Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Ah Bu took the contract and began reading it. The further she read, the stranger her expression became.

Many viewers in the Livestream Room immediately grew anxious.

“Streamer, I’ll send you a tip. Let me see the contract.”

Some viewers tossed her tips without another word.

“Tell me what’s written in the contract!”

What did the contract say?

It was actually quite simple. If Yu Lingling could solve the problem with that tent and successfully take Ah Bu out of the instance, Ah Bu would have to work for her for ten years.

Ten years wasn’t a short time, but for a supernatural entity, it wasn’t particularly long either.

More importantly, Ah Bu didn’t believe Yu Lingling could take her out of the instance. She was the core of this instance. Without her, the entire instance would disappear.

Ah Bu saw no harm in signing it. “If you can’t do it, I’ll eat you.”

“Sure,” Yu Lingling replied.

Ah Bu carefully read through the contract again. After confirming there was nothing in it that put her at a disadvantage, she signed it with Yu Lingling.

The contract wasn’t written on ordinary paper. The paper had come with Yu Lingling’s Exclusive Skill, and the contract was binding upon Yu Lingling, the Main God of the Horror Game, and supernatural entities alike.

A name was merely a medium. The true restraint was placed upon the soul itself.

Ah Bu sensed an indescribable connection and restriction form between her and Yu Lingling. It was an exceptionally strange feeling.

But what shocked Ah Bu most was that her contract with Yu Lingling took precedence over the Main God’s hold on her.

That was right – Yu Lingling.

The moment Ah Bu signed the contract, she learned Yu Lingling’s real name. Beyond that, however, she knew nothing. She didn’t even know what Yu Lingling meant by having her work for her.

They would only learn more about the arrangement after the contract officially came into effect.

Ah Bu didn’t care. At the end of the day, whenever outsiders sought out beings like them, it was always to use them as tools or weapons. “Working” was just a nice way to put it. She would be little more than hired muscle.

There were three copies of the contract. Yu Lingling and Ah Bu each received one, while the third vanished as soon as they signed.

Both Yu Lingling and Ah Bu knew that copy had gone to the Main God.

Ah Bu’s eyes narrowed into the vertical pupils unique to snakes. Flicking her forked tongue, she fixed her gaze on the artery in Yu Lingling’s neck. “Then I’ll look forward to your performance.”

Yu Lingling’s tone was cheerful. “Sure.”

Her tone was perfectly pleasant, yet for some reason, hearing it made a nameless fury burn inside Ah Bu. She snorted, turned around, and left.

Although Tongyu couldn’t see, he could still detect the change in Ah Bu’s tone. “She’s furious.”

Holding Tongyu’s hand, Yu Lingling said softly, “If I didn’t make her leave, how were we supposed to search for what we need?”

Only then did Tongyu realize she had provoked Ah Bu on purpose. He didn’t ask about the contract. Instead, he stayed beside Yu Lingling as they carefully inspected every tent in the Circus.

At first glance, the tents differed only in size, age, and condition. Yet those differences between the newer and older tents made Yu Lingling even more certain of her theory.

From the colors of the ground and the tents’ edges, Yu Lingling identified the main targets of the unknown dangers that emerged at night.

At noon, the dwarf came over to tell Yu Lingling and the others to collect their meals.

By the time they arrived, the animal trainers were already in line. The food here was fairly plentiful, with both meat and vegetables, while steamed buns served as the staple.

To people who were starving and had been on edge for so long, the aroma was unbearably tempting. They couldn’t help swallowing.

Wang Hao’s group was ahead of them in line. They were all cautious and only took vegetables and steamed buns, refusing the meat.

Zhao Peng naturally took his place beside Yu Lingling and Tongyu. “They have less lamp oil than we do.”

That was exactly what Yu Lingling’s group had expected. There was one more person in Wang Hao’s tent than in theirs, so naturally, they had used more lamp oil.
Yu Lingling didn’t take any meat. She didn’t even take any vegetables, receiving only a single steamed bun. Tongyu did the same.

Zhao Peng glanced at them and made the same choice as Yu Lingling.

Wang Hao’s expression shifted when he saw this. He lowered his voice and warned, “Don’t eat the vegetables.”

Liu Qian swallowed. In this instance, their thirst and hunger were even more intense than usual. Staring at the steaming dishes, she said, “That seems like such a waste.”

“Just feed them to the animals,” Zhou Ming said dismissively. “Why is a D-rank like Zhao Peng hanging around with two F-ranks?”

Wang Hao knew Zhao Peng’s identity, but he hadn’t told Zhou Ming or Liu Qian.

Sun Yao knew as well, yet no one could tell what she was thinking. She hadn’t shared the information with Wang Hao’s group either.

Xu Chao and Sun Jian were even less likely to say anything.

When Wu Bin saw that Xu Chao was still alive, he found it regrettable, but he didn’t suspect Zhao Peng. After all, they had agreed to make their move tomorrow night.

Tonight, they all wanted to see what punishment awaited the siblings.

Ah Bu swept an amused gaze over the crowd. “I hope that after you’ve eaten your fill, you’ll put on a wonderful show for the audience tonight.”

At this point, Ah Bu stopped keeping them in suspense. She pointed at the Black Tent and the Red Tent before finally settling her finger on the Red Tent. “The person who receives the fewest flowers from the audience will be locked inside this tent.”

Even the Abyss Guild had failed to uncover any useful information about what lay inside the Black Tent or the Red Tent. All they knew was that players who had received the fewest flowers in the past had been locked inside the Black Tent, and only half of them had made it out alive.

Yet even the survivors were attacked by every animal during that night’s performance and torn apart and devoured.

And that was only the Black Tent. No one knew what was inside the Red Tent.

The Abyss Guild player who had nearly cleared the instance as an Official Employee had died after entering the Black Tent.

Zhou Ming glanced at the siblings. “There are two of them, so locking them both inside together would be a waste. Besides, the special item we need is most likely inside the Black Tent. If that girl called Chacha gets it, she probably won’t hand it over to us. We should keep her brother in our hands.”

He wasn’t being kind. He simply wanted an extra layer of insurance.

Liu Qian frowned. She tore off a piece of her steamed bun and fed it to her pigeon first. She had brought food in her System Inventory, so although she was hungry, she could still endure it. “That little girl may be clever, but she’s only an F-rank. Aren’t you overestimating her?”

Zhou Ming treated Liu Qian fairly well, and it wasn’t solely because of her beauty. More importantly, Liu Qian had a healing ability. As a combat-type player, the person he needed most was a healer.

“It’s just a precaution. Even if she dies inside, we might still find some clues on her corpse – or whatever pieces are left of it.”

Wang Hao nodded.

Sun Yao, Wu Bin, and Li Na all overheard the discussion among Wang Hao and the other two.

Li Na glanced at Yu Lingling and Tongyu, then took out the elephant meat Wang Hao had given her and fed it to the black bear.

The black bear had an enormous appetite. If hunger drove it into a frenzy, she would undoubtedly become its next meal.

Last night, she had fed the black bear Chen Xue’s corpse, while Wang Hao’s and Zhou Ming’s animals had eaten elephant meat. Even Liu Qian’s pigeon had been fed elephant meat.

But she only had the elephant meat Wang Hao’s group had given her. If it wasn’t enough to fill the black bear’s stomach, where was she supposed to find more food for it?

Li Na sensed Sun Jian staring at her, but she calmly met his gaze. It was every man for himself. If Sun Jian had gotten the opportunity, she would have been the one cast aside.

Even while sitting on the ground, the black bear towered over Li Na. To her surprise, however, it took the elephant meat, sniffed it, and tossed it onto the ground.