Salted Fish Zombie

Chapter 50.2: Game Base (1)

June 30, 2023 by Wyrd

“What happened to your face?” she asked Su Wangsheng.

With this question, many people’s gazes shifted to Su Wangsheng’s face.

There was a very distinct palm print there.

Su Wangsheng said somewhat embarrassedly, “I got slapped by a female ghost.”

“What did you do? Why did she slap you?” Zhu Shuangshuang’s voice was even louder than before.

“What can I, a Taoist priest, do?”

Ning Su: “...”

Zhu Shuangshuang seemed at a loss for words too, standing still for a few seconds before approaching them.

Meanwhile, it seemed that some things were unfolding on Su Wangsheng’s side. Several people stood together and were discussing something, then turned their gaze in their direction, just like the others.

Ning Su immediately knew what they were looking at.

There was a person in their group dressed in white robes, with white hair. Through the process of elimination, it was immediately evident that this person was the Gu Witch.

Ning Su was slightly surprised. No wonder everyone was shocked when they first entered the instance and saw the dirty little Gu Witch. This was how the witch looked in his adult form.

White hair, white robes, and a thin mask made of an unknown material on the face.

The presence of the witch accompanying them to the Yinhua Guild did indeed draw attention.

Ning Su and Shi Tianzhu walked at the back. He asked her in a soft voice, “Why does the witch hold animosity towards you?”

“The Yongming Guild and the Yinhua Guild have always been enemies.”

Shi Tianzhu thought for a moment and added, “When the witch first entered the game base, I happened to see it. I noticed that he was different from the frantic players around him, so I deliberately struck up a conversation with him.”

“At that time, he was wearing a high school uniform, with a skirt on the lower half, and I was a bit puzzled, so I asked him if he was a boy or a girl.”

Shi Tianzhu still vividly remembered the expression on his decaying face at that moment. It was grim, insane, and filled with hatred.

Ning Su made a sound of understanding.

In reality, there wasn’t any deep grudge, apart from the inherent opposition within the guild. It was simply because the president asked the most piercing question that fueled the hatred in his life.

The interior of the Yinhua Guild wasn’t as extravagant as it appeared from the outside; it had a more quaint and elegant vibe, resembling architecture from a bygone era.

Shi Tianzhu led them into a conference room, and strangely enough, the room resembled the dining hall in the castle.

Ornate brass lamps hung from the high ceiling, each adorned with a small candle, illuminating a long table in the spacious conference room.

Unfortunately, the seats were not completely occupied.

Zhu Shuangshuang said, “We’ve barely left the instance, and I already miss Zhi Zhi.”

Meng Jiang said, “I’ve decided to join the Yinhua Guild. On the last day of the instance, President Shi asked me, and I expressed my desire to be her assistant, which would make it more convenient for me to see A Yi.”

Several people looked at him.

He scratched his head and continued, “Actually, I’m an orphan and I really want to have a family. In the instance, I genuinely treated A Yi as my younger brother.”

Ning Su made a sound of acknowledgment.

“That’s great,” Zhu Shuangshuang said. “President Shi asked me as well, but I’ve already joined the Mutual Aid Guild.”

“She said it’s alright, and in the future, if I want to see Zhi Zhi, I can summon him directly through her. She’s really kind.”

Ning Su remained silent.

She had indeed intended to bring all of them into the Yinhua Guild.

After Shi Tianzhu changed into a different outfit, the review began.

She closed her eyes, and the images of their initial entry into the castle appeared on the large screen in the conference room.

The players who hadn’t seen such scenes before were astonished, taking a second to realize that it was a visualization from Shi Tianzhu’s mind.

No wonder so many people wanted to join the Yinhua Guild. If they had maps like this to familiarize themselves with and study in advance, the fear upon entering the dungeon instance would be greatly reduced.

Shi Tianzhu said, “I’ll start first. The instance we just completed is called ‘Manman.’ The name Manman is derived from Gu Man Tong and Gu Man Li, and it’s also because the ghost master is named Manman.”

Speaking of this, she glanced at the little girl beside Ning Su, who was exceptionally exquisite and sat obediently by the other’s side.

But Shi Tianzhu knew very well that all the ghost masters in the instances, even the ghost masters of Level 1 instances, were by no means simple. They were terrifying beings.

