Chapter 149 Ghost Market
[——Please escape from the hair salon in time to avoid becoming a beauty souvenir in the ghost market]
[Limited to 30 minutes]
A large mass of wet, sticky substance hung down from the ceiling. Although Qiao Song couldn't see anything clearly, he still avoided the attacking object accurately.
Although she was deprived of her vision, she could still smell the strong smell of blood and stench in the air.
Qiao Song did not act rashly, but instead thought about how the female ghost discovered her identity.
She had almost no flaws at first, but the moment she opened the door, it was judged that a ghost had discovered her identity. Is this female ghost clerk special, or is this store special?
There were gurgling sounds in my ears, along with the sound of the female ghost swallowing blood, mixed with a strange rustling sound.
It was like a large ball of thread wriggling.
Qiao Song once again felt something coming down from the ceiling towards her head. She dodged it quickly and soon heard a sizzling sound of the floor corroding at her feet, as well as a strong sour smell.
The light from the human skin lantern was still very dim and could not illuminate anything. Qiao Song clearly counted his own heartbeats to judge the remaining time to pass the level.
Dong——Dong——
The heartbeat was strong and powerful, and it was obvious that its owner was not panicking at all.
This made the female ghosts who were surrounding her a little disappointed.
The ghost girl's vague laughter came from the hair salon: "It's not a good thing to be so calm at this time."
The dark shop seemed to be the ghost girl's home ground. Qiao Song couldn't see her, but she could clearly grasp everything going on in the store.
It seems that there is indeed a huge danger for players to knock on the door and enter the store, but it is impossible that they will be attacked by ghosts as soon as they enter the store.
Otherwise, Mission 2 is almost a dead end for the players.
"Maybe we can make a deal. Give me one of your eyes, or your tongue, or even your hand. I don't necessarily have to eat your whole body. After all, I'm different from those poor guys out there. Our street shops are not that bloody."
Seeing Qiao Song hiding in a panic without a light source, the female ghost swallowed her saliva and added fuel to the fire: "Once the lantern is damaged, you can't get out. This is a pretty good deal, isn't it?"
When mentioning the lantern he had been protecting, the player finally seemed to show signs of giving in.
"I have to think about it. You know, players are made of flesh and blood and are more afraid of pain."
Qiao Song responded indifferently, quickly connecting all the information in his mind.
A gleam of light flashed in the ghost girl's eyes: "Think it over and cut off what I want. The longer you waste time, the more you will suffer..."
But no matter how she persuaded him for a long time and how she increased the frequency of his attacks, Qiao Song was still able to dodge her attacks. The female ghost couldn't help but become a little anxious.
"Are you stalling for time? I tell you it's useless. The frequency of my potion attacks will only increase. Sooner or later, you won't be able to dodge—"
Qiao Song tried his best to block out her noisy voice and pay attention to other information hidden in the darkness.
In addition to the sound of corrosive materials falling from the ceiling, there were some very strange noises in the store.
"Huala, lah!" This was the sound of a faucet being turned on. It seemed as if water was gushing out from somewhere, but Qiao Song did not feel any moisture in the air.
When something fell from the ceiling, she could feel the sound of the wind brushing past her ears and the strong smell of chemicals.
If it falls on you, something bad will definitely happen. This is the inference that any normal person would make.
But why is there the sound of the faucet turning on?
There were also clicking sounds, as if something was opening and closing.
Wait, when she entered the shop, the system prompted that this was a mini-game for the hair salon.
In other words—
Let her think about it. Generally speaking, the steps of hairdressing include shampooing, hair care, and some may even apply essential oils before and after blow-drying.
Sure enough, after avoiding the corrosion of the large mass of sticky substance, Qiao Song heard the sound of some bottle cap being unscrewed in the distance. This time, the stench in the air was mixed with a hint of rose essential oil.
Qiao Song did not wait for any attacks related to essential oils, but only denser clusters of corrosive substances falling from the ceiling.
This stench—
Could it be a special potion for softening and shaping hair?
