chapter 14

Lu Li stood in place, watching the Players flail like fish out of water, each one screaming at the top of their lungs.

He simply sorted the Mutilated Corpses in the pile.

There were separate hands, bodies, legs, and heads.

And some mixed combinations of twos and threes.

At a glance, there was hardly a complete one among them.

The skin of these Mutilated Corpses was all a dehydrated white, as if they hadn’t seen sunlight for ages, but once awakened, each one moved with surprising agility.

In the corner by the door, the half Arm that had just helped him deliver the Note was still cowering.

No, it could no longer be called half an Arm.

It had been burned to a lump of charred flesh, with only the faint outline of five fingers still recognizable; everything above that had been incinerated.

Lu Li shook his head with a hint of regret.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Qi Mingda making a sudden move.

His gaze shifted slowly, and he saw Qi Mingda raising a gun, the dark muzzle aimed right at him.

Qi Mingda squinted with excitement, thoroughly enjoying himself as he pulled the trigger.

Lu Li saw his yellow-toothed mouth move twice, mouthing to him:

Go to hell.

Suddenly, a leg shot up from beneath Qi Mingda’s feet, kicking him hard in the rear and making him stagger, causing the gun to veer off slightly.

“Damn it!” Qi Mingda cursed, gripping the gun with both hands to steady it.

Bang-

The Bullet passed through Lu Li’s body, veering off to tear through his right Arm.

Seeing the gaping hole in Lu Li’s Arm, Qi Mingda grinned with satisfaction.

As long as it hit!

This Bullet carried the “ability” he had exchanged with the Evil Spirit during Game Night in the Necromancer Game.

It didn’t matter if it was a direct hit-even a graze would do.

No ordinary person could survive it.

It was only after the gunshot that Luo Jia Bai noticed Lu Li’s situation. He clenched his bandaged fingers, and when he saw the Bullet, shrouded in a strange purple glow, fall into the frenzied pile of Mutilated Corpses, every Corpse it touched seemed to melt away as if corroded.

“Purple…” Luo Jia Bai was shocked. He had some knowledge of Qi Mingda before this Instance. “Qi Mingda is truly insane. He used the ability he exchanged with the Evil Spirit on you!”

“The Bullets he exchanged for are very special-they’re like a continuous Debuff, draining your health and status. You’ll have to keep taking Medicine just to barely keep up, but you’ll never fully recover. Players with few Points might even die from illness after spending all their Points on Medicine. How do you feel now?”

Lu Li lowered his lashes, casting a small, fragile shadow across his cheek.

“I feel a bit cold.”

Luo Jia Bai’s expression turned cold as well. “Not good. That must be the Debuff taking effect.”

The Live Stream Room was in chaos, partly because of Lu Li’s injury, and partly because the Audience had noticed something even more terrifying:

[This is the first time I’ve seen so many Players die in a D Grade Instance. Necromancer Game has only been open for fifteen years, and each Instance has opened less than a thousand times. I really want to know what the Streamer’s clear rate is for this Instance.]

[I finally remembered! This Instance is a Bug Instance in Necromancer Game! The Developer said that during the Public Beta Period, several Bug Instances appeared in different grades. No matter who entered, all Players would die, and even several promising Heavenly Ranking Players were lost. This Instance was flagged as a Bug and sealed by the Developer! It shouldn’t have been reopened!]

[I was an Audience member during the Public Beta Period, let me say a few words. The previous comment is correct.]

[A Bug Instance where no one survives? Fellow Ghosts, I’m so excited! If the Streamer dies, I’ll finally be able to buy his eyes that are as beautiful as Crystal Balls!]

[Qi Mingda is really trash! He actually fired a black gun! Isn’t he shameless! The hole in the Streamer’s Arm is huge, let me blow on it.]

Lu Li raised his Arm, staring at the wound.

A few drops of gray blood trickled down, staining the Initial Outfit given to him by the Necromancer Game.
The flesh and blood around the hole quickly intertwined.

