Chapter 4
An Rou was startled by the spear that appeared at her side and fell to the ground. Her arm hit the small gold mountain on the ground, and the gold coins scattered.
She glanced upwards and saw the ID above Ye Wang's head light up, perhaps as a protest to Gou Ming Chang. The car-like logo in front of his ID represented the Ouli Guild.
An Rou heard about this guild from Cui Gaoshan. He was the second-in-command of the Lengbing City Guild and had always been at odds with the Longyan Guild where his father worked.
Gou Mingchang was obviously not a member of Oli. He got scared when he saw the logo. He picked up the gold coins on the ground angrily and ran away without caring about his unfinished lunch.
The king looked at his back and snorted coldly: "These wild visitors are becoming more and more ungrateful."
Baofu had just started playing the game and wasn't yet qualified to join the guild, nor did he have the capital to join. He walked forward and helped Anrou up.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" As he said this, a bottle appeared in his hand and he handed it to An Rou.
There was also a tiny light screen on the bottle, like an instruction label, but with only a few words: [Low-level Life Potion].
This item was part of the beginner gift pack that Baofu bought. It instantly restored 10 health points and accelerated wound healing. The King wanted to stop him, but then he realized that improving NPC favorability would yield more clues, so he let go.
An Rou didn't know whether her health had recovered, but the scratch on her palm disappeared within seconds after drinking the potion. She smiled gratefully at Bao Fu, "Thank you, Brother Destiny."
Seeing that the favorability had increased by another 5%, Bao Fu scratched his head embarrassedly.
The King curled his lips and said, "Okay, tell me, where did you get scared? And which shop is that guy from?"
An Rou ignored him and just said to Bao Fu, "Brother, I'm going to find my wallet."
"Oh, okay."
"What's so good about that!" Ye Wang slapped him again, making the same gesture as Gou Mingchang at the beginning, leaving a small mountain of gold on the ground. "If you really lost so much money, it would have been picked up by someone long ago. Why are you still looking for it? It's a waste of time. Answer my questions properly, and this money is yours."
An Rou stared at Jin Shan for a few seconds, and was obviously moved.
At the signal from Ye Wang, Bao Fu had no choice but to chime in: "Brother Wang, what you said makes sense. Sister...you don't want to go home and get scolded for not having money to buy coal, do you?"
An Rou thought about it with a conflicted look on her face. "Okay then. It was the guy from the coal shop. He was terrifying. His face was pale, and his eyes looked like they were about to pop out. When he looked at me, it felt like... he wanted to eat me."
"Brother, is he a ghoul?"
Both of them received a notification on the light screen.
[Quest clue: A coal shop clerk with a scary face.]
[Related quest: The ghoul hidden in Zhongxu Town, correlation level 40%.]
Compared with the original fragmentary information, a lot of clues have been completed.
The king's eyes flickered, ready to act: "The living dead."
"Is it a parasite that is possessed by a ghoul and has its soul completely eaten?" Bao Fu recalled the game information he had learned before the game went online.
The King nodded and looked at An Rou: "Which coal shop is it and where is it located?"
An Rou pouted and answered reluctantly, "Anyway, it's the alley where they sell coal. There are so many coal shops there, I couldn't even tell which one it was."
The king frowned and flipped through the game map for a while.
Baofu asked tentatively, "Brother Wang, how about we go to each family one by one?"
"No, there are more than a dozen coal shops in Sloppy Alley. If we go to a few of them, it will cause a commotion. By the time we find a place, the ghouls will have already moved on." Ye Wang said, looking at An Rou, "You take us there."
An Rou had already collected the gold coins on the ground and shook her head when she heard this: "Why? Ghouls are so scary, I don't want to go."
I deliberately kept a gold coin in my hand to play with.
The king's gaze paused slightly on her hand, and he left a pile of gold coins on the ground, which looked like there were at least five hundred gold coins. An Rou was indeed attracted and stared at the small gold mountain.
The biggest feature of this game is that every NPC is greedy for money, without exception.