Qiao Song protected the lantern in his hand and rolled quickly, but ended up bumping into a cabinet next to him.
Bang, bang, bang. The things in the cabinet suddenly came alive and rushed out like balls.
Although Qiao Song couldn't see, he felt a strand of hair in the gap when he touched the glass cabinet door.
Dummy head?
When the female ghost saw Qiao Song, she tried to avoid him in a hurry and even knocked over a cabinet in the store.
Gurgle, gurgle, countless wigged heads rolled out.
When Qiao Song touched the mannequin head, his hand paused, and then he pushed those things away quickly as if he was frightened.
Seeing how scared she was, the female ghost on the ceiling smiled and said, "It just so happens that there is a box on the counter behind you. Put your eyes or tongue in it and complete the transaction. Then I will open the door and let you out. How about that?"
"No matter how agilely you hide for 30 minutes, can you guarantee that your lantern will not be damaged at all? I know that for you players, the human skin lantern means a pass to get out."
Qiao Song was still wondering why the female ghost only used the potion on the ceiling to attack her and not anything else.
You know, the noises she heard, including the fake head, were enough to prove that there were more than one or two traps in the store.
The female ghost was so hungry that her mouth was drooling. How could she still be in the mood to negotiate with her?
She took the struggling mannequin head in her hand and, like using a mop, hit the side a few times without leaving any trace, at a place where she remembered the corrosive object had fallen.
Fortunately, the human head only struggled but did not scream. While dodging the attack from the ceiling, Qiao Song grabbed a comb from a counter-like position and inserted it into the mannequin's head.
The hair is still there and has not been corroded like the floor.
So that's how it is.
The female ghost continued: "It's meaningless for you to hide. Why don't you make a deal with me? I want so little. Why are you still hesitating?"
Qiao Song felt that either the clerk was mentally retarded, or he treated her as mentally retarded.
She thought about it for a few seconds, and when a large amount of corrosive matter fell from the sky again, she pretended to dodge a few times, then quickly found the right opportunity and actively raised her head to block the attack that she had previously avoided with her hair.
"you--!"
When the female ghost saw her suddenly change her strategy, she wanted to take back the attacking weapon in a hurry, but it was too late.
Sizzle.
When the large amount of sticky medicine first touched the scalp, there was a slight corrosive feeling. Soon, Qiao Song realized that it was not corrosion, but a slight spicy feeling.
After actively coming into contact with this potion, what she smelled was not a rotten stench, but the pungent smell of ginger!
[Ding——It is detected that the customer has actively selected the ginger hair growth and hair care potion. The care activity begins now. Please play your roles well and do not violate the rules. ]
[The customer has 25 minutes of hairdressing time left]
As soon as the system prompt sounded, Qiao Song knew that he had guessed correctly.
This female ghost was surprisingly cunning. After seeing that Qiao Song was very skilled, she simply attacked her with potions specially prepared for customers in the store. Once Qiao Song had been avoiding the attack of these potions for 30 minutes, she ended up making things worse and was unable to enter the hair care session.
“You, you——!”
The female ghost, who originally thought she had won, was so angry that she almost burst into swearing.
"Your hair salon seems to be a little too casual in treating customers. You didn't even tell me directly that these things hanging down from the ceiling are hair care products? I have to choose them myself."
The female ghost’s teeth are about to be broken.
"So what? Do you think you can get out alive if you make the right choice?"
"Even if a living person is not dismembered on the street, if he or she enters the store on his or her own initiative, do you know what will happen?"
After Qiao Song finished choosing the potion, the store seemed to become brighter and some small wall lamps turned on.
Qiao Song looked up at the ceiling, only to see the female clerk wrapped in a bunch of hair, with only her skin left.
The female ghost was obviously very angry. The hair all over the ceiling was rolled up with bottles of hair conditioner commonly seen in beauty shops.
This was the thing that had been attacking Qiao Song just now.
This thing only has a "care" effect when it falls on your hair. If it falls on the ground, it can indeed be called a weapon.
Qiao Song has already discovered many traces of corrosion on the ground left by the beauty liquid that had fallen on the ground.
