Chapter 87 Blackrock City His fleeting moment of clarity caused him to slump back onto the sofa…
Just before the auction was to begin at 8 p.m., a message spread like wildfire through the Bat Hotel. By the time it reached Jiang Yang, she had just changed her clothes and come out.
The beige organza shirt shimmered, and the young man rolled up his sleeves halfway and turned to close the door. The light shone on his back, revealing his slender figure. When he turned around, the front of his shirt, where the buttons were originally fastened, was now connected by several thin metal chains. As he walked, a trail of soft, pale flesh running from his neck to his lower abdomen was faintly visible.
Mr. V, who was waiting at the door, clicked his tongue and said, "Indeed, it suits you quite well."
The direct scrutiny fell on Jiang Yang, who knew that Mr. V was checking his wounds. Fortunately, the injury was caused by someone, and after using the medicine brought by Nan Ke, only a scabbed scar remained. He had intentionally covered it up when he changed his clothes, so it was not obvious at the moment.
Mr. V turned around, and Jiang Yang followed behind him. Just then, Nan Ke sent a message in the group chat, the first one being a string of "hahahahahaha".
Ji Yang asked a question mark, and Nan Ke continued, "Breaking news! Breaking news! Hahaha, everyone outside is saying that the Hanged Man wears a mask because he's ugly, hahaha, and that Xiong Bingxin is almost fifty and getting old, hahaha."
The pieced-together contents nearly made Jiang Yang stumble and fall. The commotion attracted Mr. V, who was walking ahead. Mr. V turned around and asked gently, "What's wrong?"
Jiang Yang shook his head. The wind from Blackrock City that rushed into the corridor was cold, and he couldn't help but shiver. Mr. V thought he was nervous and said reassuringly, "Don't worry, no one else can compare to you. You are the most dazzling presence tonight," with a hint of teasing in his tone.
Looking to the side, Jiang Yang saw Mr. V with a smile on his lips and his eyelids lowered. He had composed himself, as there were some things he was still unsure about.
The auction takes place on floors 3-5 underground. The third floor has circular private rooms, the fourth floor is the auction hall, and the fifth floor is a temporary place to house the blood servants to be auctioned. Unlike the lively atmosphere on the third and fourth floors, the fifth floor is dark and quiet. Three iron cages covered with black cloth are placed in the center to form a triangle. Only one side of each iron cage, where people can enter and exit, emits light.
When Jiang Yang was taken to the fifth floor by Mr. V, Mr. E was waiting at the elevator. Mr. E gritted his teeth and asked in an unfriendly tone, "Did you spread the news?"
These words directly confirmed Jiang Yang's conjecture. V/E must have been the first to know about the rumors, but Mr. V was in a good mood. This emotion was either due to something he relied on or it had nothing to do with him. Mr. E's reaction at this moment just proved that the consequences of this matter could not affect Mr. V.
However, what intrigued Jiang Yang was the relationship between Mr. V and No Man's Land.
Kirby tasked him with finding the traitor hiding in the Bat Hotel. After a day of searching, he only suspected one person—or rather, a vampire, the one he met on the tenth floor.
Vampires are certainly not traitors to humanity; Jiang Yang suspects that "he" is that bat.
It is known that vampires can transform between human and bat forms. Therefore, Jiang Yang suspects that the bats he has been searching for may have turned into vampires. If so, Mr. V, who knows about the existence of vampires, is very likely a traitor colluding with the Borderlands. Mr. V's attitude towards rumors and the Chariots indicates that he has taken the lead in the game with the Borderlands.
So... what was the deal between them?
Jiang Yang put his hand into his pants pocket, where there was a small bag of black blood plasma. He needed to find a chance to contact Kirby.
Seemingly noticing Jiang Yang's presence, Mr. E stopped dwelling on the matter, raised his hand in front of him, bowed politely to Mr. V, and then stood up and instructed, "Leave this to me, you can go upstairs."
Jiang Yang glanced at Mr. V again, and at the other man's signal, followed Mr. E inside.
On the fifth floor, the Blood Servants stood in front of the iron cage. A servant called out their names, and those whose names were called entered the cage one by one. Sand Dune entered the first cage, along with the only two non-player Blood Servants. After entering, the cage was locked, and a black cloth was lowered to completely cover the inside.
Then, a rumbling sound came from under the cage, and Jiang Yang realized that there was a rotating lifting platform underneath. The platform rotated clockwise and brought over a second cage. Zhang Qing and Nan Ke stepped forward, and when Meng Jiang's name was called, Jiang Yang looked and saw that the person who stepped forward was actually Xiong Bingxin!