“When we enter the castle and choose our rooms, it’s like preparing to be born in the womb. At this time, we face two types of death. One is the attack from the monster children on our ghost friends. If our ghost friends are destroyed, we will die with them. The second is the decline of the mother’s body. If the mother’s body deteriorates before we are born, we will be ‘miscarried’ and turn into monster children.”

“Even if we have skills to defend against the attacks of the monster children, we can’t withstand them because the monster children, in their rage, will smash the walls and rapidly accelerate the decline of the mother’s body.”

“Therefore, the only solution is to ‘be born’ as soon as possible.”

Ning Su quietly said something to Gui Sheng and Manman, allowing them to leave the meeting room and go play.

Shi Tianzhu said, “One of the methods to be born is to accumulate 8 points of luck.”

Gu Witch said as well, “There is another method. Among the twenty ghost friends, there are three normal Gu Man Tong. As long as you raise them for ten days, they can open that iron door and take the players out.”

In other words, even if the players had seen the map of this instance, regardless of which method they chose, ordinary players still had to persevere for about ten days, which meant ten players would still die.

Ji Mingruii echoed Shi Tianzhu’s words and said, “This is the psychological pressure the system has added to us. Originally, in order to obtain luck points, we treated our ghost friends well. After knowing this truth, in order to stay alive and leave the castle as soon as possible, we either have to treat them even better or force and intimidate them.”

“We didn’t know that our ghost friends were unfortunate children who died without love. Being good to them or hurting them after being good to them both leads to a dead end.”

By bravely protecting them and sincerely treating them well, they wouldn’t be willing to let the players leave and would turn them into their kind, keeping them in the world of the instance.

First, let them feel love, then harm them. When they awakened and realized their past, they would seek revenge. Even before they were born and in their extremely fragile state, major problems could occur.

Gu Witch added, “There is one exception—the normal Gu Man Tong won’t.”

“...”

Zhu Shuangshuang said, “But the normal Gu Man Tong rarely provides luck points in the early stages, which would provoke their companions to use means to coerce them. Unfortunately, these ghost friends are particularly sensitive and fragile, making them prone to death.”

One of them had the thread connecting its head to its body severed, their body nearly rendered useless, and they committed suicide in front of the monster children.

The other could be said to have died of a broken heart.

The players fell silent, realizing that this dungeon was full of pitfalls, and they felt genuinely saddened.

If it wasn’t for Shi Tianzhu presenting the summoning contract and informing the ghost friends that their departure wouldn’t be permanent and they would meet again, they wouldn’t have known what would become of them.

Ji Mingruii said, “We must protect them, but we can’t be too kind to them.”

Meng Jiang added, “It’s really difficult to strike the right balance. If we don’t treat them well in the castle, we won’t gain any luck points. And without luck points, we can’t leave the castle.”

Ji Mingruii continued, “A slightly more manageable approach is to treat them well in the castle, and after leaving, let them realize that living with us is not as happy as they imagine.”

Zhu Shuangshuang suggested, “There’s another way to clear the game: finding the ghost friend who can open the door early on and letting them guide the players out. The other players don’t have to be as kind to the ghost friend.”

Meng Jiang said, “The Gu Witch mentioned that we have to nurture them for ten days, which means ten players have to die. But it is indeed a method.”

Indeed, it was a method. However, deep within the core, a less sacrificial and more ruthless method had already been conceived, which was to designate a sacrificial lamb.

This player would exhaust all their efforts to be kind to the ghost friends, while the other players would treat the ghost friends with less enthusiasm, helping them to gain 8 luck points in the shortest possible time.

Another pitfall of this game was that the structure of the floors naturally bred animosity among the players, but in reality, as long as one player opened the door, all the other players would be born together.

Of course, this sacrificial lamb would ultimately be left behind in the world of the dungeon.

They didn’t mention this method. Each guild would discuss and experiment with different strategies based on their guild’s characteristics and members’ skills to find the best way to clear the level.

The joint review among different groups was merely for exchanging information.

Seeing that Ning Su remained silent, Shi Tianzhu asked him, “Do you have anything to say?”

Ning Su scratched his arm and said, “Are we not going to eat?”

“...”

Indeed, the meals were abundant, with a total of thirty-six dishes, many of which Ning Su had never seen before.

In addition, each person had a bowl of specially made soup.