It's not the players' fault for thinking too much. No normal person would have thought that this thing had to fall on the hair for the players entering the store to truly enter the role of a customer.
"Is this crappy shop of yours a self-service beauty salon? After applying the treatment lotion, what next?"
The skin supported by the big ball of hair on the ceiling would never really answer her. He sneered: "How would I know the rest? Players whose identities have been discovered can't get the same treatment as other ghost customers. If you want to pass the level and leave here successfully, it depends on your luck!"
After the player successfully selected the perfect solution, all the cans floating in the sky were thrown down. Since this method could no longer be used to attack the guests, the female ghost simply threw the packaging bags to the ground to vent her anger.
Qiao Song avoided the jars on the ceiling and did not use his head to actively catch the beauty essence as he did before.
As expected, this liquid not only corroded the ground, but even if one or two drops splashed directly onto the skin, it would cause obvious stinging pain.
The lotion used in the hair salon can only be used for hair extensions, and customers can only choose one.
If the player successfully selects the potion, but then relaxes and ignores the jar with the remaining potion, he will probably suffer a great loss soon.
Qiao Song quickly dodged the falling cans and even grabbed one or two and threw them into his toolbox.
The female ghost didn't notice her little movement, and the tangled black hair quickly picked up a new weapon.
It's a sprinkler head.
"You want to know the steps of hair care? The second step is, of course, to apply water."
As soon as she finished speaking, she swung up the shower heads on the ceiling with malicious intent.
However, Qiao Song did not try to figure out which shower head was the right one as he did before. Instead, he rushed into the store without even looking back.
Behind him, the female ghost shouted anxiously: "Where are you going? Come back! The second step is to flush!"
Qiao Songli ignored her.
Do you really think you don't know? The position for washing hair in a hair salon is fixed. If the water from the ceiling really falls on you, who knows what strange effects will occur.
Which kind person would wash his hair standing in the hall?
Seeing her running away, the female ghost on the ceiling also became anxious.
But once the customer finishes choosing the solution, he or she will automatically enter the hairdressing process and the lights in the store will turn on. The guy must have already discovered the shampooing table inside.
Qiao Song rushed into the depths of the store and soon saw a row of three white shampooing tables lined up side by side.
From left to right, the two on the left are covered in blood, as if a corpse had been processed on them, and there are also a lot of knife marks.
Only the one on the far right is clean and has nothing on it.
Qiao Song rushed to the left first and walked around the pool to make an assessment.
The sink at location 1 was clogged with a lot of black hair, and there was also a lot of oil in the basin.
There was nothing in the sink at position 2, but there was a thick layer of blood crust on the seat. I don't know if it was an old stain left by countless victims.
Position No. 3 was clean and there was even a hot towel there.
The female ghost on the ceiling chased her much slower this time, as if waiting for Qiao Song to make his own choice.
After Qiao Song finished walking around, he just came out from position 3, jumped back to position 1, and stuffed his head into the greasy shampoo basin.
"What are you still standing there for? Shouldn't you help me rinse the medicine?"
The female ghost, who was a step slower than her, was so angry that her hands were shaking.
"How do you know it's this?"
Qiao Song: "This pool has the same disgusting smell as your ceiling. One of the other two has a strong bloody smell and is a distraction. The other one is so clean that it's almost as if I was the correct answer written on it. As a result, the towel placed on the spot is white, and the water dripping from these three faucets is red."
"Don't tell me your store looks like it's going to go bankrupt, but you still give customers new white towels every time."
The water flowing from the faucet in the shampooing basin is red. The reason why No. 1 and No. 2 look red is probably because of the traces left by the shampoo.
The female ghost understood the sarcasm in Qiao Song's tone. Even though she wanted to open her mouth and bite the man into pieces immediately, the rules were the rules. The player put himself in the position of a guest and accepted the service, so she had to proceed accordingly.
It doesn't matter, she still has a chance.