Noticing Jiang Yang's gaze, Xiong Bingxin turned around and bared her teeth in a silent threat, then swaggered inside, bearing Meng Jiang's name and the servant's suspicious look.
Forget the Hanged Man's confession and the Tower's agent, to hell with them all! After she arrived at -5 and was ridiculed by Nan Ke for exaggerating the rumors circulating in the hotel, she was determined to teach Nan Ke a lesson!
Jiang Yang was the second to enter the last cage. The small space, less than four square meters, contained a sofa and a tea table. His line of sight was limited, so he didn't see Meng Jiang, who had entered earlier. Fortunately, this didn't affect the messages on the panel, and soon they received new tasks.
[Main Quest: This is a team quest. The quest accounts for 30% of the Blackrock City Trial. The team with the highest total bid amount is considered to have completed the quest.]
In terms of numbers, Mou Guang only has Jiang Yang and Nan Ke, while the chariots have six. Winning... will be very difficult.
etc?
Are there only six?
No! One is missing!
Skinny monkey!
Jiang Yang was unsure of the situation, so he shared what he knew in the group chat. The small, cramped space made no noise, and soon he felt a strange sense of irritation.
Suppressed...restrained...he poured himself a glass of water and gulped it down. A fleeting moment of clarity left him slumped back onto the sofa, passively tilting his head back to breathe, like a dying fish...
His consciousness gradually faded, and in his blurry state, he seemed to hear someone patting his face. He forced his eyes open, his gaze gradually focusing on the person's face, then moving down to the person's hand holding the knife. He smiled, the flush on his face swaying with it.
He shifted his body slightly, changing his position, but sank deeper into the sofa. He gripped the hilt of the knife, his eyes glazed, and asked, "Meng Jiang, are you here to kill me?"
The broadcast pierced through the cage, and the sounds of the auction echoed from the fifth floor. Mr. E, who was in charge of the event, shouted loudly into the microphone: "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Bat Hotel for the last auction of the year. This auction will be conducted in a three-servant-per-cage, one-cage-per-auction format, with a total of three cages. Now, we will begin the auction of the first cage."
"One cage, one auction" means that after the auction hammer falls, the three highest bidders select the blood servants in the cage in descending order of bid. This auction format is very common at the Bat Hotel, which is why Xie Lu sought cooperation with Leto in advance. The existence of Leco also gave them an additional auction qualification.
The cage on the auction stage slowly rose. Leto glanced at Ji Yang, who was dutifully acting as a bodyguard, and then at the waiter from the Bat Hotel in the private room. He put on airs and ordered, "Go and check the quality of this batch."
Ji Yang walked to the window, and the black cloth fell down to reveal the entire cage. In the first cage, Sand Dune sat on a high chair in the middle, facing all the vampires in the hall. Although he didn't look as trembling as the other two, he was still sitting there in agony.
Ji Yang turned around, bowed respectfully, and replied, "Lord, the quality is so-so."
It means that if the person is not the target, we will not film them.
Leto sat back down in his chair, looking bored, and muttered to himself, "They're already so mediocre, why don't they try to add more to their stakes? I remember once there were three servants in one cage, and by the time they got on stage, only one was left."
The waiter flattered him, "Your Highness has a good memory."
Besides the bundled sale, the biggest attraction of the "Three Servants in One Cage" is that no one knows what will happen inside the cage after the blood servant enters and before the black cloth is lifted.
When that time comes, countless vampires will be drawn to the blood of the victors, driven mad by it, and willing to spend lavishly on it.
However, this means that the space inside the cage that Jiang Yang mentioned in his message is not absolutely safe. Ji Yang's face, which was covered by a screen, was solemn. He didn't know how Jiang Yang was doing.
On the sofa, Jiang Yang's consciousness slowly returned. Meng Jiang hesitated. Originally, in the Hanged Man's plan, it was Xiong Bingxin who was supposed to attack Jiang Yang, but after he and Xiong Bingxin switched places, the task naturally fell to him.
But when it came to actually doing it, he unexpectedly felt a resistance in his heart, making it difficult for him to bring himself to do it.
The young man's palm hovered for a moment over Meng Jiang's knife-wielding hand. The cool touch sent a shiver down Meng Jiang's spine. Then the young man slid his hand over the blade and gripped it. His fingers tightened, and the blade cut through the flesh, causing blood to flow from between his fingers. Meng Jiang instinctively tried to pull away, but the next second he saw the young man raise his upper body and slam heavily into the tip of the blade.
The chain and metal knife in front of the young man collided and tangled. Meng Jiang stared at the blood splattered on the back of his hand and was momentarily stunned. His hand, which was gripping the knife handle, unconsciously loosened. He took two steps back, took a deep breath to calm himself, and said seriously, "Sorry, we each serve our own masters."
