chapter 85
Chapter 85
Luo Jia Bai urged him, “Stop dawdling, can you do things a bit faster?”
Feng Shan stirred the thick soup with a spoon, the leaves on the surface spinning along with it, his eyes glazed over.
“If the Sea Demon’s Heart is in my bowl, none of you are allowed to snatch it!”
His throat itched, his voice grew louder and louder, and he seemed increasingly paranoid:
“Let me crush this Heart.”
“Let me be the first to clear the Instance!”
Feng Shan suddenly pointed at Mirella. “The popularity of my Live Stream Room keeps dropping! First, there’s you. You have an Evil God, such a sensational gimmick. You just stand there and let your Evil God show up for a second, and you get so much popularity! What about me!? In the last Instance, I worked so hard to lead the team, I toiled as the captain, supported my teammates, created so many highlights, and my popularity was only about the same as yours! And when we entered this Instance, my starting popularity was lower than yours again!”
Then he turned to Lu Li. “And then there’s you! Why are you so lucky? Why? For what reason! This Instance has tough puzzles, clues are impossible to find, even the Instance hints are pitifully few, yet you always manage to solve them! I get it now, you know the script! During Game Night, you made a deal with the Evil Spirit, you sold your soul to the Evil Spirit!”
“Not an Evil Spirit, yours is also an Evil God! Damn it, I just have such bad luck, there are only a handful of Evil Gods in the game, and I run into two, ha ha!” Feng Shan burst out laughing. “No wonder you know all the answers to such a difficult Instance, it must be the Evil God helping you! If your soul is tricked away by the Evil God, you’ll die too! You’ll die sooner or later!”
Lu Li looked at him calmly, as if watching a wild beast barking madly, its thin chains tightening around its neck.
The distance between the beast and its prey-
Was only the breaking of that chain away.
Lu Li said, “Thank you for your blessing.”
“I really hate the way you look! When the hell are you going to die?!” Feng Shan’s eyes reddened, and he suddenly stood up, trying to grab Lu Li by the throat.
Luo Jia Bai stood up to block him. “Hey, hey, hey! What’s your problem? If you’re sick, go get treated! Don’t start getting physical here!”
Feng Shan’s hatred shifted to Luo Jia Bai.
“And finally, you! Last night, my Live Stream Room’s popularity dropped to fourth place! I asked Song Changrong, it wasn’t him, he doesn’t have the skills to surpass me. It was you! What did you do last night? You made my popularity drop to the bottom!”
Luo Jia Bai was speechless, not wanting to mention the popularity boost he got from losing at rock-paper-scissors to Lu Li.
“What I do is none of your damn business! In the Necromancer Game, killing and arson are all fair game, why are you so nosy?”
He shoved Feng Shan aside.
Feng Shan staggered a couple of steps, returned to his seat, picked up his spoon to fish things out of the soup, looking at the contents with anticipation, muttering:
“No one fight me for it! No one can snatch it from me! I really, really want to get first place!”
Lu Li was surprised. “I’ve never wanted to compete with anyone.”
He lowered his eyes to look at the card he had picked up. “I just want to know the truth.”
A chunk of meat, coated in white soup, fell into the plate.
“Shut up!” At this point, Feng Shan couldn’t hear anything.
He gripped the chunk of meat tightly.
He didn’t even check what shape the meat was in the mirror; he impatiently crushed it.
“I won.”
He was the first!
He would become the second person to successfully clear a Bug Instance!
By then, the Forum would be full of hot threads discussing his name, and his Master would see him in a new light!
The meat was mashed to a pulp, mixed with the soup.
It dripped from between Feng Shan’s fingers into the plate below.
Nothing happened.
Lu Li raised the mirror to Feng Shan’s hand.
In the mirror, his hands were covered in blood, gripping the ruined meat. The wild smile at the corner of his mouth froze.
Feng Shan blankly tossed the meat into the plate. “Isn’t this right? Or has the Instance not settled yet?”
He shouted anxiously, “Hurry up and settle!”
Not far away, the Noble Gentleman was also enjoying his main course.
Each Noble had a main course in front of them.
On the plate were three thin, crystal-clear slices of meat.
Hearing Feng Shan’s shouting, the Noble Gentleman leisurely wiped his mouth with a napkin and asked, “What did you say? Louder, I can’t hear you.”
Lu Li looked at this NPC who always responded.
He noticed that at some point, a line of red text had appeared above the Noble Gentleman’s head, turning left and right as he moved:
[Can Communicate, Can Mediate]
Feng Shan, devastated by the blow, sat back in his chair, clutching his head in despair.
“You’re really good at building atmosphere! Anyone who didn’t know would think this was the grand finale!” Luo Jia Bai and Mirella leaned over, piecing the shredded meat together.
The shredded meat finally formed a complete shape.
Luo Jia Bai took the mirror that Lu Li handed over and held it up to the meat, clicking his tongue. “Still just a kidney.”
“Isn’t the mirror bound? How did it end up in your hands!” Feng Shan perked up again, trying to snatch the mirror from Luo Jia Bai. “You can hold it, but I can’t? Did you tamper with the mirror, is that why I failed to clear the Instance? Give it here, let me see!”