An Rou followed the two of them. Seeing Bao Fu looking back, she leaned close to Ye Wang's ear and asked, "Brother Wang, the mission hasn't been completed yet, and you're giving away a thousand gold coins. Is it worth it?"
"You know what?" Ye Wang said. "You're smart and know how to hide in a crowd. That ghoul is at least C-level, so the gold coin reward alone is a must. If you're lucky, one or two items will pop up. If we split them between the two of us, we'll make a killing."
He stopped and pointed to an alley: "Is this it?"
An Rou nodded.
Ye Wang checked the map and questioned, "Aren't all the coal sellers in Sloppy Lane? Is this Hongfeng Lane?"
"Why would I lie to you?" An Rou felt wronged and angry. She took a few quick steps and came to the front of them. "This is a shortcut. I usually take this way."
Seeing her walk to the front, the king said nothing more and called Baofu to follow.
Hongfeng Lane was not crowded, and there were no restaurants or other shops open, so it was very quiet. An Rou was inevitably nervous about seeing the ghoul with her own eyes, and she took a deep breath.
She stopped in front of a closed wooden door, not daring to get too close.
"It's right here."
After saying that, he hid behind Bao Fu.
"Are you sure?"
An Rou's eyes flickered and she didn't dare to look directly at the king.
The king stopped his fist at her face, shocking even the rich man.
An Rou then covered her face and told the truth: "I entered from Sloppy Alley, but it was too scary and I didn't dare to go in. This is the back door of a shop. Going through it is Sloppy Alley. The ghoul is in Xiao Zhang's Coal Shop in Sloppy Alley."
After saying that, she started to cry.
The king no longer had any doubts because the light screen filled in the clues for the second time, and because the clues were complete, the entire task details popped up.
[Mission Name: Living Dead in the Coal Shop]
[Mission Location: Xiao Zhang Coal Shop, Sloppy Lane, Zhongsu Town]
[Ghoul Level: C]
[Number of Ghouls: 1/1]
【Time limit: None】
Difficulty Rating: C
The King's face lit up with joy, and he ordered Baofu: "Follow me and take her with you."
Baofu also took out the gray weapon from the newcomer gift pack—a steel-colored Tang sword. He was stunned when he heard this: "Her? Why bring her?"
An Rou also secretly thought that this was not good. She had put so much thought into this, and besides trying to make some money, her main purpose was to send these two things to die. How could she be dragged into the gates of hell?
Without saying anything, the king took out a rope from the prop bar, tied An Rou's hands tightly, and handed the other end to Bao Fu.
"Why are you asking so many questions? Just to be safe, learn a little!" He warned An Rou again, "Shut your mouth! If it alerts the ghoul, I'll feed it with you first!"
An Rou roughly understood.
Ghouls are monsters that parasitize the human body. They can choose to parasitize one person or two simultaneously, a process called splitting. It's said that a newly split ghoul's strength is weakened, making it easier for players to strangle it.
Seeing the two of them checking their gloves, An Rou felt that her guess was probably correct.
They were wrapped tightly, with only their faces exposed. An Rou, who was wearing a cheongsam, had no gloves, and even her calves and forearms were exposed. If the ghoul touched her, she would be infected.
"Brother, please let me go..." An Rou's eyes were filled with tears.
Unable to bear the consequences, An Rou loosened her grip on the rope. She turned and tried to run, but a strong force grabbed her hands, causing her to fall.
The king grabbed the rope.
"You turned a deaf ear to my words?"
This wasn't said to An Rou, but to Bao Fu. The King raised his spear and thrust it at Bao Fu's throat. "Don't want to play? Okay, your initial destiny is only 80. One death will completely deactivate you!"
The game was too realistic, and the sharp tip of the gun gave Baofu a fear of facing death. He swallowed hard and tightened the rope: "No, no. Brother Wang, I'll listen to you..."
He even wrapped the rope around his wrists twice.
"Brother..." An Rou pleaded softly.
"Shut up!" Bao Fu scolded without even turning his head.
