Getting Ready for a Good Long Sleep

The moment the female voice fell silent, Old Man Huang’s voice rose from downstairs in perfect synchronization.

“Wait here for a moment. I forgot—you still have some merchandise to collect!”

Jin Rongxu turned his head and glanced at the sky outside through the small window at the end of the corridor.

“This completely contradicts what the broadcast said,” he remarked indifferently. The question that followed sounded more like he was talking to himself.

“So which one is actually telling the truth?”

Zhu Zeyu lowered his eyes.

If he had to make the judgment, then of course neither of them was right—and both of them were right.

No matter what they did, no matter whose instructions they followed, the final result would probably lead to death all the same—to becoming [Walking Corpses], to becoming puppets of “Mother.”

The facts from before had already proven that the female broadcast was fake. It had been helping “Mother” accomplish certain goals all along, functioning primarily as her strongest support.

But without someone with enough experience and understanding of the female voice, like Zhu Yan, as well as the hint from [Everyone Has Their Own Fate], it would actually be difficult for an ordinary player viewing things from another perspective to notice anything wrong with the broadcast.

After all, the timbre was the same, the tone was the same. The only slight differences were its manner of speaking and that faint electrical static, so subtle it was almost an illusion.

And Jin Rongxu’s [Mind Reading] was simply too useful—so useful that he trusted unconditionally everything it told him…

Who could have imagined that the female broadcast was actually a form of amusement for the horror creature, a way to toy with the players?

“Captain, what do you think?”

Ma Dong glanced at the staircase they had used to come up. Their fresh, messy footprints marked the thick layer of dust on the steps.

The staircase disappeared into the dim light below, while a strange, icy atmosphere spread throughout the entire space.

He was clearly on guard.

Beneath his black combat uniform, his muscles were taut, bulging with tension. He was ready to strike at any moment.

Jin Rongxu, on the other hand, was completely relaxed.

“Some of what that old man said is true. There’s also something the broadcast never mentioned.”

Just now, he had heard the old man’s thoughts in their entirety.

When the old man said aloud, “The door has to stay open,” what he was actually thinking was, You’re all dead.

When he said he was going to get them their merchandise, what he was thinking was, I absolutely have to put that thing outside the door.

Aside from that, there was nothing unusual. Everything else was normal.

Jin Rongxu was genuinely delighted.

With [Mind Reading] at his disposal, the difficulty of the instance had been reduced considerably.

“When the merchandise arrives, we need to keep that thing close to us,” Jin Rongxu went on to explain. “At night, when we sleep, lock the doors and windows tightly. Follow the broadcast’s instructions and pretend that we’re already asleep.”

“That’s the right thing to do!”

Ma Dong nodded, still shaken. “Captain, we signed that yellow paper. We should be safe, right?”

“Zhu Zeyu signed it too,” the military doctor interjected before Jin Rongxu could answer. “Zhu Zeyu was fine in the end, so we’ll be fine too. Don’t worry.”

Jin Rongxu gave the military doctor a highly satisfied look.

He pointed to one of the larger rooms. “Ma Dong, the military doctor, and Zhu Zeyu—you three take this room.”

“Pot Lid, you go to that small room over there.”

Pot Lid glanced at Jin Rongxu, looking both surprised and flattered. “Captain, are you planning to share a room with me? I—I…”

“Go in.” Jin Rongxu impatiently cut him off. “The four of us will share one room, and you’ll have one to yourself. Any problems?”

Pot Lid’s expression changed.

Seizing the opportunity, Zhu Zeyu spoke first. “Captain, why not let Brother Pot Lid share a room with you?”

He had figured it out.

Jin Rongxu had arranged things this way purely because he was afraid of dying.

Ma Dong was the defense, the military doctor handled healing, and Jin Rongxu himself provided offense.

Zhu Zeyu was too precious to lose, so he had to stay under Jin Rongxu’s watch as well.

As for the least important person, Pot Lid could simply be tossed aside. It wouldn’t matter if something happened to him.

Jin Rongxu’s face darkened, and he was just about to curse when Zhu Zeyu cut him off again.

“Captain, you don’t need to worry about me. You’ve already seen it yourself—I can’t die no matter what happens.”

“If Brother Pot Lid is scared, let him share a room with you.”

He really couldn’t share a room with Jin Rongxu.

That would expose him!

Seeing that Jin Rongxu was about to speak, Zhu Zeyu hurriedly turned around and gave the trembling Pot Lid a meaningful look.

This was probably the first time in Pot Lid’s life that he had ever felt so grateful to Zhu Zeyu.

He immediately scrambled over on all fours, threw himself at Jin Rongxu’s leg, and began wailing loudly.

“Captain!”

“I—I’ll stay with you! Zhu Zeyu won’t be in danger, and I—I can monitor the conditions inside and outside the room at all times to ensure your safety…”

What a performance!

Zhu Zeyu watched with delight. Even Zhu Yan, standing on the other side, wore a faint smile.

“Captain,” Pot Lid’s tears nearly became real, “believe me, I really am useful! I absolutely won’t hold you back… Besides, Zhu Zeyu can’t possibly die!”

How should one put it?

Pot Lid was certainly a despicable person, but at this moment, his shamelessness happened to be useful.

Zhu Zeyu smoothly took a step back and slipped into the room.

“Captain, your safety is more important. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I’ll just stay in the room as you instructed. If Brother Pot Lid notices anything wrong, he’ll definitely find a way to tell you.”

Zhu Zeyu put on an obsequious smile, shamelessly infuriating.

“You have to trust in his abilities!”

…

Elsewhere.

Zhu Yan rose from his seat and gave Li Daochang, sitting across the table, a slight nod.

“Now that we’ve finished discussing things, there’s nothing else to say.”

He perfectly imitated Jin Rongxu’s proud expression and let out a disdainful sneer.

“You’d better show me that you’re sincere about the ten thousand Bone Coins.”

“I don’t care what kind of ghost I have to marry. What I care about is how many clues I can obtain and whether I can make it out of the instance.”

“No problem with that, old man?”

Li Daochang had only just come downstairs. He was carrying several colorful nonwoven bags printed with the names of various banks and supermarkets.

Through the fabric, they could see the shapes of jars and containers bulging outward. It seemed the other party had quickly prepared the ash powder.

He handed the items to the [Walking Corpse]. Through his murky eyes, he cast a sinister look toward Zhu Yan.

Heh.

No problem, of course there was no problem.

What an overconfident brat.

By tonight, there wouldn’t be a single living person left beside him.

Then he would put on a grand show, and everything would belong to Li Panlong!

Zhu Yan followed Old Man Huang outside. At a spot where a Level-Two [Walking Corpse] could see him but Li Daochang and the other players could not, he removed his cloak, revealing Jin Rongxu’s face in front of the [Walking Corpse].

“I won’t come in through the front door,” he said in greeting. “It’ll save me the trouble of being seen by my companions.”

After the [Walking Corpse] stiffly nodded, Zhu Yan quickly dispersed into mist and melted into the surrounding gloom.

“What kind of ability is that?”

The [Walking Corpse] muttered under its breath.

“How come my Panlong doesn’t have one?”

…

Inside the room.

Zhu Zeyu drank the witch’s potion, intending to use the last remnants of his willpower to force himself to hold on a little longer.

Just now, he had ignored Jin Rongxu’s ugly expression, shut the door, and locked it securely. He also checked the time.

It wasn’t even ten in the morning. Ten hours of sleep would put him at a little after seven in the evening.

If the Walking Corpse had been any slower, he really would have had to turn that urn of ashes away at the door!