Chapter 125 The Fish Eater
As for the outcome of this battle... Lin Qiushi slowly walked to the door of the house and looked inside through the gap in the door panel.
The room was shrouded in darkness, but one could barely make out the mess inside. All the furniture was scattered across the floor, and the most eye-catching thing was a dying fish-man monster lying in the center of the room. This was the same yellow-eyed fish monster Lin Qiushi had seen in the room yesterday. It was still alive, but its breath was extremely weak. Even when Lin Qiushi approached it, it didn't react at all.
Lin Qiushi was very careful in his movements, especially when approaching the fish. After all, they didn't know whether the fish still had the strength to fight.
Fortunately, the actual situation was better than they had imagined. The monster's body was covered with dense wounds, and its blood was not bright red, but an unpleasant dark green, sticky and fishy. It lay on the ground, completely indifferent to the approach of Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu. Even when the two had walked in front of it, it did not move.
Ruan Nanzhu stared at it, and after a moment's silence, he stretched out his toes and gently stepped on its skin. Seeing that it still didn't react, he said, "It's almost dead."
"Hmm." Lin Qiushi observed the monster before him. Seeing its breath grow weaker and weaker, and finally its breathing rate stopped, it was lifeless. Then he pulled out a dinner knife from his pocket and said, "Let me do it."
"Wait." Ruan Nanzhu suddenly spoke.
Lin Qiushi turned his head and looked at him. He had expected Ruan Nanzhu to say something to stop him, but he simply pulled out a pair of plastic gloves from his backpack and handed them to Lin Qiushi: "Put on the gloves and avoid getting any liquid on them."
The dark green liquid flowing from the fish-man monster is indeed very unpleasant to watch. If you can avoid it, try not to have contact with the body, because no one knows what will happen.
Lin Qiushi nodded, took the gloves and put them on, then gripped the knife tightly and began to half-kneel on the ground to cut the thorn-like thing on the head of the fish monster in front of him.
He moved very carefully and kept a vigilant eye on the fish monster's movements at all times, for fear that it would suddenly attack before it was completely dead.
But fortunately, the fish monster did not respond until Lin Qiushi removed the long thorn from its head. In fact, it was completely dead. Its yellow eyes were still wide open, but there was no sign of movement in its body due to breathing.
Lin Qiushi stood up, handed the long thorn in his hand to Ruan Nanzhu, then took off his plastic gloves and threw them aside.
This is a long spike, about half a meter long, very hard, and can easily penetrate a solid wooden board. It is also stained with a lot of inky blood. It can be imagined that in the battle just now, it must have left a lot of wounds on the white-eyed fish monster.
Ruan Nanzhu wrapped the spike in a plastic bag and carefully put it into his backpack.
Lin Qiushi said, "The thread, the sword, and the appetizer are all ready."
Ruan Nanzhu looked up at the sky and said, "Let's wait until night."
Lin Qiushi nodded.
The three of them went up to the deck and found a place to sit and chat while the others continued to move around the cabin, searching for clues to the door and key.
"This door looks quite simple." Gu Longming said.
"How could it be simple?" Ruan Nanzhu said calmly, "If Linlin hadn't found the clue about the mosquitoes, we'd probably still be at a loss."
When faced with an NPC covered in bugs, everyone will instinctively want to stay away from him, but they don't know that he is the key to leaving here.
"That's right." Gu Longming scratched his head, "You two are amazing."
Ruan Nanzhu asked, "What's your real name?"
Gu Longming was taken aback for a moment when he heard Ruan Nanzhu's question, but then a look of delight crossed his face. He understood what Ruan Nanzhu meant by asking for his real name; it meant Ruan Nanzhu had agreed to his joining Obsidian. Someone even more powerful than Lin Qiushi... Gu Longming smiled and revealed his real name: "My real name is Ye Niao."
Ruan Nanzhu nodded, indicating that he understood: "I will come to meet you after we go out this door."
"Do you know where I live?" Gu Longming asked curiously.
"Of course I know." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Otherwise, how could I feel at ease about you and my daughter Linlin marrying together." He not only knew where Gu Longming lived, but also knew Gu Longming's real name. This time he asked just to test Gu Longming's sincerity.
Gu Longming: "..." He didn't know what to say for a moment.
Because of what happened a few days ago, there were fewer people gathered in the restaurant for dinner today, and only a few people could be seen sitting at the table.
These people sat in the restaurant, eating casually, and the atmosphere seemed quite harmonious.
Of course, Ruan Nanzhu and the others did not eat fish. What Lin Qiushi couldn't understand was that the others didn't seem to be as disgusted with fish as they were. Even the brother who was originally seasick had a few bites of fish today.
"Don't you feel sick anymore?" Gu Longming couldn't help but asked the person sitting next to him.