Jiang Yang leaned back on the sofa and winked playfully. "It's okay, I forgive you."
[Whether it can replace]
【yes】
A sharp explosion rang out from the observation room. In the video, Meng Jiang's face was filled with disbelief, followed by Jiang Yang with his eyes closed, and then Jiang Yang who replaced Meng Jiang.
It turned out that when Jiang Yang discovered Meng Jiang's intentions, he secretly held a white rose in his hand. The petals touched the back of Meng Jiang's hand, leaving a faint mist. Before Meng Jiang could think, he was interrupted by Jiang Yang's bold actions.
Jiang Yang always knows how to manipulate people's hearts.
Bending down to pull the dagger from the wound, Jiang Yang saw his injured self with his heart stopped beating and the wound congealed. He thought it would be even more realistic if there was a death notification like other players' deaths.
After making a quick adjustment, he was now going to use Meng Jiang's identity to go next door to find the Hanged Man.
...
Compared to the psychological struggle between Jiang Yang and Meng Jiang, Nan Ke and Xiong Bingxin were much more straightforward. In the space that was neither too big nor too small, the black mist was dispersed by the noise they made. The agile white lines of Xingxing and the powerful little pony of the chariot fought back and forth, occasionally throwing out two more offensive props, which in turn affected Zhang Qing, who had been told by Xiong Bingxin not to help.
The first few bidders were mostly casual customers in the main hall. There were very few bidders on the third floor. The background noise over the loudspeaker was noisy, but Mr. E was enthusiastically encouraging the bidders to raise their bids again and again. In the middle of the bidding, Nan Ke even heard Xie Lu's voice. Distracted, he was hit in the chest by a horse's hoof and almost vomited blood.
The auction price reached a high of 5700 black stones. Mr. E started the countdown. The auction hammer fell twice, and just as it was about to seal the deal, Nan Ke suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Ten thousand black stones" refers to Kirby.
The price had nearly doubled, and Mr. E became visibly excited. "Ten thousand black stones per time!"
"Ten thousand black stones twice!"
"Ten thousand black stones three times! Sold!"
Nan Ke suddenly became curious about who Kirby would choose, but unfortunately, the broadcast abruptly stopped ten minutes after Mr. E announced that the second cage would be auctioned.
"Hey, can you concentrate on fighting?" Xiong Bingxin stood on horseback with her arms crossed in front of her, looking at Nan Ke with obvious displeasure on her face.
Nan Ke fiddled with the star line, then retracted it. He waved his hand and said conciliatoryly, "Can we stop fighting? I admit defeat." He and Xiong Bingxin had reached a point where they could no longer easily kill each other. Their talents had been depleted, so there was no need to continue fighting head-on.
Moreover, he saw the message from Ji Yang. He was fine on his end, but he didn't know how Jiang Yang was doing.
"Meng Jiang" walked through the black mist separating them and toward the upside-down man on the other side. The upside-down man was sitting in a chair with his head down, seemingly lost in thought. He slowed his pace and moved behind the upside-down man before speaking, "It's all taken care of. He lost too much blood and shouldn't last more than three minutes."
The Hanged Man grunted in response but made no other move. "Meng Jiang" continued, "Aren't you going to go and take a look?" To achieve his desired result, he even added, "Jiang Yang knows it was you who arranged this. He wants to see you one last time before he dies."
“Me?” The Hanged Man spoke slowly and deliberately, then rose with a cold laugh. “Then let’s go meet him.”
The Hanged Man walked towards the black mist, saw Jiang Yang lying on the ground, and asked incredulously, "Is he really dying?"
"Meng Jiang" followed silently behind the man, fiddling with the dagger in his hand for a couple of moments before plunging it heavily into the heart of the upside-down man's back. The upside-down man's expression froze as he struggled to turn around, but "Meng Jiang" pressed him down on his shoulder and twisted the dagger around expressionlessly.
The system announced: "[Player Skinny Monkey has died]".
Jiang Yang naturally didn't think that the Hanged Man could be killed so easily. When he noticed that Skinny Monkey was missing from the chariot team, Jiang Yang became suspicious of Skinny Monkey's whereabouts.
He had no recollection of the gloomy man, but he remembered the dead cheetah in the giant bear's memories.
After arguing with the skinny monkey, he died mysteriously, framed by the skinny monkey.
Jiang Yang dislikes people who scheme against their teammates more than those who are schemed against by their opponents.
Jiang Yang moved the skinny monkey's body back, then placed Meng Jiang in his original position, and finally pressed the end replacement button.
Jiang Yang, still shaken from his first murder, pitifully sent a message in the group chat.