Luo Jia Bai immediately put away the mirror, pointed a finger at him, and warned, “No funny business! Brother Lu gave this to me, and it’s only authorized for me!”
Mirella leaned against the dining table, shifted the cloth band up a bit to get a better look at the piece of meat, and added, “It’s the right kidney.”
In her own bowl of soup was the left kidney.
“Looks like a pair of kidneys were separated and put into two bowls of soup.”
“The Heart isn’t in our soup.”
Where exactly is the Heart?
Luo Jia Bai stuffed the mirror back to Lu Li. “Keep it safe.”
Then he turned and threw himself into a shouting match with Feng Shan. “How can you blame Lu Li for this? The kidney in your bowl has nothing to do with the mirror! You lack ability and blame others for being strong, always suspicious of this and that-you’re a real petty villain!”
Feng Shan was furious. “You, you, you! I say a couple words about him and you get all worked up. Are you his dog? Are you happy being his dog?”
Lu Li grabbed Luo Jia Bai’s hand. “Don’t argue. It’s not worth it.”
“Relax, I won’t lose at arguing.” Luo Jia Bai waved his hand, clearly fired up, and loosened the zipper on his dress. “This outfit is too tight, I can barely breathe. That’s better.”
“Yeah, I’m happy! Lu Li’s insults are always subtle-you have to be smart to catch them. Since you’re so dumb, I’ll just say it straight!” Luo Jia Bai turned to Feng Shan, proudly raised his chin, and barked, “Woof woof woof! I’m happy! What now? Are you mad yet? Won’t you let your dog say something? I insult you and he doesn’t even react!”
Feng Shan grabbed the distracted Song Changrong. “Song Changrong! Say something!”
The two stood by the dining table, arguing fiercely, while Lu Li glanced again at the Noble Gentleman who was still eating.
Player versus Player quarrel.
Did not trigger the NPC’s [Mediable].
So under what circumstances would the Noble Gentleman step in to mediate?
Lu Li’s Live Stream Room was filled with two kinds of voices:
[Does any Ghost Friend share my view? Except for the Streamer and Mirella, all the Players seem abnormal now. Mirella has Evil God certification, her soul is unusually pure and will never be corrupted by evil. The Streamer’s situation is unknown. Of the three remaining ordinary people, Luo Jia Bai’s symptoms are a bit lighter, while the other two are completely unhinged.]
[I’m an Audience member who watched this Instance during the Public Beta Period. The Streamer’s journey finally reminded me: the last map of the Instance needs to be explored.](This Bullet Comment contains spoilers and has been blocked)
[Spirit Money*10,000 tip, damn Feng Shan, just a little troll. This time, I’m standing by the Streamer’s bedside, joining Luo Jia Bai in cursing.]
[Spirit Money*5,000 tip, just arrived-why are Players arguing in the Live Stream Room? Damn, the Streamer’s face!! Doesn’t matter, I’m supporting the Streamer first. Luo Jia Bai is righteous, the Streamer is handsome, Feng Shan is bad.]
The Noble beside Lu Li took a long time to eat three pieces of meat.
As if unwilling to waste even a drop, savoring every bit slowly.
After finishing, he even licked the plate with no regard for manners, completely different from his usual elegance when eating other foods.
The loud slurping was extremely crude.
So the Noble Gentleman waved, “Sean, put on some music, bring out the phonograph.”
“And your harmonica-you can play, right? Stand by and play us a tune! Make the music louder! Let’s get ready for our Masquerade Ball!”
Sean carried the heavy phonograph to the other end of the dining table, inserted a record, and lowered the needle.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man’s agitated voice echoed through the spacious hall:
“I’ve raised you for so many years. I left the Poor Village, entered the Rich District, came to the Noble District-at every level, I thought of you, brought you along. I found you one winter; if I hadn’t gone hunting that day, you’d have died! You ungrateful brat, don’t you know to thank me? Don’t just help me wash dishes and cut meat in the Kitchen-even if you gave your life for me, it’d be only right!”
“Wherever I go, you go too.”
“Wherever you go, you have to take me! Whatever you get, you have to share with me!”
“Where did you go today? Are you dating in the Rich District? You want to go back to the Rich District!? Not allowed! From now on, every time you go out, I have to follow! What’s in your bag? Give it to me! Hand over your bag!”
“Give me the bag!! What’s this? What did you draw! You actually…!”
The Noble Gentleman frowned. “What’s going on?”
“Sorry, wrong record.” Sean moved the needle away, bowed his head in apology, and the man’s rant abruptly stopped, replaced by a melodious tune.
Amid the booming music, Sean quickly left.
Lu Li raised the mirror, but since Sean kept his head down, his face in the mirror was shrouded in shadow.
But the body exposed to the Moonlight-every inch was flesh, no skin.
Lu Li speculated:
Does Sean’s face still exist?
Sean exited through a side door in the hall. Lu Li put away the mirror and noticed a lost card on the floor.