Chapter 68
Pushing open the door at the end, they found even more treasures in the corridor, with gold covering the entire floor.
On the left, the wall was nowhere to be seen.
There was only a vast expanse of blue.
It looked like the sea.
But the blue was too pure, almost as if countless blue squares had been pieced together.
“Does he have a sea in his house?” Luo Jia Bai was utterly baffled.
He approached the blue expanse, but before he could touch it, a small piece fell from the blue.
Like a dead leaf, it wobbled as it drifted to the ground.
Luo Jia Bai hurriedly stepped aside.
Lu Li shook his head. “This isn’t the sea.”
“They’re butterflies, the wings of Blue Flash Butterflies,” Mirella stopped beside them, holding back a surge of anger. “I can hear them crying. They’re all dead, their corpses pinned to the wall, forming a single mass.”
The fallen butterfly corpse was but a drop in a sea of corpses.
There were at least tens of thousands of butterflies nailed to the wall here.
They walked further in, and a woman’s shrill voice pierced their eardrums:
“Maid! Where are the maids? Hurry and bring shoes for them! No one is allowed in here without changing shoes! You filthy paupers, who knows how much filth you’ve stepped in outside-don’t dirty my treasures!”
A dozen hands stretched out from the pile of gold coins, arms clad in maid uniforms meant for work.
The arms grabbed the Players’ legs and put clean shoes on them.
They passed through the corridor and entered the main hall.
Mr. Qiao and Mrs. Qiao were short and fat, their bodies enormous.
They sat on high chairs made of red Coral, their fat spilling over the edges, looking down at the Players from above.
Mr. Qiao puffed on his pipe. “Please forgive my wife’s little temper; she’s a neat freak. Every single thing here is one of her treasured collections. Her tastes change constantly, but I have money, so I can satisfy her every whim.”
“I’ve already seen the glow of the Pearls in your hands. It seems she won’t go to bed angry tonight.”
Mrs. Qiao wiggled her ten fingers, each adorned with a gem ring the size of a pigeon egg, the dazzling colors making one’s eyes spin.
She waved anxiously at the Players. “Quick! Give me the Glowing Pearl! Maid! Go fetch the Pearl for me!”
A slender woman slowly crawled out from the mountain of gold coins.
She wore a plain maid’s uniform and collected the Players’ Pearls.
When she delivered the Pearls to Mrs. Qiao, she tucked her hair behind her ear, and Mr. Qiao’s eyes seemed glued to her, almost falling out.
“They’re Glowing Pearls; there are seven!” Mrs. Qiao turned the Pearls over and over, giggling as she nudged Mr. Qiao. “I allow them to stay the night.”
“Alright, whatever you say,” Mr. Qiao came to his senses, wrapping one arm around Mrs. Qiao’s broad, thick shoulders.
Mrs. Qiao nestled against him like a bird, the two appearing deeply affectionate.
Mr. Qiao instructed, “Maid, prepare rooms for our guests.”
“Before you return to your rooms, I must give you your reward.” Mr. Qiao grabbed a handful of gold coins and tossed them toward them. “Anything in this hall-if you like it, you can take it!”
The gold coins hit the ground with a crisp sound.
The heavy front door slammed shut.
Mr. Qiao announced the rules, his lips writhing as golden liquid dripped from the corners of his mouth, his face melting: “Everyone must take one thing! If you don’t, you can’t leave!”
The Players could hardly hide their greed. All along the way, they’d been surrounded by extravagance, their very bones softened by the glittering environment.
“Can we really take something? These are Items from the Instance.”
“If we don’t take anything, we can’t leave. If we don’t follow the rules, the NPC might go berserk.”
Feng Shan used an Item to scan the area. “The danger level is almost zero. These things really can be taken.”
He put the Item away and casually picked up a Gold Brick. His Wristband vibrated, actually displaying a Points value.
[300,000 Points]
Rong Changrong picked up a transparent gem.
[200,000 Points]
All the values were in the hundreds of thousands!
Every single thing here was worth a fortune.
The Players’ eyes turned red.
“We can only take one thing? What a shame! I cleared the last Instance and only got 80,000 Points! Damn, which one should I take?”
“It only shows the Points, but it can’t be stored in the Wristband yet. How do we actually get the Points?”
“Don’t rush! We probably have to clear the Instance first, then the Points will be credited to our accounts.”
Feng Shan was half-buried in the pile of treasures, tirelessly picking up and putting down Items, comparing which had the highest Points value. Finally, he unearthed a heavy blue sapphire-600,000 Points.
Feng Shan’s eyes lit up. “I want this one.”
