Chapter 35.2: Manman (8)

[Player Yan Nuo’s ghost friend has been destroyed.]

[Player Yan Nuo has died.]

After the monster child retreated in satisfaction, the doors of each room on the sixth floor opened, and players gradually walked out of their rooms.

This was the cleanest and least damaged a corridor had been after the monster children destroyed a ghost friend.

Only the glass of the arched window was shattered. All the other doors and windows were intact. The monster children hardly touched them.

There were no chunks of flesh or bloodstains in the corridor, only a pool of corpse water.

The stench permeated the empty corridor, and the night breeze blowing in from the broken window added another layer of cold and fishy odor.

The four people stared at Shi Tianzhu’s room door for a long time.

Finally, someone asked, “President Shi, what do you mean by this?”

Shi Tianzhu’s voice echoed clearly in the corridor from inside the room. “This is my decision. If you’re not satisfied, you can go to the fifth floor or the fourth floor, as you please.”

In the dim light, the four people had different expressions, struggling visibly.

People on the fifth floor were also shocked.

“Why did someone from the sixth floor die? I thought it would be someone from the fourth floor, never expected it to be from the sixth floor.”

“The one who died was the person from the Yinhua Guild who followed Shi Tianzhu. How could this happen?”

“Could it be that Shi Tianzhu’s props failed?”

“No, it must have been intentional on Shi Tianzhu’s part.”

“Why? What is she thinking?”

The fourth floor had a slightly better understanding of her thoughts than the fifth floor.

After a moment of bewilderment, Zhu Shuangshuang said, “Is she doing this to protect the castle again?”

“Right,” Ji Mingrui said, “She must have realized that we blocked the monster children. The fifth floor also has a way to resist for a long time. The monster children will become angrier and use stronger force to break walls and windows. They won’t stop until they kill a ghost friend.”

“To stop this endless destruction, she simply let the monster children into the sixth floor.”

Meng Jiang said, “So we were a bit unfair to her last night.”

Last night, the people on the fourth and fifth floors might have thought that Shi Tianzhu was selfish.

She didn’t allow the fifth floor to break the corridor or the fourth floor to start a fire. It was all for the purpose of protecting the castle, disregarding the lives of the players from the two floors. But she didn’t let the sixth floor do anything.

Unexpectedly, tonight she opened the entrance to the sixth floor and let the monster children in.

Zhu Shuangshuang was even more curious. “Why does she protect the castle like this?”

If the castle was just a shelter like any ordinary house, there would be no need to sacrifice the life of her own club member.

No one knew.

Ning Su seemed lost in thought.

After returning to his room, he stared at the carpet for a while and gently touched it with his hand.

He made a sound of “Hmm” and walked to the terrace to look at the monster children who had already gone far away.

The warm yellow light of the skeleton night lamp on the terrace fell into his clear and beautiful peach blossom eyes, creating a bright ripple.

That night, the players on the fourth floor finally didn’t fall asleep in heavy sadness and despair.

Upon hearing the system prompt that they had gained an additional lucky value, they happily touched their ghost friends and went to sleep peacefully.

The next morning, Ning Su and Zhu Shuangshuang went downstairs to the dining hall for breakfast, where Ji Mingrui and Meng Jiang waved at them from the balcony.

After they approached, Ji Mingrui quietly and briefly said, “Two pieces of news.”

“One, they know that we used the lily vines to block the monster children last night.”

“Two, a player called Bai Shuang from the sixth floor went to the fifth floor late last night.”

Ning Su and Zhu Shuangshuang looked at him with the same eyes when they had just entered the game base and they heard him talk about club recruiting.

Ji Mingrui coughed, “The others are almost here. Hurry and take a seat.”

There was a death on the sixth floor last night, and another person went to the fifth floor. There were many vacant seats at the table on the sixth floor, so the four people from the fourth floor sat there together.

After Shi Tianzhu sat down and saw that almost everyone had arrived, she said, “There’s something I want to discuss with all of you.”

Everyone in the cafeteria looked at her.

Shi Tianzhu didn’t hesitate and said, “Currently, it seems that there is a way to resist the monster children on each floor. If the monster children can’t catch any ghost friends, not only will their power erupt, but it will also damage the castle throughout the night.”

“This doesn’t benefit us.”

“Therefore, I suggest that we open one floor each night, and the players on that floor will have to protect their own ghost friends using their own abilities.”

Everyone in the cafeteria was stunned.

Naturally, the people on the fifth floor didn’t agree.