"It doesn't seem as disgusting as I imagined." Shen Juexin had been vomiting uncontrollably for the past few days, but he seemed to be in a better state today. At least his face wasn't as sallow. He said, "Well... I feel much better."
Lin Qiushi said, "You'd better not eat it. This fish doesn't look fresh at all."
Shen Juexin scratched his head: "It's okay." He took another bite and didn't show any ugly expression.
Lin Qiushi watched Shen Juexin's actions with a slightly complicated expression. He had tasted fish before and found it disgusting. Now he smelled the same fishy smell. It seemed the taste of the fish hadn't changed at all. He just didn't know why Shen Juexin thought the fish in front of him was fine...
Lin Qiushi was thinking about this when he saw Ruan Nanzhu move his chopsticks. He actually picked up a piece of fish and slowly put it into his mouth.
"Zhu Meng?!" Lin Qiushi was shocked by Ruan Nanzhu's action. He didn't expect that Ruan Nanzhu would also try this fish.
Ruan Nanzhu frowned after finishing the fish: "...It really doesn't taste fishy anymore."
"Not fishy anymore?" Lin Qiushi sensed something was amiss. He took a tentative bite, confirming the fish still had a bland, fishy taste. "It's clearly still fishy... wait..." He looked at Ruan Nanzhu, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Could it be that the aperitif is random?"
Ruan Nanzhu was silent, poking the fish on the plate with his chopsticks.
There are still eleven people alive, and there are only seven people sitting in the restaurant. Among the seven people, except Ruan Nanzhu, at least three are eating the fish in front of them with chopsticks. Judging from their expressions, eating fish is not a reluctant thing at all, and they even seem to enjoy it quite much.
Lin Qiushi had a bad feeling. He said, "Zhu Meng, stop eating. Let's go back to the room."
Ruan Nanzhu did not move. He lowered his eyes and fixed his gaze on the fish in front of him. It was as if the fish had some extremely attractive magic that made him unable to let it go for a while.
His performance made Lin Qiushi's scalp tingle. He winked at Gu Longming, who understood and grabbed Ruan Nanzhu's hands on each side and forcibly led him out of the restaurant.
Then the three of them found a room at random. After entering the room, Lin Qiushi quickly tore off the bed sheets and tied Ruan Nanzhu tightly to the chair.
Fortunately, Ruan Nanzhu remained relatively calm while Lin Qiushi was doing all this. At most, he just frowned and asked, "Why are you tying me up?"
Lin Qiushi said calmly, "I'm afraid you'll eat the fish."
Ruan Nanzhu fell silent. He tilted his head, a hint of confusion crossing his face, as if he wasn't entirely sure why he liked eating fish. Lin Qiushi thought he'd say something, but in the end, he said nothing. He simply said, "Okay."
The door seemed too simple, so simple that it made people lose their vigilance. Lin Qiushi had Gu Longming move Ruan Nanzhu to the cabin corridor to prevent her from being taken away by the transformed room. He then returned to the dining room alone and found that almost everyone in the restaurant had begun to eat the fish on the plates in front of them.
The fish meat, which was originally full of fishy smell and extremely bland, seemed to have become a rare delicacy in their eyes. They immersed themselves in eating it with relish and did not notice Lin Qiushi's arrival at all.
Lin Qiushi took only one look and turned around. When he reached the deck, he saw Xiaomo, who had reminded him before, squatting in the corner with a pale face. When she saw him, she gave him a frightened look.
"What's wrong?" Lin Qiushi asked her.
"Kitchen..." Xiaomo said weakly, "Something happened in the kitchen..."
"What?" Lin Qiushi asked, "What happened?"
"They all seem to be crazy." Xiao Mo stayed away from Lin Qiushi, seeming a little afraid of getting close to people. "They are eating fish, eating fish like crazy."
Although it was just a few words, Lin Qiushi understood the meaning behind Xiaomo's words. He nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. Be careful."
Xiao Mo said, "You... do you want to go over and take a look?"
Lin Qiushi: "Well, I'll go over and take a look."
Xiaomo stopped talking after hearing that.
Lin Qiushi turned around and went to the kitchen next to the restaurant. The kitchen was also in a fixed location, and he could smell a strong fishy smell before he even arrived.
Lin Qiushi stopped at the kitchen door. Before he could enter, he heard a strange chewing sound coming from inside. Through the window, he saw the horrific scene in the kitchen.
Several people squatted on the ground, their faces buried in a massive fish. The fish, uncooked, was a dismal pale white, with veins of blood clearly visible within the flesh. The three people inside, however, seemed completely oblivious to this, their faces practically buried in the fish. A faint look of satisfaction could be seen on their faces, as if the fish before them were some truly delicious delicacy.
