chapter 88

Chapter 88

“Sean?!”

The Head Chef’s shout echoed, but no one responded.

He carelessly hung Song Changrong’s corpse on a rack, then took down a Sea Demon corpse and continued to slice meat and cook. Occasionally, he would cut off a piece and stuff it into his own mouth to chew, ordering the Players around:

“These gluttonous Nobles want to eat today, and they’ll want to eat tomorrow too! Full Moon Day lasts for two whole days, and I can’t stop slicing meat for a single moment! You, go help me find Sean! Hurry up and bring him here to assist me!”

A faint sound came from behind the rack on the left, as if someone was hiding there.

Lu Li and the other two were the first to leave.

Song Changrong’s corpse swayed coldly on the rack. Before he died, his face bore an extreme, wish-fulfilling smile twisted by agony, a contorted and unfamiliar expression.

Feng Shan propped himself up on the rack, vomiting as he dug out the priceless gemstone from the bloody corpse and stuffed it into his own pocket.

“Bastard! You dirtied my kitchen floor! Want to end up like him?”

Feng Shan fled in panic under the Head Chef’s raised cleaver, chasing after the three who hadn’t gone far.

They passed row after row of Sea Demon corpses.

The further back they went, the more different the corpses became.

The ones in the rear wore white Wristbands, all without exception had their bellies slit open, and their faces bore expressions of ultimate pleasure and pain.

Luo Jia Bai sighed, “So many dead Players! Bug Instance is truly brutal.”

Mirella said, “They all have remnants of food or liquid from the Instance on them. The first rule to remember in the Necromancer Game is: never eat or drink anything here.”

Luo Jia Bai felt a chill in retrospect and stuck close to Lu Li. “That bowl of soup was definitely suspicious, especially with that strange leaf inside. If you keep staring at it, you get drawn in. I suspect it has something to do with the Tree Demon the Head Chef mentioned! Luckily, you reminded me in time.”

Lu Li said, “What if I wasn’t here?”

Luo Jia Bai froze. “What?”

“If I wasn’t here, would you have drunk that soup?” Lu Li looked at him. “Can you tell me what you’re worried about?”

Luo Jia Bai hesitated, but before he could answer, Feng Shan’s hurried footsteps sounded behind them. Luo Jia Bai clenched his hand and whispered to Lu Li, “I’m not smart enough, and my physical abilities aren’t good enough. I can’t compare to any of you.”

Lu Li understood. “You don’t have to compare yourself to me at all.”

“Don’t compare yourself to anyone. You don’t know other people’s pasts, nor how much pain they’ve gone through to gain their current abilities.”

“Everyone has their own pace. Just be yourself. Anyway, I won’t abandon you, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Lu Li patted his shoulder, then looked at Mirella. “What do you think?”

Mirella untied her cloth band, looked at Luo Jia Bai, and saw that he was indeed shrouded in a thick shadow of golden and bloody desire.

And on Feng Shan, who was approaching, that desire was even stronger.

Mirella beckoned to Luo Jia Bai. “Lower your head.”

She pressed her palm to Luo Jia Bai’s brow, as if making a firm decision, and wiped away that shadow.

Mirella’s lips paled a bit. She took two deep breaths before recovering, then said to Luo Jia Bai, “The gods will bless you. But you must also be resolute in your will.”

A crisp sound rang out.

The endless racks suddenly collapsed, making a clear noise.

When they hurried over, they found that a door had suddenly appeared behind the rack. Sean was holding someone, walking through the door without looking back.

On the ground was an open bag.

A card stuck out at an angle from the bag.

Lu Li picked up the card. On the front was a picture of a tall tree.

On the back it said:

[From the Kitchen in the Noble District to the seaside, there is a large Forest in between. In the middle of the Forest stands a giant tree.]

[The Nobles say that any question asked under the tree will be answered. My Adoptive Father often goes to ask the tree.]

[He is a Third-Class Noble. When he talks with First- and Second-Class Nobles, he is always met with cold looks and ridicule. His mental state has grown increasingly unstable, and he is suspicious all the time.]
He imagined that I was in love with someone from the Rich District, so he followed me, searched through my bag, and found the Sea Demon I had drawn.

The Third-Class Nobles who searched my bag with him screamed and backed away from me, as if I were some kind of plague. They shouted to everyone that I had committed a crime-I liked men.

Here, men must like women. My Adoptive Father took away the Red Coral from me and righteously called for people to drag me away, sending me to the Prison in the Poor Village. If I could not correct this mistaken sexual orientation, I would never be able to leave the Prison.

Fortunately, he did not realize it was a Sea Demon.

Fortunately, Sea Demons and humans look so much alike.

Fortunately, among my countless crimes, they only discovered one-a crime I would never regret.

I had already said farewell to the Sea Demon. Spending the rest of my life here wasn’t so bad.

Until, during that time, I looked at the Moon through the only Skylight in the Prison, and a little boy appeared outside the Skylight. He would always lean over the Skylight to watch me, telling me I was beautiful and begging his mother to let me out.

His mother nervously asked if he liked me. The little boy nodded and said he did.

Recently, tides in the Poor Village have become increasingly rare. In the past, every tide would bring a large amount of fish and shrimp, so the poor fishermen who relied on going out to sea gave up the dangerous trips and instead waited for the food bestowed by the Moon during each tide.

But ever since I was locked in the Prison, the tides gradually disappeared. So the villagers of the Poor Village said that my crime was a plague, that it would infect others, and that I had angered the Moon, bringing down punishment. Therefore, they wanted to burn me alive.

They piled wood by the sea and lit torches. I was tied up in the fire, and I vaguely saw my Adoptive Father hiding in the corner, waiting for my execution.

But in the end, I did not die, because the tide returned, and the water extinguished the fire.

I did not expect that he would come as well.

“Men must like women.”

“The Hunter’s child liking men is a crime.”

“So that means he’s also a boy?” Luo Jia Bai frowned. “To kill someone over this is too rigid.”

“The card says ‘he’ at the end-who is that?”

“It’s the Sea Demon.” Lu Li put away the card and walked toward the door Sean had left through.

“Sean is the Hunter’s child. On the day he was to be burned alive, the Sea Demon came to save him.”

Now he needed to confirm two things.

Why does Sean have no skin?

And who was the person Sean was holding just now?

–

Stepping out the door,

they returned to the hall.

The record player spun slowly, melodious music filling their ears.

The Masquerade Ball had already begun.

On the dance floor, countless pairs of dance partners-each consisting of a man and a woman-swayed their bodies. The Noble Ladies spun in their gorgeous dresses, the outermost layer of their Dress Veils fluttering, shimmering with light.

Standing before them

was a Noble Lady who had just received a Dress Veil from a Servant.

She happily spread out the complete Dress Veil, tying it to the outermost layer of her skirt. She stroked it lovingly, her plain features gradually becoming beautiful.

It was unmistakably the appearance of the Sea Demon that had lain on the Head Chef’s chopping board just minutes ago.

The Noble Lady touched her face and began to laugh. She put on an exquisite mask, her well-defined features still visible:

“I finally got my turn after waiting in line for so long! Is this the freshly skinned hide from today? I finally get to wear it before the Masquerade Ball. This Sea Demon’s features are just to my liking. On the Full Moon Day, borrowing the face of a Sea Demon isn’t too much to ask, is it?”

Suddenly, a commotion erupted from the dance floor behind them.

“Did you hear? One of the King’s treasures has been stolen! The thief just slipped into our hall!”

“Who is the thief? What did he steal?”

“The King is furious! Hurry and find the thief!”