Someone immediately stood up to say something, but they remembered the person who had been thrown out by Shi Tianzhu that night and closed their mouth.

But this was not as simple as preventing them from destroying the castle’s corridor. This was sending them to their deaths.

Someone asked, “Who gave you the right to make such a decision?”

Shi Tianzhu ignored him and continued, “The first three nights were on the fourth floor, and now there are only four people left on the fourth floor. To be fair, it should be the turn of the fifth and sixth floors.”

“Last night, our sixth floor started first. I had planned that once our sixth floor had the same number of people left as the fourth floor, you on the fifth floor would take your turn. But I didn’t expect...”

There was no need to finish the sentence; everyone already knew.

Last night, someone from the sixth floor went to the fifth floor, leaving only four people on the sixth floor, while the fifth floor now had seven people.

A faint smile appeared on Shi Tianzhu’s lips. “So for the next three nights, I hope the players on the fifth floor can guard for themselves.”

The four people on the fourth floor exchanged glances, and Zhu Shuangshuang immediately raised her hand, representing the fourth floor, and said, “We on the fourth floor agree to support President Shi!”

How was it possible not to support? This way, they wouldn’t have to worry about the monster children for at least three days."

The players on the fifth floor had unpleasant expressions on their faces.

Among them, the player who had just come from the sixth floor to the fifth floor had the most unpleasant expression.

Shi Tianzhu smiled and said, “Then let the majority decide.”

She then looked at Ning Su, who was sitting next to her.

Ning Su thought that Zhu Shuangshuang had already represented everyone on the fourth floor, so when she looked at him, he raised his hand and said, “I support President Shi!”

Shi Tianzhu raised her lips and smiled.

Ning Su also smiled with her eyes squinted.

While they were smiling at each other, he suddenly felt a very noticeable gaze. He turned his head and found that it was the little Gu Witch looking at him.

At this moment, many people were also looking at the little Gu Witch, wanting to see her attitude.

Contrary to the expectations of the players on the fifth floor, the little Gu Witch lowered her head and hoarsely said, “Okay.”

Since it was like this, even if other players were dissatisfied, it wouldn’t matter.

The decision regarding the life and death of the three players was easily determined.

After finishing breakfast, the players from the fourth floor leisurely played in the garden.

Not to mention the players on the fifth floor. Tonight the arched windows of the fifth floor would be opened, and they would have to rely on their own abilities to protect their ghost friends. They were busy reinforcing their doors and windows.

The same went for the players on the sixth floor. They knew that they couldn’t rely solely on Shi Tianzhu’s protection in the future and began preparing to reinforce their own rooms.

Ning Su played on the seesaw with Gui Sheng and the Blood Doll. Gui Sheng and the Blood Doll sat on one side while Ning Su sat alone on the other side, maintaining balance on both ends.

Zhu Shuangshuang and Zhi Zhi sat on the swings next to them.

Ji Mingrui and Meng Jiang were also nearby, watching their ghost friends play on the slide.

They watched as several players took out various tools and faced the lily vines on the wall.

The strongest boy walked over with a long knife.

“Is that Wu Wenhai’s Breaking Sea Knife?”

“I heard that he used this knife to split a mountain in the previous instance!”

Everyone in the garden looked at him.

Someone couldn’t help but caution, “Be careful. If you damage the castle walls, President Shi will get angry.”

Wu Wenhai nodded, “I know. I’ll just lightly strike and cut a few meters of the vine.”

Saying that, he raised the long knife and chopped towards the lush vine.

Bang!

A loud sound.

Not a trace was seen on the vine.

Zhu Shuangshuang suddenly covered her mouth with her hand.

Ji Mingrui and Meng Jiang both lowered their heads, one pressing their lips with the back of their hand, the other supporting the corner of their mouth with a finger.

Ning Su: “Haha!”

“...”

The garden suddenly became unusually quiet. Not even the joyful “yiyiya” sounds of the ghost friends playing could be heard.

Ning Su realized it was because of him.

He had always been telling Gui Sheng to be polite. As a parent, he naturally had to lead by example.

Ning Su apologized sincerely, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have laughed out loud.”

“...”

There was silence in the garden for a while. Then Wu Wenhai took the long knife and started chopping again, while other players used various tools and weapons to cut, tear, smash, saw, and burn...

A frenzy of actions.

—Yet, there wasn’t a single trace left on the vine.

One hour later, many players gathered around the players on the fourth floor.

