necessarily. The levels in every store can't be exactly the same..."
The next second, the two of them shut up because the oil pan was completely boiling.
The monster just picked up the basket of raw sweet potato fries, raised his hand, and poured them all into the pan!
Shen Leng was extremely nervous.
He held his breath, his palms sweating madly, his heart pounding, fearing that he would be in the frying pan in the next second, but -
Crackling!
The sweet potato chips fell into the frying pan and just fried normally.
Of course, the explosion was still a bit enthusiastic and exciting, and Mu Yu's brows couldn't help but move.
He noticed that Shen Leng was still standing beside him and breathed a sigh of relief. However, when he noticed Shen Leng's appearance, his brows furrowed again.
——Shen Leng was trembling.
The boy stared at the oil pan, shaking more and more violently, and his breathing becoming more and more obvious.
"Shen Leng, what's wrong with you?" Mu Yu reached out and touched his shoulder.
Shen Leng's reaction was so great that he jumped up. Then he covered his ears in horror and screamed meaninglessly, "Ah-ah-ah-"
He took a step back, and then another step back - he hit an invisible wall, and hurriedly stepped to the left, but was blocked again!
——He was trapped right in front of the oil pan and couldn't escape!
Mu Yu was stunned.
He looked at his hand. His hand could still touch Shen Leng. It seemed that only Shen Leng was restrained.
And Shen Leng was... disturbed by the noise?
At this moment, in Shen Leng's ears, the crackling sound did not sound like the sound made by frying something in an oil pan.
That was the sound of heavy objects smashing bricks and tiles, dozens of firecrackers being lit at the same time, meteorites hitting the earth, and hundreds of artillery shells being fired into the air!
It was like the whole world was smashed, crushed, and turned into glass fragments all over the ground.
It was as if he himself had turned into glass, cracks appeared on the surface of his body, his face was distorted and shattered, the fragments fell down, rolled down the cliff, and made thousands and tens of thousands of harsh crashing sounds along the way...
The cliff was too deep, and the clattering, crackling, and piercing sounds seemed to never stop, just like a herd of horses running on the grassland, clattering ...
Mu Yu's heart sank when he saw bright red blood slowly flowing out of Shen Leng's ear.
He looked at the store's sign again, his eyes fixed on one of the lines.
[Fried Xishi loves fried food]
Shen Leng was right. This restaurant seemed to be similar to the clay pot fish head restaurant in some aspects.
But the trouble is, in the clay pot fish head shop, they have confirmed that the third rule of the Garbage Street Rules is a false rule. Once the player tells the boss "it must be delicious", he will be completely killed...
--etc.
A light suddenly shone in Mu Yu's eyes.
…Does it really make sense for scenarios where fake rules apply to keep appearing like this?
Players will naturally not be fooled again after being cheated once. It is meaningless to repeatedly encounter such scenes that are obviously intended to induce players to use fake rules, but the copy will not have meaningless settings.
——So, could it be that He is taking advantage of the players’ habitual thinking and setting a trap for them here…?
Come to think of it, they have come across half-true rules before, rules that are true in one situation but false in another!
Mu Yu immediately rethought the third rule of Garbage Street.
[Some store managers are overly obsessed with cooking and ingredients. I hope you can respect and understand that. We can maintain friendly communication. "It must be delicious" is their favorite compliment.]
In the absence of other clues or evidence, the default rule is true.
The owner of the Clay Pot Fish Head Shop was warm and hospitable. Long before Zhang Huawei shouted out that slogan, he had already given away free side dishes in response to praise - his behavior was traceable, and Mu Yu also noticed this at the time.
But the deep-fried Xishi monsters in this shop are different. They can’t just turn up the heat on the fryer just because they feel like it, or else they’ll get burnt.
Mu Yu's pupils suddenly contracted - yes, it was blown to pieces!
He held Shen Leng's shoulders and shouted, "Tell it, the sweet potato fries must be delicious, but if it is fried any further, they will become mushy!"
Shen Leng couldn't hear his voice, he could only see his mouth opening and closing.
Mu Yu shouted several times before Shen Leng realized what he was saying and shook his head in panic.
He remembered what happened to Zhang Huawei just now, so he didn't dare! Otherwise, he would let the player corresponding to the night market street give him -
Shen Leng suddenly froze.
