The sound of wind in the dense fog at night became even more pronounced.
Only the sound of wind could be heard, but there was no movement of air.
Three of them observed each other closely, their bodies tensing gradually.
The first to make a move was Gu Witch; the gu insects appeared in the thick fog.
However, strangely, for some reason, the gu insects did not fly towards the other two; instead, they began crawling up Gu Witch’s legs towards his body.
Ning Changfeng immediately figured out what was happening, although he didn’t understand why. “Hey, Gu Witch, don’t go!”
The screen of Ling Xiao went black.
He had chosen Gu Witch’s perspective.
Gu Witch ‘voluntarily’ withdrew from the competition.
No one knew why.
[It’s because she couldn’t hold on anymore, knowing she couldn’t beat the other two, so she chose to exit gracefully.]
[It can only be for this reason. What else could it be?]
Gu Witch caught them off guard when he withdrew voluntarily.
In the instance dungeon world, only Shi Tianzhu and Ning Changfeng remained.
Shi Tianzhu: “Ning Changfeng, let’s settle this quickly with a fight.”
Ning Changfeng: “Sure.”
Inside and outside the instance dungeon, they had lost count of how many times they had fought.
Just one more time, right?
Who’s afraid of a fight?
The shell moved slightly.
Ning Changfeng: “Wait!”
Ning Su: “......”
Ning Changfeng knew how many people were watching them at this moment. After calling for a stop, he paused and said, “Why are those tentacles following you?”
The broken shell slowly opened, revealing a surprising sight: besides Shi Tianzhu, there was also a boy inside.
***
Mist City did have a few rare occurrences of Meat Lingzhi appearing due to the favorable environment.
Meat Lingzhi was very rare and was said to cure many illnesses. Naturally, it commanded a high price, especially the larger specimens, which fetched astronomical prices.
The people who initially discovered Meat Lingzhi enjoyed immense benefits, so how could they bear to let it go?
However, that kind of Meat Lingzhi was already rare. Once sold, it was gone. Where could they get more from?
Before long, a factory appeared in Mist City.
They were able to artificially cultivate Meat Lingzhi, causing it to grow rapidly and thus gaining huge profits.
No one knew what methods they were using.
Shi Tianzhu and the others searched for this factory. The factory was already dilapidated, shrouded in thick and unpleasant fog.
In the hazy fog, they saw the figure of a boy dragging a sack out from inside the factory.
Shi Tianzhu and a few others followed him, but in the dense fog, they could only see him picking something up, but couldn’t make out what it was.
The sack kept swelling, and when they approached, they discovered the boy was actually picking up human body parts.
The boy looked to be only seven or eight years old, dragging a sack larger than himself, earnestly and carefully searching for pieces in the thick fog.
Sometimes, when encountering thick blood, he would even use steamed buns to dip into it. After soaking up the blood, he would then throw the buns into the sack.
Those pieces and blood were left behind from the tentacles grabbing people.
The boy became nervous upon seeing them, clutching the sack tightly behind him, his dirty face with dark eyes watching them warily.
The female player next to Shi Tianzhu was about to speak, but was stopped by Shi Tianzhu, who signaled for the doctor to communicate with the boy.
The doctor crouched down and said to the little boy, “Don’t be nervous. I’m not bothered by these things either. I’m a doctor.”
Upon hearing that he was a doctor, the boy’s guarded expression turned hopeful.
The doctor said, “I heard that many people here need help. We got lost in the fog and couldn’t find anyone.”
The boy said, “Can you save my grandfather? He’s sick.”
The doctor nodded. “Okay, where is your grandfather? Show us.”
The boy’s eyes finally lit up, but he said, “My grandfather can only appear between eleven in the morning and two in the afternoon. Can you wait until tomorrow?”
This time frame was too sensitive.
The group immediately became cautious.
The doctor nodded. “Okay, then tell me more about your grandfather’s condition.”
He looked at the dirty little hands tightly holding the sack and asked, “What are you picking these things up for?”
The boy replied, “To feed my grandfather.”
“He’s sick and can only eat these.”
Several people were stunned.
The little boy led them to the factory, fidgeting nervously. “My grandpa looks a bit strange, but don’t be scared. He’s just different-looking, but a very nice person.”
Shi Tianzhu advised, “The doctor needs to stay calm during the examination to avoid getting nervous. Why don’t you draw a rough sketch of your grandpa’s appearance first to help him get used to it?”
The boy picked up a stick and started drawing on the ground.
Without hesitation, he drew quickly and carefully.
Even if his drawing skills were poor, they could tell it wasn’t human.
It was a mass of flesh with tentacles.
Rummaging through several dilapidated rooms in the factory, they finally discovered that this evil factory had previously been using human flesh to cultivate Meat Lingzhi.
But in the end, they used dark magic to nurture an evil monster and suffered the consequences.
They speculated that the grandfather drawn by the little boy was the same as the monster attacking them, the ‘Tai Sui’.
However, what he saw was the monster between 11 PM and 2 AM, during which time he would feed it with the meat scraps he collected in the thick fog at other times.
During other times, the monster dragged and devoured the people of Mist City.
It was during these times that the boy collected scraps to feed his grandfather.
The reason he called it “grandpa” was most likely because his actual grandfather had been fed to the Meat Lingzhi by people from that factory, becoming part of the monstrous Meat Lingzhi—likely a very significant part of it.
The people the factory used to feed the Meat Lingzhi were definitely not anyone important or influential; they were all likely homeless and desperate individuals.
The vagrant said the dense fog started five years ago.
Five years ago, the child was only three years old.
He naively believed it was his sick grandfather. Perhaps after witnessing people feeding Meat Lingzhi with human flesh, he went into the fog every day to collect meat scraps to feed his “grandfather.”
Several people felt uneasy.
The doctor asked the boy, “Is your grandpa really a good person?”
The boy nodded firmly. “Grandpa is very kind, very good.”
***
At this moment, the little boy poked his head out from the shell, and the tentacles surrounding the shell abruptly retracted and shrank.
“Grandpa!” The boy crawled out from the shell and rushed towards the greatly diminished Tai Sui. “Can you come out at night too?”
The boy said excitedly, “Are they going to cure your illness?”
The previously ferocious tentacles, which seemed intent on killing all the Mist City residents and players, now shrank to the length of arms, extending softly yet stiffly.
All the players were stunned.
[Why does this little boy call a monster ‘grandpa’?]
[How could this be a grandpa?]
[But this monster never attacked the shell the boy was in.]
[Can this monster recognize the boy...]
Many players were puzzled until a player who had been observing from Shi Tianzhu’s perspective explained the backstory in the barrage of comments.
Thanks for the update
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