Metamorphosis
Mi Tao was still conscious, and when He Lizhou heard him say "yes", he breathed a sigh of relief.
The others were mentally confused and their mouths had turned into mouthparts, so they were unable to accept his invitation, and there was no way to include them in the hotel's employee list and get the hotel's protection.
The moment Mi Tao's voice fell, the transformation in his body completely stopped and his eyes immediately regained clarity.
As soon as he recovered, he went to see Ni Peng. Ni Peng's face was no longer recognizable as a human, but he showed no disdain, "Ni Peng..."
He Lizhou lowered his eyes and watched him in grief, but still reminded him, "His situation cannot be saved anymore, you'd better kick him and Changlian out of the bamboo building together."
This sentence was so cruel that it didn't seem like something He Lizhou would say.
Mi Tao didn't know whether he heard it or not. He hugged Ni Peng tightly with his eyes closed.
He Lizhou knew that this was difficult for him to accept, so he didn't try to persuade him any further and turned around to go upstairs to find Peng Ningyu.
Peng Ningyu was hiding on the third floor with a painting she had just finished in her hand. When she was halfway through, she suddenly heard continuous screams coming from downstairs. She immediately realized that something had happened, but she was alone and the safest thing to do was to hide upstairs.
She didn't hear anyone coming in, so the only possibility was what He Lizhou said, that the curse on them had taken effect.
Peng Ningyu's palms were full of sweat and she almost couldn't hold the paintbrush. However, only after finishing the painting could she get the "key" to leave. Peng Ningyu controlled her trembling fingers, grabbed the madder, and painted on the canvas.
Where the madder was applied, streaks of bright red appeared, turning the butterfly on the canvas into the color of blood.
Peng Ningyu stared blankly at the painting in her hand until He Lizhou knocked on the door, which brought her back to consciousness.
Peng Ningyu put down the painting, ran over to open the door, and when she saw He Lizhou, she suddenly felt relieved, "They..."
He Lizhou shook his head, "Except Mi Tao."
Peng Ningyu stopped talking.
Except for the first day when Ni Peng was fierce and frightened Peng Ningyu, in the following days, everyone had lived and died together. When she heard the news for the first time, she couldn't help feeling sad.
"Damn game."
The game is hateful, and everyone is unlucky to be dragged into the game, but now is not the time to curse the game. The most important thing is to quickly complete the copy.
He Lizhou looked back and saw the painting drawn by Peng Ningyu, "Bloody Butterfly?"
Peng Ningyu nodded, a little nervous, "Is it okay?"
He Lizhou noticed her uneasiness and comforted her gently, "Of course."
Peng Ningyu is very good at painting. Traces of what she has learned can be seen between the brushstrokes, and the butterflies she draws are also detailed and accurate.
But if you look closely, you'll see that the lines of the butterfly itself are meticulously drawn, but the finished product after painting is so full of spirit and lifelike, it looks just like a real butterfly growing on the canvas.
Peng Ningyu breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes shining. She had solved a task for He Lizhou in the rear, which finally gave her a chance to make use of her skills.
"I studied forensic medicine in college and drew diagrams of the human body. I thought I wouldn't be able to draw well, but I was surprised when I finished - it was so beautiful!"
He Lizhou smiled and said, "You have talent. Maybe after playing games, you can become a painter."
Peng Ningyu smiled and waved her hand, "Whether we can release the game or not is still a matter of time."
This topic was a bit heavy, so she was silent for a while and didn't say anything else.
He Lizhou walked while thinking about the painting drawn by Peng Ningyu. He was worried about something and didn't bother to comfort her.
He Lizhou sent her to the door of the room and said, "Tomorrow is the fifth day, the last day. You should have a good rest tonight. We can go out tomorrow."
Peng Ningyu had a hint of sadness in her eyes, and she said softly, "I always feel like you're going to do something tonight, but you probably don't plan to take me with you, right? It's okay, but you have to be careful."
He Lizhou was surprised by her sharpness, smiled and said without explanation, "Good night."
Peng Ningyu closed the door, "...Good night."
He Lizhou stood at the window and saw Ni Peng open the door of the bamboo house by himself, disappear into the forest, and never look back.
Mitao did not return to his bedroom on the second floor all night.
He Lizhou didn't sleep either. He waited for the night stars to come out and went to the studio on the third floor.
He stood in front of the canvas, as if admiring the painting, or as if waiting for someone to appear.
Under the moonlight, the butterfly on the canvas is eerily beautiful and captivating. If it were Peng Ningyu, she would probably be completely absorbed by the painting and would never be able to wake up again.
He Lizhou lowered his head and fiddled with his watch, then threw the hair that fell on his chest back behind him, "I don't have time."
The butterfly on the canvas flapped its wings and flew out of the canvas, stopping in front of He Lizhou.
He Lizhou did not see the villager’s face on him. This was not a butterfly transformed from a villager, but probably the original butterfly from Wanhua Village.
