Ning Changfeng was still wandering in the gray mist. He was the only player interacting with the barrage of comments. “See, there’s no need to be so tense, even in the finals.”
Except for the encounter with the Black-clothed Azan where he was injured on his face, he remained relaxed when meeting other players.
As he said this, suddenly an arrow shot through the mist straight towards him.
Ning Changfeng swiftly dodged and leaped onto a tree to avoid another arrow.
After several arrows were shot, a male player emerged from the fog and recognized Ning Changfeng. Two snake heads were facing him.
“...”
[Hahaha, brother, I sympathize with you for a second.]
[A gift is light, but the sentiment is heavy.] (T/N: The proverb is often used in situations where someone has traveled a long distance to give a gift.)
The player cautiously said, “Um, I’ll just commit suicide and withdraw from the competition.”
Ning Changfeng nodded and said, “Indeed, rankings often involve luck each year. If you’re unlucky, it’s fair for you to withdraw on your own, for the sake of fairness to other players.”
“...”
On Jia Chensheng’s side, three people gathered together. Analyzing the instance was their advantage, and they were earnestly progressing through the plot.
Similar to Shi Tianzhu’s group, they also found out that monsters in this Mist City were eating people, specifically capturing and devouring them during dense fog. The ones responsible for the attacks were likely the brown tentacles that were targeting them.
“It’s almost two o’clock.” A female player wiped sweat from her face.
Jia Chensheng said, “Let’s follow the monster’s tentacles and investigate.”
At two o’clock in the afternoon.
Zhu Shuangshuang glanced at the system’s optional perspective. “With only eighteen players left, they wouldn’t end it in a day, would they?”
Ji Mingrui: “In recent years, the finals have never lasted more than two days. The players determine the rankings themselves, even when progressing through instances. These high-level players will definitely be able to finish within two days.”
Su Wangsheng clicked his tongue. “This is eye-opening.”
The mist inside the city was denser than before they entered.
Players cautiously hid in various places within the city.
After about ten minutes, screams began to echo from the dense fog one after another.
“What’s going on?”
“Local residents of Mist City are being dragged away by tentacles.”
As soon as these words were spoken, hundreds of tentacles instantly extended from the thick fog towards Shi Tianzhu and the others.
Almost everyone was simultaneously faced with hundreds of tentacles.
The sheer number shocked all the players; one of them, caught off guard, was pierced through the shoulder blade by a swiftly approaching tentacle and dragged away on the spot.
It wasn’t just their group; other players within the dense fog were experiencing similar encounters.
The gray mist was too thick; nothing could be seen beyond half a meter.
In the dense, grimy mist thick with the scent of blood, all that could be heard were distant and nearby screams, as well as the scraping sound of bodies being dragged across the ground.
As for the players within the instance world, their status was unknown, but the players at the base had already started to feel nervous and anxious.
No one knew when or from where a flurry of tentacles would suddenly burst forth.
No one knew who would be the next to be dragged away.
On Jia Chensheng’s side, one player was dragged away. With the help of the fan, he and two other players sprinted along, following the tentacles.
Along the way, more tentacles kept reaching out; by the time they caught up, only one player remained beside Jia Chensheng.
“What... what is this?” Ji Mingrui exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the giant monster on the screen.
Everyone turned to look at his screen; the undulating creature dominated the entire wall screen.
The soft, undulating brown creature, comparable to a mountain, extended countless tentacles outward.
“Wow~” Gui Sheng’s eyes sparkled as he stared at the monster, unable to resist taking a step closer and reaching out towards the screen, “Such a big chunk of meat.”
“...”
Ning Su helped salvage the situation, “It does look like meat, perhaps it’s a Tai Sui?” (T/N: In folklore, Tai Sui is sometimes described as a monstrous creature resembling a giant, fleshy ox liver with two eyes. Some versions say it can be eaten and regenerates.)
He looked at Ling Xiao, who nodded. “Who knows how many people this ‘Tai Sui’ has eaten?”
On the massive monster’s body, a thin layer of fine yellow-green liquid oozed out, with a thin membrane transparently tinged with pink.
Many people were dragged in by the tentacles and wedged into the wriggling brown-pink flesh crevices, gradually being swallowed and engulfed.
