chapter 31

Lu Li crouched down, searching through the sand. “Looking for the dog.”

Nuo Nuo’s dog, Buck.

Of the four facilities in the Park, only Buck didn’t belong here. In her Diary, Nuo Nuo wrote that she and the Clown buried Buck’s Corpse in the Park’s Sand Pit.

Jumping down was the right choice.

“The dog…” Luo Jia Bai wasn’t stupid. Lu Li only gave him two words, and he understood immediately. “We need to find Buck’s buried Corpse?”

Lu Li nodded.

“So this is the Park’s Sand Pit!?” Luo Jia Bai’s thoughts suddenly became much clearer. He looked at Lu Li with admiration and respect. “I knew I wasn’t wrong to trust you.”

His choice to trust Lu Li was, in fact, a bit of a gamble.

After all, Lu Li had the power of resurrection, while he was just an ordinary person.

If he bet wrong, and what lay below was really a pile of Mutilated Corpses, then even if he exchanged for ten Life-Saving Items, he wouldn’t survive.

[Unbelievable!! So we’re looking for the dog! I’m a Player from after the public beta, and this is my first time seeing a Live Stream Room for this Instance. With all these twists, the Instance rating is definitely more than D Grade. Once the Streamer clears it, it’s sure to be upgraded! I’ve never seen this kind of plot even in B Grade Instances!]

[Reward: Spirit Money*5000. The Streamer’s logic and way of thinking are totally different from other Players. Other Live Stream Rooms are so frustrating, but here it’s just exhilarating.]

[Reward: Spirit Money*10000. I’m a sapiosexual, and the Streamer’s looks only rank second for me. Just for the Streamer’s meticulous thinking and reasoning, I’ve decided to marry him.]

[Humans and ghosts walk different paths. Stop dreaming, the Streamer hasn’t even reached the level to unlock Bullet Comments yet, he can’t see your confession.]

Lu Li’s Wristband kept glowing from the massive rewards, but he was fully focused on searching through the sand.

Soon, his hand touched something cold and heavy.

He brushed away the sand and pulled out a black plastic bag, its opening tightly bound with several loops of Hemp Rope.

It looked like the thick, light-blocking plastic bags used at seafood shops to prevent leaks and keep things insulated.

The bag was bulging, with the front end flattened. Just by feeling the shape, it seemed to contain a bicycle seat.

Lu Li’s hand paused at the bulging front.

Through the plastic, the thing inside moved slightly.

He untied the Hemp Rope and opened the bag.

Light shone in.

In the center of the plastic bag lay the severed head of a Black Dog, cleanly cut at the neck.

The cut at the neck was smooth and neat, blood splattered onto its face and fur, showing just how cruel the method had been.

Lu Li stared for a few seconds, recalling Buck’s photo in the Family Portrait.

This was Buck’s head.

Sensing the light, the Black Dog’s head rotated ever so slightly, its eyelids trembling open.

It was as if a Pandora’s box had been opened. The cramped space was filled with hatred, rage, and fury. Blood slowly oozed from its features, and wherever the blood flowed, slimy, slippery Tentacles sprouted.

The tips of the Tentacles opened, revealing sharp teeth emerging from the center outward. The Tentacles crawled rapidly toward Lu Li, drooling hungrily between their fangs.

Lu Li grabbed the Hemp Rope again.

It seemed he’d made the wrong choice.

He shouldn’t have opened this bag.

His expression remained calm as he picked up the bag and shook it, stuffing the frantically emerging Tentacles back inside.

The dog’s head kept gushing blood, and more and more Tentacles appeared. Lu Li’s scent was a delicacy to them. The sharp teeth at the ends of the Tentacles pierced his skin, greedily licking his blood.

The gray blood flowing from Lu Li’s wounds sizzled when it touched the Tentacles, corroding holes wherever they met.
The tentacles froze, shrinking back in fear.

Lu Li gently ran his hand along its teeth, feeling several rows of sharp fangs trembling with fright.

He brought the blood close and asked, “Why aren’t you eating? Does it taste bad?”

With his injured hand, he reached directly inside. Blood dripped into the bag, and the tentacles recoiled in silent terror, drawing back even more frantically.

Taking advantage of this moment, he easily twisted the bag’s opening shut and tied it up again with hemp rope.

He tied dozens of tight knots to make sure nothing inside could escape, then hurled the bag forcefully to the farthest corner of the sand pit.

“Did you find it?” Luo Jia Bai heard Lu Li making a racket and hurried over in delight. He craned his neck for a while, but before he could see what was inside, the bag had already been thrown away. He was left confused. “What was in there?”

Lu Li’s tone was casual. “Trash.”

[Whoa, I’ve never seen anyone handle things like this. Eye-opening.]

[Didn’t he just touch the Black Dog? He clearly touched it-so why isn’t he dead?!]

[Mutilated corpses online! Mutilated corpses forced offline!]

[New here-can someone tell me why the Streamer’s blood is gray? Is he really a newcomer? His nerves are insanely strong!]

[I have a feeling, the Heavenly Ranking that hasn’t changed for three years is about to get a new member.]

Lu Li shook out his hand. The wound on his skin had already healed quickly. Calmly, he instructed Luo Jia Bai, “If you find another black plastic bag, don’t open it. Throw it as far as you can.”

“You mean this one?” Luo Jia Bai lifted a bag with his left hand. Unlike Lu Li’s, his was flatter and longer.

“I was about to bring it over for you to see,” Luo Jia Bai said, confused. “Looks like there’s a tail inside. When I touched it, it was still moving.”

Lu Li glanced at him.

Alarm bells rang in Luo Jia Bai’s head. He lifted the bag high above his head with one hand and declared loudly, “I get it, it’s just trash in here. I trust you.”

He flung the black plastic bag several meters away, puffing out his chest. “How’s that, far enough?”

“Keep looking.”

Lu Li dug through the sand again and found a new plastic bag. This time, it looked like it held four legs lined up together.

Luo Jia Bai had results too. He held up his bag and gave it a pat, which produced a crisp sound. “It’s round and plump-maybe a cabbage.”

Lu Li shattered his illusion. “It’s not a cabbage. It’s a body without a head, limbs, or tail. All these black bags contain pieces of Buck, cruelly dismembered and packed separately.”

But these are all distractions.

If the bag containing the head is opened, the head will mutate; the same goes for the rest.

None of these are Buck’s real corpse.

“Dismembered?!” Luo Jia Bai instantly felt as if he were holding something heavy and dripping with blood. His face turned several shades paler, and he threw the plastic bag as far from himself as possible. “Who could be so cruel, doing something so evil! Don’t tell me it’s another student from Nuo Nuo’s School?”

Lu Li checked the timer. “Two minutes left.”

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and told himself: Calm down, calm down… Think carefully-what other clues could help?

Nuo Nuo and the Clown had built a castle for Buck in the sand pit. No-actually, they’d built a grave for Buck’s corpse.

The grave was tall.

The patch of sand hiding Buck’s real corpse should be higher than anywhere else.

He lay half prone on the sand, scanning the surroundings. Suddenly, he noticed that one corner of the seemingly flat sand was clearly raised.

Lu Li’s lips curled slightly. “Found it.”