Zhu Shuangshuang: “Aren’t you very skilled? Wasn’t it you who mocked me and Ban Zhong in the garden last time?”

Ji Mingrui: “I’m just a newbie without any skills or weapons. It’s my first time entering a dungeon.”

Meng Jiang: “Don’t judge me by my strength, but... how about this? Let me help you guys with the cutting.”

Someone approached Ning Su and said, “Hello, could you help me cut a bundle of lily vines? I’ll give you 10,000 points, is that okay?”

The three immediately looked at Ning Su, thinking to themselves, ‘Uh-oh, this guy is going to compromise for points.’

Ning Su replied slowly, “No, you think points can buy anything?”

The three were stunned, especially Ji Mingrui, who looked at Ning Su in astonishment.

Just as the person was about to leave, Ning Su said, “Lily flowers are precious, so you have to add points.”

“...”

The person regained hope. Currently, lily vines were the safest option, so of course, he was willing to add points.

He quickly asked, “Okay, okay, how much do you want?”

Ning Su said seriously, “One hundred million points.”

The person was infuriated and left.

Ning Su called after him, “Think about it carefully. I might change my mind in a couple of days!”

“...”

After giving his advice, Ning Su happily played on the seesaw with the two kids, watching them find various ways to cut the lily vines.

After enjoying the show, he said to Gui Sheng, “Let’s go up.”

He took out the kitchen knife again on the terrace.

The players in the garden who were desperately cutting the lily vines suddenly saw a small piece of lily vine fall to the ground. They thought they had cut it off themselves and were pleasantly surprised.

He was just about to ask the person next to him to look when he noticed that everyone in the garden was looking up.

On the fourth floor, there was a little boy who was chopping at the lily vines just like chopping a cabbage. In less than a minute, he chopped more than a dozen stems of varying thickness.

“...”

Gui Sheng put all the rattan strips into the woven basket and Ning Su said, “Let’s bring them to President Shi.”

Gui Sheng replied, “Okay!”

He grabbed the basket and was about to walk out. He knew this path well.

Ning Su called him, “Wait.”

He picked a handful of lily flowers and inserted them in a circle on the basket.

Not entirely satisfied, he lowered his head and looked for a while, then took out a beautifully shaped skull and filled it with the lily flowers in its eye sockets and mouth, creating a small skull flower basket in the middle of the larger basket.

Ning Su asked, “Is it nice?”

Gui Sheng stared at it for a while and said, “It’s very nice!”

Both boys were very satisfied. Carrying the basket with the Blood Doll, they went up to the sixth floor together, pushing and pulling.

They quietly placed the basket at the door of Shi Tianzhu’s room, about to slip away.

“Come in,” someone inside the room called out to them.

Ning Su straightened his clothes, grabbed the basket, and led Gui Sheng and the Blood Doll into the room.

He wanted to say that she couldn’t use that spatial item anymore, so he brought her some lily vines to use instead.

He opened his mouth but couldn’t find the right words to say.

Shi Tianzhu glanced at the basket beside him, and a smile naturally appeared on her face. She beckoned to him, saying, “Come here.”

Ning Su didn’t say anything and walked over to her.

Shi Tianzhu handed him a bottle of milk and said, “Thank you.”

Ning Su: “You’re welcome.”

During their first private encounter, it seemed like both of them didn’t know what to say.

The two ghost friends sat together, looking at each other. Gui Sheng sat on a carpet near Ning Su’s feet, drinking milk.

The room was very quiet, thankfully without any awkwardness.

The similar pairs of eyes were fixed on the view outside the window.

Shi Tianzhu’s room had a great view, and sitting here, the entire garden lay before their eyes.

After a while, Shi Tianzhu said, “That night, I saw two people on the fourth floor trying to leave the castle. Why didn’t you go down?”

Ning Su took a sip of milk. “I couldn’t leave.”

Shi Tianzhu turned and asked him, “Why couldn’t you leave?”

Before Ning Su could respond, Shi Tianzhu said, “No slacking off or pretending to be ignorant. Speak up.”

Ning Su: “...”

He felt a sudden tightness in his scalp.

The words were somewhat frightening, but they also broke the faint distance between the two, adding a touch of familiarity.

Ning Su had no choice but to sit up straight and explain, “Because we haven’t been born yet.”

“We are still in the womb, and this castle is the womb. We can’t leave the womb.”

“However, the womb is becoming weaker and won’t last much longer. If the womb dies, we will die too. That’s why you don’t let anyone destroy the castle.”

 

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