The membrane was covered in fragments of limbs such as heads, arms, and feet, becoming increasingly sticky as it undulated.
A player, dragged by tentacles with one piercing through their chest, was about to be thrown into the main body. Witnessing this scene, they committed suicide in the game to withdraw from the competition.
“...”
As more and more feeding occurred, the crevices in the monster’s flesh, resembling slime, wriggled and quivered, gradually growing larger.
Its tentacles were long, all extending into the dense fog, strangely providing safety to the surrounding players.
Tentacles were flying one after another into the thick fog. When Jia Chensheng noticed that one of the tentacles coming towards him was unusual, it was already too late.
He immediately flipped over, but the human pupa still bit a chunk of flesh off his arm.
The player on his left had their neck severed directly.
The human pupa master, hiding behind the Tai Sui monster and waiting for unsuspecting victims, laughed loudly. It was unknown how many players she had eliminated from the competition using this tactic.
She didn’t show herself because, once she appeared, her weakness would be impossible to hide.
Jia Chensheng was unaware that she was about to give up soon and did not dare to approach hastily.
Soon, Shi Tianzhu also arrived with three others.
Before Jia Chensheng could warn to be careful, a brass-colored hand suddenly extended from the Tai Sui’s flesh, grabbing one of the players’ heads and pulling it directly into the Tai Sui’s body.
Shi Tianzhu: “Retreat! Watch your step!”
In the room, Manman stood up from the carpet, her eyes on the screen revealing a hint of blood.
Zhu Shuangshuang exclaimed in surprise, “Just now, what was that?”
Ning Su pursed his lips. “A Gu Man Tong raised by the Black-clothed Azan.”
Zhu Shuangshuang and Ji Mingrui fell silent, staring closely at the understated president of the Yongming Guild.
Players who have gone through the <Manman> instance find that facing the Black-clothed Azan was challenging and not enjoyable for anyone.
Ning Su was also watching.
When he saw the Black-clothed Azan in the finals dungeon, he understood something.
In the final stage of the <Manman> instance, why did Shi Tianzhu go to great lengths to sign a mutual contract with ghost friends like Zhi Zhi and Ai Yi, along with several players, to help summon these ghost friends?
It was to deal with the president of the Yongming Guild, Black-clothed Azan, at a critical moment.
After the player next to Shi Tianzhu had their head taken, several players quietly stood in different positions, none daring to make a move.
The Tai Sui slowly wriggled as it fed.
The yellow-green viscous fluid gathered more and more, accompanied by a fresh bloody scent mixed with the odor of aged decay.
More and more gray mist overflowed from the tentacles.
In the dense fog, there came waves of cries and dragging sounds.
The sound of wind continued to echo, yet strangely, not a wisp of fog was stirred. Drawing closer and listening carefully, it sounded like both the wind and mournful cries emanating from within the flesh of the enormous Tai Sui.
After a long silence, Jia Chensheng spoke first, asking Shi Tianzhu, “President Shi, coming here so late, did you come to investigate something?”
Shi Tianzhu looked at the Tai Sui before them and the black-clad man standing ten meters away from the Tai Sui. “We went to a factory and discovered that Mist City originally produced Meat Lingzhi.”
Tai Sui was commonly known as Meat Lingzhi.
Giant-sized Tai Sui creatures were extremely rare. To say that a place produces them sounds quite extraordinary.
Jia Chensheng grasped the key point. “Is it genuine Meat Lingzhi? How was it cultivated?”
Shi Tianzhu replied, “It’s not a pure Tai Sui; it’s cultivated using a sinister method, using human flesh.”
Players both inside and outside the instance looked toward the mountain-like Tai Sui.
Initially, they thought that the wailing coming from within the Tai Sui’s flesh, mixed with the fog, was the cries of people swallowed by the Tai Sui monster. Now it seemed that perhaps not all of it was.
As Shi Tianzhu finished speaking, the Tai Sui suddenly began to tremble violently.
(T/N: According to what I searched, Lingzhi is some kind of fungus. I’m not really sure how that is related to whatever a Tai Sui was tho.)
Thanks for the update
ReplyDeleteNow I'm starting to wonder why didn't Fang Qi appear in the preselections...
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