Even though Lin Qiushi had a strong tolerance for stress, he couldn't help but feel nauseous when he saw such a scene.
He took a deep breath, calmed himself down, stepped into the kitchen and called out, "Are you okay?" He wanted to see if these people were still sane.
But the facts before him made Lin Qiushi's heart gradually turn cold. The people in front of him seemed not to have heard his calls at all, and still focused all their attention on the fish. They didn't even raise their heads, and seemed to have completely deviated from the normal state.
Seeing this, Lin Qiushi immediately remembered something and turned to leave. He was worried about Ruan Nanzhu, worried that he would also experience these changes.
After Lin Qiushi left, Gu Longming moved Ruan Nanzhu and the chair to the corridor. The corridor would not change at will, so when Lin Qiushi came back, he saw Ruan Nanzhu still sitting on the chair, but his expression looked a little bad.
"Zhu Meng," Lin Qiushi called out to him. "Just bear with it for a while. Just get through tonight and you'll be fine."
"I'm really hungry." Ruan Nanzhu lowered his head, his hair hanging down beside his cheeks, making him look weak and haggard, yet with an irresistible pitifulness. He pursed his lips, his eyes glistening with tears. "Linlin, I want to eat something."
Lin Qiushi quickly took out some food from his bag, but when he put it to Ruan Nanzhu's mouth, he pursed his lips and said, "No, I don't want to eat this."
"Then what do you want to eat?" Lin Qiushi asked.
"I want to eat fish." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Can you let me have some?" He raised his head slightly and looked at Lin Qiushi with longing eyes.
Honestly, if it were any other matter, facing Ruan Nanzhu like this, Lin Qiushi might have immediately softened his heart, but at this moment, he had no choice but to harden his heart and said, "No."
Ruan Nanzhu's pitiful expression disappeared in an instant. His eyes turned cold, and his tone was frighteningly indifferent: "Lin Qiushi, do you know what you are doing?"
This was Ruan Nanzhu's expression outside the door, cold and arrogant, like a god looking down at ants.
"I know." However, Lin Qiushi remained unmoved. He reached out and lifted Ruan Nanzhu's chin, emphasizing each word, "I know what I'm doing. Eating fish? Don't even think about it."
Ruan Nanzhu stared into Lin Qiushi's eyes, as if trying to find some hesitation in his gaze, but in the end he clearly failed, and his tone softened again: "Linlin, Linlin, I really want to eat fish..."
His attitude kept going back and forth, but Lin Qiushi's heart was as hard as iron and he was not moved at all.
Gu Longming was watching from the side and was extremely impressed. He said, "Linlin, you can even hold back like this?"
Lin Qiushi: "What should I do if I can't help it? Should I let him eat the fish?" He told Gu Longming what happened in the restaurant and the kitchen. Gu Longming grimaced after listening: "How could it be like this so suddenly..." A thought occurred to him, "Could it be some kind of accelerated effect after the death of that yellow-eyed fish man?"
"I don't know." Lin Qiushi raised his hand to check the time. There were still four hours until nightfall, and they had to get through these four hours.
Ruan Nanzhu's condition seemed to be a microcosm of those people who were chewing fish. Lin Qiushi made a rough estimate and found that there were no more than four normal people on the entire boat. The others seemed to be possessed by evil spirits.
No matter how Ruan Nanzhu threatened or tempted him, Lin Qiushi pretended not to hear. In the end, he seemed a little tired and stopped talking, just sitting in the chair in silence.
Lin Qiushi began to prepare for what he would do in the evening.
Now the whole ship was filled with aperitifs, the sword was in his hand, and the string had appeared. He looked like a knight entering a maze to rescue the princess - although it seemed that his princess was tied to the chair by his own hands.
Gu Longming sighed as he looked at Ruan Nanzhu's condition. He scratched his head and said, "This is strange. You and I have both tasted fish before, right? Why did Zhu Meng become the one who got hurt?"
Lin Qiushi indicated that he didn't know either.
There must be some hidden reason behind this. Perhaps only those who have never tasted fish will fall for it. But right now, everything is just speculation. The answer to this speculation is unimportant. What matters is that they must quickly close this door. After all, Lin Qiushi couldn't keep Ruan Nanzhu tied up forever.
It was the first time that he was so looking forward to the night. As the sky gradually darkened, Lin Qiushi and Gu Longming moved the chair with Ruan Nanzhu tied to it back into the house.
Ruan Nanzhu didn't say much, but based on Lin Qiushi's understanding of him, he could see from Ruan Nanzhu's eyes that Ruan Nanzhu had not given up.
"Linlin." Ruan Nanzhu suddenly spoke.
Lin Qiushi glanced at Ruan Nanzhu.