For the first time, Lu Li watched his body recover at such close range.

Lu Li calmly thought: According to the test report from the last time the Researcher tore him apart, such a small hole should be repaired in two minutes.

Luo Jia Bai stood to the side, thinking that the shot had given Lu Li a Debuff to his brain, which was why he didn’t realize how serious the wound was.

He watched worriedly for a while, then his eyes widened, and he stammered,

“Y-you-you’re healed? That was such a big hole just now!”

Lu Li shook his wrist. “My clothes are torn, there’s wind in the room, it’s really quite cold.”

Luo Jia Bai gestured in shock. “That was a fatal wound! And it just… just disappeared?”

Lu Li echoed, “Yeah, it’s so scary. How did it heal by itself?”

Luo Jia Bai grew more flustered. “You’re asking me? It’s your arm!”

“I don’t know either. Maybe it’s an ability the Evil God traded to me.” Lu Li looked innocent, his soft gray hair falling gently, making him seem naïve and harmless.

“I’m just a newbie Player.”

Lu Li stroked the snake head on his Wristband, pressing it affectionately to his cheek. “After all, he’s a very powerful Evil God.”

–

In the splendid Palace, the Underworld King was flipping through reports when he suddenly stood up and sneezed.

A Evil God kneeling below, presenting the development map for the new housing project in the northeast corner of the Underworld, opened his mouth wide and looked up with concern. “My King, have you caught a cold?”

Bosi’s expression was so cold it could freeze ten miles. “The dead do not get sick.”

The Evil God had a sudden idea.

“I know a fun fact: sneezing means someone is thinking of you.”

Bosi marked the report as “Rejected,” and said word by word, “If you bring up any more fun facts, I’ll gouge out your eyes.”

–

“It’s true, you’re bound to an Evil God.” Luo Jia Bai could only accept this answer, not realizing he was being played, still marveling, “That’s way too strong.”

He lost his balance, slipping half a meter as his foot landed on a bald head. Every Mutilated Corpse he touched began to shake and “come alive,” attacking Luo Jia Bai.

Luo Jia Bai quickly exchanged for Items to help him escape, urging Lu Li, “You should go too! If you don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!”

Lu Li cleared his throat. “I’ll say a couple of things and then go.”

He looked at Qi Mingda, who was fleeing in panic under the attack of the Mutilated Corpses, and fully displayed his now-healed arm. Under Qi Mingda’s shocked gaze, he smiled and pointed to the center of his chest.

“Next time you shoot, aim here. Find the Heart.”

Luo Jia Bai wasn’t very fit; after blocking a few attacks from the Mutilated Corpses, he was exhausted. But he couldn’t stand Lu Li’s lack of common sense, panting heavily, “Huff… You… Most people’s Heart is on the left, only a few have it on the right! The Heart isn’t in the center!”

Lu Li responded with an “Oh,” muttering, “So the Heart is on the left?”

He pointed to the left side of his chest for Qi Mingda to see, repeating,

“Next time, shoot here. Find the Heart.”

Qi Mingda was so furious he coughed up blood on the spot.

The blood-splattered Mutilated Corpses greedily absorbed it, and for a moment, all the Mutilated Corpses in the space became excited, moving faster than before. One strong half-arm suddenly leaped up, grabbing a Player who was just about to reach the door and forcefully throwing him into the pile of Mutilated Corpses.

“Ah-! No! Let me go!”

Luo Jia Bai was so startled by the scene that he quickly moved another five or six meters away. He looked back and saw Lu Li still standing there, watching.

While watching, Lu Li muttered to himself.

Lu Li said, “Two seconds, five seconds, ten seconds…”

“Hurry up and exchange for Items! You haven’t exchanged for anything except the cheapest stick, are you planning to save all those Points for New Year’s?” Luo Jia Bai was on the verge of collapse. “What are you counting now?”