Chapter 64
There was no time to think.
The black sedan was only three meters away from Jiang Li.
Jiang Li’s adrenaline surged instantly.
Holding her breath, she sprinted two steps and leapt toward the side of the driveway!
Just as Jiang Li dodged the attack, the black sedan jerked its steering wheel and, with a stomp on the accelerator, charged toward Jiang Li’s position again!
Cars are fast in a straight line, but not agile when turning.
Jiang Li took advantage of this, narrowly dodging three times in a row!
After these rounds, Jiang Li’s stamina was still holding up.
But if this hit-and-run incident didn’t end soon, something would go wrong sooner or later!
The Dean inside the car was clearly aiming to kill Jiang Li.
No…
She couldn’t keep dragging this out!
Jiang Li had to come up with a way to escape the Dean’s pursuit.
The area Jiang Li was in now was the Hospital Square-good for running, but not for hiding.
So the best option was to get inside the hospital building!
Jiang Li dashed desperately toward the building.
But the Dean’s car suddenly changed direction, cutting in front of Jiang Li and blocking her path.
Another loud roar of the engine.
The Dean’s eyes gleamed with malice as he gritted his teeth and drove straight at Jiang Li.
There were no obstacles left nearby for Jiang Li to hide behind.
She glanced to the side.
Now, only the Nighttime Snack Shop remained!
First rule of the Madhouse Snack Shop:
[The Black Dog at the entrance is the owner’s treasure. Remember, never damage it.]
No time left…
She had to gamble!!
Jiang Li mustered all her strength and dashed toward the Snack Shop.
Life or death-it all depended on the Shopkeeper’s power!
In the final few meters before the black sedan would have hit her, Jiang Li rushed behind the Black Dog Statue.
At the same time-
A sharp screech of brakes pierced the silent night.
The Dean’s pupils contracted as he slammed on the brakes-
The car’s front bumper was about to hit the Black Dog Statue’s nose, but the Dean’s car drifted aside at the last moment.
The sedan traced an arc, veering off course.
The car spun out of control, spinning four or five times in place.
Finally, it came to a slow stop.
Jiang Li slumped behind the Black Dog, clutching her chest, gasping for breath, her heart pounding.
The Dean, finally recovering from his dizziness, shot Jiang Li a cold, vicious glare through the rearview mirror.
In the end, with no other choice, he drove away from the hospital in frustration.
Jiang Li watched as the Dean’s car finally passed through the main iron gate.
She sat limply on the ground, her wildly pounding heart finally beginning to calm down.
She’d won…
She’d won this gamble.
Even the Dean of this Madhouse didn’t dare provoke Shopkeeper Shi of the Snack Shop.
Just who exactly was this Shopkeeper Shi?
Not only did he run his shop at night, ‘welcoming all kinds of guests,’ but even the Dean didn’t dare offend him.
Jiang Li took a few more breaths before using the statue to help herself up from the cold ground.
As soon as she stood up, she saw Shopkeeper Shi holding a bowl of hot soup, squatting on the other side of the shop entrance, watching the show.
“Yo, you’re pretty lucky, young lady.” Shopkeeper Shi grinned at Jiang Li. “A guest is a guest-why not come inside and have a seat?”
The moment Jiang Li saw Shopkeeper Shi, she suddenly realized why his face looked so familiar…
Wasn’t he the Coffin Shop Owner she’d met before?
“It’s you?” Jiang Li stared at him. “We’ve met before.”
Shopkeeper Shi smiled. “That’s right, it’s me. We meet again.”
Jiang Li teased, “You sure have a wide range of businesses.”
Shopkeeper Shi replied, “Of course. You promised to come by and support my business often. You haven’t forgotten, have you?”
Jiang Li suddenly remembered-she really had made such a promise.
“Come in and have a look.”
After speaking, Shopkeeper Shi brought the bowl to his lips, took a sip of the meat soup, and stood up to walk into the shop.
The wind chimes at the entrance of the convenience store were swayed twice by the night breeze, letting out a pleasant “ding ding”.
Jiang Li stood at the doorway, staring at the shop for a moment.
The dim yellow light filled the entire convenience store.
From the ceiling, many dolls were hanging.
Ropes dangled down, each one coiled tightly around a doll’s neck.
They looked chillingly like children hanged right there.
The goods sold in the convenience store were just as strange and unsettling.
Human facial skin, blood-soaked cloth shoes, severed limbs-there was everything imaginable.
Besides these, there were half-dead rats, freshly shed snake skins, a Retractable Knife with Blood Sac, and so on.
Every item had a tag attached, marking the surname of its original owner.
Jiang Li glanced at the rules posted on the wall.
[Asylum Convenience Store Rules]
[1. The Black Dog at the entrance is the owner’s treasure. Be sure, never ever harm it.]
[2. The convenience store is open at night from 00:00 to 07:00. All kinds of guests are welcome.]
[3. All goods are exchanged by item-for-item trade, following the principle of equivalent exchange.]
[4. Items that leave the store are not eligible for return or exchange. The store accepts no responsibility for any problems.]
[5. All who enter must make a purchase. No soliciting.]
[6. Before leaving the store, please knock three times on the vertical sign at the entrance.]
Jiang Li stepped inside and saw Shopkeeper Shi’s family photo hanging on the wall.
It was a picture of him with a woman.
Jiang Li asked, “Shopkeeper Shi, isn’t your wife with you?”
If Jiang Li was right, the last time she met Shopkeeper Shi, the Black Dog in his house was in fact his real wife.
Because that Black Dog wasn’t afraid of the mutton-scented Sachet-it was not a dog at all.
Hearing her question, a shadow of sorrow crossed Shopkeeper Shi’s face.
He lifted the lid off a pot, his expression gloomy. Inside, a large pot of meat soup steamed, its scent both strange and enticing.
Catching the odd smell, Jiang Li seemed to realize something, her brows drawing together slightly.
Shopkeeper Shi picked up his emptied bowl and ladled out a few pieces of dog meat from the pot.
Head down and eyes bleak, he forced himself to eat a piece of dog meat, swallowing it with difficulty.
“You’re wrong,” Shopkeeper Shi looked up, answering Jiang Li’s question. “My wife and I… we will always be together.”
To Jiang Li’s side and slightly behind, there stood a Floor Mirror, nearly two meters tall.
She didn’t turn to look at it.
Because Night Rules, article eight, says:
[Do not look into the Mirror at night. This is advice. If you violate this rule, please fall asleep within five minutes. Relax. The next day you will forget this terrifying experience.]
This rule was absolutely real.
Jiang Li purposely avoided the direction of the Mirror and began to browse the merchandise.
But through the Mirror, Shopkeeper Shi saw that the person reflected was not Jiang Li, but a monster half-cat, half-pig.
It once had a kitten’s body, but now sixty percent of it had turned into a piglet.
Jiang Li wandered around the convenience store several times.
Shopkeeper Shi picked up a clothes fork and took down a doll from the ceiling.
He promoted his wares: “Want a midnight snack? Rat, or doll?”
He held out a doll to Jiang Li. “I think you might prefer this one.”
Jiang Li shot Shopkeeper Shi a surprised glance, but didn’t reach to take it.
Shopkeeper Shi spoke as if to himself:
“Back in my hometown, we often kept @#&.
Once, a mischievous child went into the @#&’s shed to use the Toilet.
When the family found the child later, he was covered in blood, his limbs and organs all chewed clean by the @#&.”
There was a word in Shopkeeper Shi’s story that Jiang Li could never quite hear.
It seemed the System deliberately censored that word.
Even if she couldn’t make it out, Jiang Li had heard this story before.
It was a story about pigs eating people.