[Panel Group Chat: Mouguang]
Jiang Yang (('' )): @Nan Ke Lao Da, I've gotten myself into trouble!
Ji Yang (()): @Jiang Yang, what's wrong?
Nan Ke (ヽ(#`Д)ノ): @Jiang Yang, what's wrong? I've got your back!
Jiang Yang (): Murder! I'm scared!
Nan Ke (_): You've made something of yourself! Well done!
...
Jiang Yang was amused, which eased her tense nerves considerably. After calming down, the pain in the wounds on her palms and abdomen became particularly clear. Jiang Yang endured the pain, took out gauze, wrapped it around her hands, bit off a corner of the gauze, and tied a tight knot. She also wrapped the wound on her abdomen with gauze. The bloodstains remaining on her clothes and in front of her body did not affect the appearance; on the contrary, they aroused a desire to destroy them.
I want to leave a wound on him!
I want his blood to bloom for me!
I want to see his submission in his vigorous vitality!
The radio blared, and Jiang Yang covered his ears, adjusting himself to a more comfortable position on the sofa. His gaze fell on the blood of the skinny monkey on the floor, and a bewildered sigh escaped his throat. The skinny monkey was dead; the Hanged Man must be arriving soon.
Mr. V took the stage and announced, "The second batch of auctions begins."
The elevator platform rotated, and the door where Nan Ke was located slowly rose. The black cloth fell down, and the noisy commotion in the hall suddenly rushed into his ears, making him irritable. Soon, under Mr. V's guidance, many people shouted out their prices.
Several dukes on the third floor also raised the price, but Kirby, who should have been the first to bid, remained silent. Ji Yang was puzzled, as was Xie Lu. Finally, Leco rolled his eyes and explained to Xie Lu, "Your little prince went to Leto after you left and told us that we only need to bid on Nan Ke and Jiang Yang," which contradicted their original strategy of bidding on most of the items.
Xie Lu knew that his agreement with Leto was just a private matter. If Kirby really used his status as a prince to suppress Leto, Leto would not be able to resist at all. However, he couldn't understand Kirby's intentions.
"1w7 Blackstone," Xie Lu held up the sign.
The familiar voice soothed Nan Ke's restless heart. He thought he could probably forgive Xie Lu. His tongue traced his lips, and he inexplicably felt thirsty, even craving more.
The thought of raising the price was dismissed, and the bidding in the hall stopped. Only a few voices could be heard from the second floor, including a woman. They were playing a game of bidding, and the highest price once soared to 27,000.
Nan Ke pouted. DisKi only gave them less than two thousand when they were captured, but the money increased more than ten times after they were handed over.
Black slaves! Definitely black slaves!
The highest price was 39,000, as Xie Lu had called, followed by 37,000 and 31,000. Finally, Mr. V brought down the gavel, and the broadcast was turned off again. After recovering, Meng Jiang walked towards Jiang Yang. Jiang Yang, as if he had expected this, calmly lifted his eyelids and asked first, "What? You want to kill me again?"
"You killed the skinny monkey?" Meng Jiang asked.
Although Meng Jiang didn't know how Jiang Yang had done it, he understood that the young man in front of him was definitely involved.
He wasn't worried that the Hanged Man would harm him; he was more here to persuade Jiang Yang, "Quit. The Hanged Man is almost here, and he... won't let you go."
Jiang Yang tilted her head back and asked dismissively, "If I withdraw, will he let me go?"
The answer is obvious, so Jiang Yang never believed such nonsense. If it were him, he would take advantage of the other party's begging for mercy to strangle their neck.
A fierce glint appeared in the young man's eyes, his chest heaving with suppressed emotions. He reached for a cup beside him, his fingers dangling aimlessly in the air. Suddenly, the cup fell to the ground, the cold liquid splashing onto him, bringing him a moment of clarity.
Something's... not quite right...
Jiang Yang pressed his fingertips against the wound on his palm, the pain making him even calmer.
He initially thought that his recent loss of consciousness was due to falling into an ambush set up by the chariot, but upon further reflection, if Meng Jiang really wanted to kill him, he wouldn't need to go to such lengths. All these interferences seemed more like an attempt to provoke and influence him, and then... to achieve some kind of conflict with the chariot, or perhaps with the Hanged Man.
But why...?
Even if he and the Hanged Man were to fight each other, he simply couldn't kill the Hanged Man.
What's the point of forcing him to take action against the Hanged Man?
No, he killed the skinny monkey; that's a signal.
-----------------------
Author's Note: I say 10,000 words a day, and you say it!
10,000! Here we come!
Hehe~ Because I went out to play, I'm rushing to finish it on the 1st! I promise it will be finished on the 1st! It's too long, so I'll post it in two chapters, hehe~
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