He had no gaming experience and didn't notice the drastic change in his attitude, nor did An Rou's favorability towards him change.
The King was satisfied and patted the rich man's shoulder with the tip of his gun. "As for women, there are plenty. Soul-Guiding Song has no shortage of beautiful NPCs. When you level up and have money, follow the method I teach you. A lot of beautiful women will fight to get into your arms. I'm afraid you won't be able to sleep with them!"
"Cheer up! After completing this C-rank mission, your rank will be raised to at least Level 5. Many newbies will be jealous of you!"
Ye Wang turned the gun around and gently pushed open the wooden door. It was ajar, revealing a narrow glimpse of darkness. Furthermore, the walls and floor were stained with black cinders, making it look like a bottomless cave.
It seems to be the back door of a coal shop. On the opposite side is the shabby alley.
Bao Fu couldn't help but hold the Tang sword and rope tightly.
An Rou was also very nervous and had no time to care about the pain of the rough rope rubbing against her wrist. She withdrew her gaze from the door and fell on the Tang sword that had suddenly become rich.
The King simply pushed the door open, turned halfway and sneered, "She's nervous, that's all, but what are you afraid of? This NPC is so brave, how dare he take us directly to Xiao Zhang's Coal Shop? If we go through here, we'll have to slowly find it."
"Yeah, that's right."
Bao Fu pulled An Rou in.
The coal shop was hot, but not airtight. A few pale rays of sunlight filtered through the dilapidated roof, allowing the three of them to quickly adjust to the dim light. At first, Ye Wang's steps were very light. After walking a little further in, he saw that the room seemed empty, so he relaxed his pace and walked forward boldly.
It seems that Brother Wang’s analysis was correct. This is not Xiao Zhang’s Coal Shop.
Bao Fu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and suddenly heard An Rou screaming behind him: "Brother!"
A figure rushed out from the corner of the coal pile, brandishing a pair of tongs and smashing at Baofu. Sunlight flashed across the pale face, and An Rou instantly recognized it. It was it—the ghoul she had seen in An Younian's memory!
Bao Fu was startled and swung his knife to block.
The pliers were merely household items, naturally not comparable to the gray weapon. As the two clashed, the Tang sword easily severed the pliers. With a moment's reassurance, Baofu immediately raised his sword and slashed at the ghoul. The scowling, angry face reminded him of a monster-killing game, naturally devoid of any mercy.
But his body was suddenly pulled sideways, and the Tang sword lost its accuracy and only hit the ghoul's shoulder.
"Brother, run!" An Rou used all her strength to pull him in the opposite direction with the rope.
Bao Fu lost his balance and had to stagger two steps. Unexpectedly, An Rou suddenly turned back and rushed over, snatched the Tang sword from his hand, and pulled off his gloves.
An inhuman roar erupted from the ghoul's chest, and he swung the pliers again at Baofu. Baofu instinctively blocked with his hand, but the pliers pierced through his palm and would have stabbed into his chest if it hadn't been broken in half.
In the moment of crisis, a flash of cold light suddenly exploded in the ghoul's throat. With a swipe of his spear, the Lord King forcibly split the ghoul's head in two. Black, sticky liquid mixed with white brain matter splattered everywhere, and a foul odor filled the air.
The ghoul's corpse fell to the ground, revealing a furious expression on his face: "You f*cking lied to me?!"
This is basically Xiao Zhang’s coal shop!
"Wang...Wang...Brother..." Bao Fu leaned against the wall and spoke with difficulty.
However, the king had no time to care about him because the ghoul's corpse on the ground did not turn into water and disappear.
Its body swelled up rapidly, as if countless huge blood bubbles were rolling inside it. With a puff, fang-like bone spurs grew in the middle of its head, which was split in two, like a carnivorous plant growing on its neck.
The two halves of the head, like bloody mouths, opened and closed vigorously, throwing out streams of unknown mucus, biting towards the king's legs.
The parasite died, and the ghoul transformed wildly, following its instincts and trying to devour the most delicious soul present.
The player's soul.
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