The butterfly circled around He Lizhou, and He Lizhou stood there, waiting for it to turn back to him before speaking, "What do you mean by entering Peng Ningyu's painting?"
The butterfly fluttered its wings, and He Lizhou miraculously heard his voice, "Of course I'm here to inspect your paintings."
He Lizhou raised his eyes, "Inspection? The object of our painting is you?"
Butterfly: "Of course not, it's the village chief, but I'm satisfied, you don't have to care about his opinion anymore."
Still a domineering...
However, this situation is actually beneficial to them. He Lizhou would be stupid to refute, "Okay, since you are satisfied, then let us leave the copy."
The butterfly chuckled, "You haven't found the reason for the curse among the villagers yet. Don't try to deceive me. You humans are the most cunning."
He Lizhou: "Isn't it that in order to make money, they scraped the phosphorus powder off the wings of butterflies, processed it and sold it to painters at high prices, causing the butterflies to become extinct?"
The butterfly circled in the air, its wings like carefully woven brocade, glittering and sparkling with tiny rays of light.
"What am I telling you to do? Just figure it out on your own. I'll be happy if any of you fails."
He Lizhou watched the butterfly fly away, and then the system announced, "Attention all players, the painting task has been completed."
This upgrade was repeated three times. He Lizhou thought there was nothing else to do and was about to sneak into the village chief's house to see if there were any other clues. The system continued to broadcast: "Due to the abnormal behavior of the dungeon BOSS Butterfly King, the village chief of Wanhua Village has fallen into a violent state. Players, please protect yourself."
He Lizhou: “?”
He immediately went downstairs and knocked hard on Peng Ningyu's door, "Peng Ningyu! Run!"
Peng Ningyu had been awakened by the broadcast. She had no time to be shocked. She opened the door and ran downstairs with He Lizhou.
He Lizhou thought Mi Tao was in the living room on the first floor and had already run away, but he didn't expect that he was still sitting in the same position as during the day, with a calm expression. He even looked up at the two people and said, "You guys go, I'm not going."
He Lizhou pulled him up and slapped him hard on the back, "Don't waste my chance to save you."
Mi Tao staggered after being pushed by him, and before he could stand firmly, He Lizhou pulled him to run.
Mi Tao moved his lips, but in the end he said nothing and resigned himself to running.
There were seven people when they entered the dungeon, but now, just four days have passed, and only three of them are left.
They had only taken a few steps out of the door when they immediately met the village chief.
The village chief still appeared to be a human, but the system had already reported that he was abnormal, so several people did not dare to take it lightly.
The village chief looked at them expressionlessly. He Lizhou, led by two men, quietly retreated.
"What did you tell the Butterfly King?"
The village chief looked at He Lizhou gloomily, "Is it you?"
He Lizhou: "...Don't wrongly accuse me."
Not to mention the village chief, even Mi Tao and Peng Ningyu didn't believe it.
He Lizhou was really wronged. He really just chatted with her for a few simple sentences. Although he did want to ask some questions, the Butterfly King got angry and ran away before he could ask.
However, because of the village chief's words, He Lizhou roughly understood that the focus this time would be on himself, so he gently pushed Peng Ningyu from behind, signaling her to run quickly with Mi Tao.
As expected, Peng Ningyu had studied with He Lizhou for a few days. She immediately understood what He Lizhou meant. She took Mi Tao with her and escaped under the cover of He Lizhou.
The village chief saw it clearly, and just as he was about to speak, He Lizhou stood in front of him.
He Lizhou stared at the village chief, "I know."
The village chief's eyeballs twitched violently, and He Lizhou almost jumped back because he thought the village chief's eyes were going to fall on him.
Fortunately, he held back, otherwise it would not be fun to show weakness in front of the village chief.
The village chief quickly returned to normal, "Impossible. He won't tell you."
Indeed, I didn’t say that.
He Lizhou thought to himself that you know him quite well, one by one, you and he all speak in the same tone.
The village chief saw something on He Lizhou's face and reached out to grab his neck, "You cheated me!"
It was just nonsense, but the village chief's behavior was real. There must be some past between him and the Butterfly King.
And this past is what they are missing!
He Lizhou guessed that the two men must have run for some distance, and no matter what tricks the village chief used, he would not be able to catch up with them, so he turned around and ran.
The village chief followed closely without any hesitation.
He was running in the east direction. The village was in the south and the deep forest was in the west. No matter whether Peng Ningyu and the others ran to Lao Hu's house or the inn, it was guaranteed that the village chief would have to be a long distance away to catch up.
But He Lizhou underestimated the strength of the village chief. While running to catch up with He Lizhou, he screamed, making a series of shrill noises.
When He Lizhou heard the cry with a strange frequency, he immediately realized that something was wrong. Sure enough, when he looked back, he saw that the village chief had summoned the villagers who had transformed into butterfly people to chase Peng Ningyu and Mi Tao!
He Lizhou couldn't help but swear.
The sky has brightened and it is the fifth day.
He Lizhou thought about it, made a sharp turn, and ran towards the village.
He is going to the village chief's house.
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