Rong Changrong squatted on the ground and found the largest Gold Brick. He bit it with his teeth, then hugged it to his chest. “I’ve made my choice too.”
Lu Li walked around the mountain of gold coins and headed toward the corner.
Luo Jia Bai asked, “Where are you going?”
Lu Li pointed to a spot. “What are those?”
“They’re flowers.” Luo Jia Bai followed and was stunned by the sight before him, murmuring, “They’re all flowers.”
A sea of flowers spun and cascaded down from the ceiling, with thousands of varieties:
roses, platycodons (Chinese bellflowers), campanulas (bellflowers), lilies…
It was a waterfall of flowers.
All that beauty together made people feel numb.
The scent of flowers was intense.
Lu Li heard the sound of a harmonica coming from the sea of flowers.
When he looked up, the harmonica grew faint; when he looked down, the melody became louder.
At last, he found the lowest place, where White Flowers – the Velvet Flowers Mirella mentioned – covered the ground.
The harmonica’s notes drifted out from the blossoming petals.
Lu Li reached toward the White Flowers and unexpectedly bumped into Mirella.
Mirella politely withdrew her hand and gestured for Lu Li to go ahead. “You like them too? What a pity, they actually left the Velvet Flowers on the ground like this.”
Lu Li repeated the name, “Velvet Flower?”
“It is a warm star fallen into the human world,” Mirella recalled fondly. “I have attended countless weddings, and the bride always uses it for her bouquet. At the end of the ceremony, she gives it to me, and I offer my blessings in return.
When their children are born, I help the children open their eyes and see the world clearly.”
“A star? I’ve never seen one.” Lu Li tilted his head. “I think it looks like a cloud.”
Like the soft, white clouds in the sky on the day Bosi took him on vacation.
He picked up a bunch of White Flowers – the Velvet Flowers.
His Wristband vibrated.
[0 Points]
“Are you choosing this?” Luo Jia Bai squatted down beside him. When he saw Lu Li nod, he also picked a bunch.
His Wristband displayed the same Points.
Luo Jia Bai tapped his Wristband. “0 Points? Are you blind? But if you follow Lu Li’s choice, you can’t go wrong. This must be something priceless.”
Looking at the small bouquet in his hand, he couldn’t help but break into a happy smile.
“Lu Li, you really have an eye for things. This flower is beautiful.”
Mrs. Qiao cried out, “Oh my! Don’t touch my… Oh, so you didn’t touch my flowers.”
Once she saw what bouquets they held, Mrs. Qiao calmed down again. “We rich people always look up. Only you poor people stare at the ground!”
Mrs. Qiao tried to instruct them, “Pearls, gold coins, gemstones – aren’t all of these more beautiful than those messy White Flowers? Your friends really aren’t as clever as you! Utterly foolish.”
“Qiao! I told you not to bring those cheap things from the seaside into the house. Why do these tiny, dense white things keep multiplying? They’re going to squeeze out my beautiful roses! My house should always have the largest gemstones and the biggest-petaled flowers… Where did that Black Cat come from? Disgusting! It’s sure to shed fur! Maid, catch it for me!”
The Black Bird on Mirella’s shoulder nimbly picked up a bunch of White Flowers – the Velvet Flowers – and offered them to her.
“Thank you.” Mirella smiled. “Quick, hide.”
The Black Bird tore open a crack and darted inside, disappearing.
Mrs. Qiao sat in her tall chair and roared, “Once everyone has taken something, hurry up and leave! We need to close all the doors and windows in the hall and catch that cat!”
Lu Li looked at the smiles on Luo Jia Bai and Mirella’s faces. After a moment of thought, he said, “Is receiving flowers something that makes people happy?”
–
Bosi sat at his desk.
The door behind him opened and closed again. The young man’s voice was light and ethereal. “Good evening, Bosi.”
Today, Bosi’s notebook was open on the desk.
On it was a method of death he had just researched.
Bosi turned to face Lu Li.
He took off his gloves. His fingers were long and well-defined, and his palm was shrouded in the dense Black Mist from their first meeting.
“Give me your hand.”
He had always worn gloves to shield the power of death. Now, perhaps direct contact with Lu Li would have some effect.
Lu Li obediently extended his right hand to him.
Bosi held it, watching where Lu Li’s skin touched his own.
The Black Mist turned to water when it touched Lu Li, trickling down his sleeve.
“So much water.” Lu Li pressed his palm against Bosi’s, held him, and asked with concern, “Are you cold?”
“I’m not cold.” Bosi nodded slightly. “Your other hand. Give me both hands.”
“Why have you been hiding your other hand behind your back?”
“You found out,” Lu Li said softly. “I brought you a bouquet of flowers.”