Because he saw the line of words he had just carved on his right arm.
[I'm about to go into the store. Don't teleport until you really can't stand it anymore.]
Until it becomes unbearable...
It’s not to the point where I can’t stand it yet…
Can't be so weak, can't be so weak...
Believe in Mu Yu, he is much better than him...
Shen Leng gasped and put down his hands tremblingly.
His world was still crackling and clattering, his head was dizzy, and his brain seemed to be crushed into a puddle of paste.
The monster seemed to be still enjoying introducing the delicious food it was making. It kept talking, but Shen Leng could hear nothing.
He opened his mouth and shouted.
The monster didn't seem to react and continued talking.
Shen Leng clenched his hands, his palms were sweaty.
He tried to shout louder.
“…”
“…………!!”
The monster was suddenly startled, looked at him and blinked.
It suddenly covered its mouth and turned off the oil pan in panic and full of apology.
"…I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I always forget the time when I'm chatting with customers! Ah, it's really a little burnt. How about I fry another one…?"
Shen Leng could finally hear voices speaking at a normal volume.
The world came back to him.
His face was pale, he was covered in sweat, and there was blood from his ears down.
Hearing this, he shuddered and shook his head quickly: "No, no need, just give me this one!"
The monster was still apologizing: "Really? It's okay, I can--"
Shen Leng and Mu Yu: "Really, no thanks!!"
*
After getting the sweet potato fries, the two of them turned around and ran back to the stone table at the end of the garbage street.
Shen Leng sat down on the stool, panting, his face as pale as a ghost.
Mu Yu frowned and looked at him, and asked, "Can you still hold on?"
Shen Leng gritted his teeth and said, "...Yes! I, I just need to eat this food, calculate the time, and then ask the other party to return to me, right?"
"yes."
Shen Leng struggled to get up, took out a knife from his hot bed, and carved "Now, I want to eat this box of fried sweet potatoes" on his arm.
Putting down the knife, he picked up a slightly blackened sweet potato fry from the paper box, swallowed his saliva, and carefully put it into his mouth.
Chew twice and swallow.
He looked nervous, and Mu Yu was staring at him intently.
After waiting for two minutes, Shen Leng was not teleported.
This shows that there is nothing unusual happening in Hongyang.
Mu Yu thought about it and said, "How about I go to the clay pot fish head shop first, and you can rest here for a while, okay?"
Shen Leng nodded quickly: "Go ahead, I'm fine!"
…
At the other end, in front of the fruit shop.
The monster put all the fruits Zhang Huawei ordered into the basket and said in a lively tone, "Please wait a moment, I'll ask the manager to cut them!"
Zhang Huawei froze: "Not cutting... okay? I just like to chew it directly!"
The monster covered his lips in surprise: "How can you eat fruit without cutting it? This is too inelegant!"
Zhang Huawei: “…………”
What are you pretending to be here, a monster? Do you think you are elegant just because you have no hair on your head?!
A voice came from the side: "Hehe."
Zhang Huawei turned his head and looked.
Gao Zhanyuan crossed his arms across his chest, his golden yellow hair fluttering in the night wind, slowly rising up into a tuft, like a tuft of hair, but Zhang Huawei felt that it looked more like a middle finger.
"Do you want to laugh or hum? Can you please choose one?" He curled his lips and said unhappily.
Gao Zhanyuan raised his chin even higher: "Hehehe."
Zhang Huawei: “…” His veins were throbbing.
He opened his mouth and wanted to say, "Just say whatever you want to say, don't hum and hum, it's so uncomfortable to hear and makes me want to pee." Suddenly, the lights in the entire store in front of him went out.
He was startled, and Gao Zhanyuan also became alert instantly.
In the garbage street with bright lights and people coming and going, this store suddenly became dark. Not a single light could shine inside, and everywhere in sight was pitch black.
The monster's voice came from inside: "Hey, customer, I'm sorry I'm a bit busy here, could you please come in and get the fruit? Our manager has already cut it!"
"The power just tripped in the store. It's a little dark. It's okay. Come in. It's safe!"
Zhang Huawei and Gao Zhanyuan: “…………”
No, I just praised you for being good at pretending, why don’t you pretend now? !
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