The head steward personally brought Ning Su’s bowl to him. Ning Su reluctantly shifted his gaze away from the table, looked up at the steward with shining eyes, and said, “Thank you.”

The steward stared at his eyes for a moment, feeling inexplicably touched.

The players who had narrowly escaped from the gates of hell enjoyed their meal with great satisfaction.

After finishing the meal, as the base was bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun, they thanked Shi Tianzhu and left.

On the way, Ji Mingruii said to Ning Su, “I’ll transfer my points to you. I didn’t obtain any weapon items, only points.”

Ning Su asked, “How many points?”

Ji Mingrui replied, “370,000.”

“That’s a lot! No wonder it’s a third-level instance!” Ning Su’s eyes gleamed, and then he added, “No, let’s start over.”

“That’s a lot! You truly deserve the title of Boss Ji, one of the two people who cleared the level using the correct method!”

Ji Mingrui used one of the methods mentioned earlier, regardless of whether it was a lucky guess or not.

Among all the players on the fourth floor, he was indeed the one who treated ghost friends the most casually. When he learned that players could obtain luck points through coercion, he hesitated, but still didn’t use it.

After leaving the castle, it was said that he helped Sui Sui studied for ten hours every day without fail.

It’s too twisted!

Ning Su didn’t even bother to refuse or give any meaning of rejection, happily accepting his hard work.

“Maybe I can buy a small house now,” Ning Su exclaimed joyfully. “The base properties last for 70 years. They are permanent as long as the player lives.”

“But first, I need to go check if my bridge dwelling is still intact.”

“...”

Ning Su held Gui Sheng and Manman in each hand and happily ran towards the bridge dwelling.

At the time, he had no idea the duration of this instance would be so long. He had told Chen Tian and Chen Qing that if there were not enough spaces in the bridge dwelling for other players to sleep, they could occupy it. Only if there were players who had nowhere else to sleep, then he would give up his spot.

Who knew if there were still blankets left there from Chen Tian and Chen Qing.

Once all the players had left, Shi Tianzhu had finished taking a shower and was having her ankles massaged when the head manager told her, “Rest assured, I have everything arranged.”

“What do you mean by ‘arranged’?” Shi Tianzhu asked.

The head manager replied, “I gave Ning Su an a7 medication. In the next instance, he will gradually lose control of his body and be devoured or torn apart by the monsters inside.”

Shi Tianzhu’s face immediately turned extremely grim.

Realizing something, the head manager said, “You looked so terrifying and pulled him aside, saying something about him not having a chance to survive. You even specifically instructed me to prepare a sumptuous meal. Wasn’t that what you meant?”

Shi Tianzhu didn’t waste any more words and hastily left the room, donning a windbreaker.

***

Ning Su still had his claim on the bridge dwelling, with Chen Tian helping him keep it.

His neighbor, the one who told him not to forget him once he achieved wealth, was also there. As soon as he saw Ning Su, he immediately greeted him, “Haven’t seen you for a few days, and now you’ve gained another child.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Ning Su sighed.

Just as he was about to say more to his neighbor after settling the two children down, a huge wave surged from the front of the river.

The waves surged towards the bridge, layer by layer, and just before reaching it, they parted on both sides. A handsome man with serpent-like legs propped himself on the edge of the bridge’s arch and leaned towards Ning Su, saying, “Little brother, I have something to tell you.”

The river stretched wide and far, and as far as the eye could see, there was a snake tail resembling a dragon’s tail, gleaming with a magnificent luster under the orange sunset. The scene was dreamlike and grand.

A strand of damp hair hung over the man’s captivating face. He blew it away and said to Ning Su, “Shi Tianzhu wants to kill you.”

Ning Su: “...”

To avoid an awkward atmosphere, Ning Su asked politely, “Brother, why?”

“Because he doesn’t want you to become the second Ning Changfeng.”

Ning Su fell silent again and asked with courtesy, “May I ask, who are you?”

The handsome man gathered his hair behind his ear and said, “I am Ning Changfeng.”

Ning Su: “...”

Unexpectedly, Ning Changfeng, the top-ranked player, had a name as ethereal and refined as a young Taoist, yet he turned out to be an enchanting male snake.

“May I ask, how many points does the Yinhua Guild offer as a reward for your head?”