The warm water from the faucet hit his scalp. Seeing the temperature getting lower and lower, Qiao Song suddenly said, "Turn up the water temperature by five degrees. Don't play tricks on me and rub my hair like a rag. Wash it carefully and take good care of it, otherwise I will give you a bad review."
The female ghost wanted to twist her head off by her hair: "Give a bad review? Do you really think you are a ghost customer? I will definitely find a chance to take you away within the specified time..."
The rest of her words got stuck in her throat.
Qiao Song, who was lying on the bed enjoying a hair wash, took out a piece of wood from somewhere, on which was the registration form for the beauty salon.
The first line reads: [Today's clerk on duty, Xiaomei]
Qiao Song held a pen in his hand and had already clicked on [Employee Satisfaction Score] and [Feedback].
"Why, you still treat customers differently?"
The female ghost Xiaomei’s eyes were about to pop out.
"How did you find this thing? Aren't you a human player?"
Qiao Song put the things away nonchalantly. He could already feel that the coward behind him had become much less forceful.
"When you tricked me into giving you eyes and tongue, why didn't you think of cleaning up everything on the counter? The board was right there."
She couldn't see it before, but after choosing the solution, the lights in the store were turned on, and she ran from the counter to wash her hair, and she just took the thing away.
Any service industry is at risk of being complained about, and shampooing and hair care are no exception.
"Even if it was there, you shouldn't be able to see it! That piece of paper is..."
There was a sizzling sound, as if there was some kind of electric current.
Xiaomei was shocked by a small electric arc on her head at some point, and a small part of her straight black hair became curled, and there was a burnt smell.
Qiao Song raised his eyebrows: "Oh, did you say something you shouldn't have said and get warned by the system?"
The same scene, she had seen it before, when other NPCs talked about the shrine to uninformed players, they would be punished by the system.
Um?
So ordinary people can't see this form that can be used to directly file a complaint against a ghost employee, but she can see it, is it because of the shrine?
No, Qiao Song recalled a very distant memory. The first time she exercised her right to report was at the Rule Convenience Store.
When she got off the bus, she saw the bus company's complaint phone number, but she didn't have a shrine at that time.
After washing her hair, Xiaomei's attitude somehow became much better.
Her previous look of being extremely hungry and wanting to eat someone now became a little timid.
"The last option is, which essential oil do you want, sir?"
Xiaomei helped her wrap her hair and took out three bottles of liquid. One bottle contained eyeballs, one bottle contained fingers, and another bottle contained a ball of black hair.
Qiao Song doesn't want to choose any of them...
But soon, Qiao Song remembered the red flyer that Xiaomei had distributed outside before.
[With just one thousand soul coins, a ghost can have a second chance to awaken his profession, and from then on reach the pinnacle of his ghost life! ]
In addition, this guy almost always uses his hair as a weapon when using his skills, so Qiao Song chose the third bottle.
The female ghost licked her dry lips and finally said nothing. She helped Qiao Song to spread his hair, applied a layer of sticky essential oil on it, and then let Qiao Song choose a seat.
Qiao Song looked for a long time this time and felt that there was not much difference between these seats. And this female ghost named Xiaomei didn't seem to have the energy to fight with him, so he just picked one and sat down.
The second half was very harmonious. Xiaomei finally behaved like a hairdresser. After blowing the hair half dry and applying essential oil for the second time, she even conscientiously gave Qiao Song a simple scalp massage.
The battle maniac Qiao Song was highly alert throughout the whole process, but there was no danger at all. Until the end of 30 minutes, she heard the system's reminder:
[Congratulations on successfully passing the hair salon game and getting a short-term buff. Your hair will never fall out, will be shiny, fireproof, and resistant to blows. You can even use it as a tough rope.]
This should be the effect in the hair salon brochure.
But what kind of good person would use hair as a rope?
Fireproof and impact-resistant, is this the effect that hair should have?
"Goblins come here to get their hair done. Can they really awaken their skills?"
Xiao Mei, who came over with the card machine, hesitated: "A short-term buff effect can barely be considered a special skill."
Qiao Song commented scathingly: "This is just selling dog meat under the guise of selling mutton, exaggerating the publicity."