"Linlin, do you want to defeat him alone?" Ruan Nanzhu said, "I'm worried about you going alone. Can you let me go with you?"
"Not good," Lin Qiushi said. "Look at you, you lied to me again."
Ruan Nanzhu continued to argue, "I didn't lie to you. When you go there, I'll be there to cover for you."
Lin Qiushi listened to Ruan Nanzhu's tone and felt like he should be angry, but he couldn't help but laugh: "Providing cover? I'm afraid I'll be killing monsters in the front while you eat fish in the back?"
Ruan Nanzhu glanced at Lin Qiushi and fell silent.
"Is the fish so delicious?" Lin Qiushi asked him.
Ruan Nanzhu pursed his lips and said nothing.
"It tastes better than mine?" Lin Qiushi asked again.
"Of course you're tastier," Ruan Nanzhu muttered. He looked completely off-kilter, like a child. "But I'm so hungry now, and I can't eat you. I can't bear it."
Lin Qiushi burst out laughing when he heard this.
Gu Longming was silently eating dog food on the side, wondering if these two people could do anything. They were in this situation, but they still wanted to show their affection.
Lin Qiushi looked at the gradually darkening sky outside, feeling lucky that he and Gu Longming were still normal, otherwise this door would be in real trouble.
After dark, Ruan Nanzhu became much quieter and kept looking out the window. Lin Qiushi thought that he would continue to clamor for fish after a short rest, but he didn't expect that he actually fell asleep.
"Should we put him on the bed?" Gu Longming asked Lin Qiushi in a low voice. Ruan Nanzhu had been tied up for a whole day.
Lin Qiushi thought for a moment and shook his head: "No, keep tying him up." He couldn't be sure whether Ruan Nanzhu was really asleep. What if this guy was pretending to be asleep? With his fighting power, he was afraid that neither he nor Gu Longming would be able to stop him.
Besides, it’s almost night time now and the monsters are about to appear. It’s easy for something to happen to Ruan Nanzhu if he goes out.
"I'd better go with you." Gu Longming watched Lin Qiushi take the long thorn out of the bag and said, "We can look after each other."
"You stay here and watch over him." Lin Qiushi shook his head and rejected Gu Longming's proposal. "I can't do it alone, and it's useless for you to come with me. Besides, he's not in good condition right now, so someone needs to watch over him."
Seeing Lin Qiushi's firm attitude, Gu Longming didn't know what to say and just wished him all the best.
Lin Qiushi nodded, accepting Gu Longming's blessing.
After it got dark, Lin Qiushi kept listening to the noises outside. Finally, his ears caught some subtle sounds. He had heard this sound many times before. It was the sound of some huge object moving on the wooden floor.
Lin Qiushi glanced at Gu Longming and said, "I'm going."
Gu Longming said: "Brother, you go, I will take good care of my sister-in-law."
Lin Qiushi: “…” Why did he always feel that this sentence was not right?
Seeing Lin Qiushi's expression, Gu Longming chuckled softly, "Alright, it was just a joke. Besides, this isn't some kind of sister-in-law. Go ahead, and come back sooner rather than later."
Lin Qiu pushed the door open and went to the restaurant first.
The restaurant is the starting point of the maze and also the starting point of the mosquito line. From there, you can find the monster by following the line of mosquitoes.
Lin Qiushi held the long sword and walked forward carefully along the line. As he walked, he soon heard some unpleasant noises. The sound was like a wild beast gnawing on meat, the only source of meat on the ship... Across the wide deck, Lin Qiushi saw the target he was looking for.
It was a gigantic fish-man monster, sturdy and covered in inky scales. However, compared to yesterday, it bore many more wounds. Lin Qiushi naturally knew where these wounds came from. At this moment, the fish-man's attention was completely focused on the man beneath it, who had been gnawed to pieces. It seemed completely oblivious to Lin Qiushi, who was slowly walking up behind him.
Lin Qiushi knew this was his only chance, so while cautious, he was also filled with ruthlessness. He grasped the long thorn in his hand, slowly raised it, and then brought it down suddenly—directly piercing the fishman's neck.
The fishman let out a shrill scream, a large amount of inky blood gushed out of his body, and then he fell to the ground.
Lin Qiushi did not dare to be careless. After the fishman fell to the ground, he hit it a few more times until he was sure that it was dead, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.
He stood there and rested for a while, then used the long thorn in his hand to cut open the fishman's abdomen. After searching for a while while suppressing his nausea, he found what he wanted among the debris - a very ordinary-looking bronze key. Although there was nothing special about its appearance, in Lin Qiushi's eyes at this moment, there was nothing more lovely in the world than this key.
He picked up the keys, put them in his pocket, and left the deck.
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