But in theory, if this is regarded as a player auxiliary skill, it is quite useful.
Qiao Song remembers that he chose the ginger conditioner. If he had chosen other essential oils or shampoos, would the effects be different?
When swiping the card, Qiao Song looked at the amount displayed on the bill and narrowed his eyes slightly: "2200 soul coins? Shouldn't it be 1000?"
Xiaomei shrank behind the counter. Compared to her arrogant look before, she now looked a little afraid of Qiao Song.
"You chose the blow-drying position yourself..."
Qiao Song opened the bill and found that the accompanying massage, essential oil treatment, and even hair blow-drying services were all additional charges.
The most outrageous thing was that 2200 was already a discount, and there was a bright red employee discount stamp at the end of the bill. Xiaomei, who had previously said she wanted to eat her, actually took the initiative to reduce part of the bill for Qiao Song.
The original price of a set is 9,800 soul coins, which is a sky-high price.
It’s okay if you can’t afford it.
Qiao Song flipped through the credit card receipt and saw the details of the items used to pay off the debt on the back. An eyeball could be exchanged for 5,000, a tongue for 7,000, and a hand for 6,000...
This shabby shop is so shady, no wonder it's going to go bankrupt.
She slapped the bill back, which scared Xiaomei, but she then saw the notification that the payment was successful.
After Qiao Song threw the soul coin into the strange box on the counter, he heard a system prompt.
[Ding——The transaction between the player and the Beauty Hair Salon is completed. It is detected that you have obtained a beneficial buff. You will no longer be able to obtain extra souvenirs in this round of the Ghost Market dungeon game. You are welcome to come again next time. ]
Souvenir?
If she doesn't get the buff, that means she will get a souvenir when she leaves.
She seemed to have guessed how those guys from the European Emperor Alliance completed the item exchange in the copy.
It turns out this is possible.
"The next ghost market will open in three days. I will come to your store then. Don't worry, I never do business at a loss."
After saying hello, Qiao Song left without looking back.
Xiaomei saw the employee evaluation form that was inexplicably left on the counter.
All of them are five-star, and the staff's review says "Good service, I will come again next time."
Xiaomei shuddered, and for some reason, she thought of some legends she had heard.
"No, no, next time I want to switch shifts with Xiaoli. The store is going to close down anyway. If I give her a few hundred soul coins, she will probably agree."
She was not willing to take care of this plague god even if she had to pay him. If she guessed correctly, this player would turn the ghost market upside down sooner or later.
She hesitated for a moment, then quietly dialed a special phone number in the store.
Ghost Market Street.
Wen Haoqian checked the items on the list, went to many places, and finally collected everything he wanted to buy.
"Captain, what a fool! Every time you come in, you have to survey the map. What's the point of surveying this crappy place like the Ghost Market? You can't move an inch without a lantern. And today, there are so many masked ghosts."
The human skin lantern swayed gently, and the red light inside was steady and peaceful. For old hands like them who came in frequently, they could just beat up the little devils if they found any trouble, and no one dared to touch them.
"How much raw materials have you collected? I still need a little more."
Xin Yue, who had just met him not long ago, checked the missing items on the list and prepared to send her brother to visit a few more places, but there were too many things, and because they couldn't be discovered as players, they didn't use storage props and had to go to the cooperating shops to put the things first.
But when they walked not far from the store, they noticed an unusually familiar figure.
Under the top hat was a bone skull and a sharp black leather beak.
team leader?
Wen Haoqian: "Didn't the captain say he wanted to draw a map? Why did he go to Ms. Xiaolu's store?"
Even wearing a black robe, their captain dressed as a plague doctor looked very unique.
Soon, they witnessed another guy in a black robe suddenly reach out and grab the plague doctor's bird beak before he could react, and boldly try to lift his hood.
Xin Yue recognized who it was, her eyes widened, she was so scared that her soul almost flew away, and she rushed over to stop him:
"Qiao Qiao, what are you doing? Qiao Qiao, don't take off his hood! If you look at his face, your eyes will go blind!"
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