Spring Banquet (21)

Underground.

"Ahhhhh!" The monster with lantern-like eyes emerged from the membrane and pounced at Saman and Qing Lin. Saman was the first to rush to the other side of the membrane while Qing Lin gritted his teeth and followed him out. eag5B4

They went straight into another room.

"Hiss—" the monster immediately turned around and chased them.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Because the monster had sharp scales and horns, it would occasionally tear the membrane under its feet and fall through. This was why their first reaction when running into this monster was to 'slip away' in order to save energy.

However, this monster doesn't seem to be tearing the membrane. yoUYw7

The duo passed through another membrane wall and into another dark room. The pair of red-hot charcoal-like eyes chased after them, accompanied by a hissing sound.

They had no time to look back as they were hastily trying to find an exit. Unless they had to, neither of them wanted to stop and confront the monster head-on in the dark.

The enemy could see in the dark while they couldn't so the environment was unfavourable to them. Therefore, it wouldn't be advantageous to directly fight the monster.

Saman broke into another room, and as soon as he entered, he felt that something was wrong. There was a distinctive scent of an alien presence— this room had an owner.

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There was another monster here.

"Turn left!" Saman quickly turned left. Qing Lin followed closely after and slammed into a thick wall of flesh with a 'bang'. After a moment of stupor, he let out a 'f*ck'. They had thought that this was an empty room and ran in, but unexpectedly, there was another monster?

The two ran for a while and suddenly felt that something was amiss.

"How come they are not chasing after us?" Qing Lin listened for any movements behind him, "Did the two monsters fight?" h4C0LV

"Not necessarily," Saman gasped.

Qing Lin was exhausted from all the running. Previously, he had hung on because of his desire to survive, but now, because he felt that the situation was a bit safer, he slowed down slightly. He was panting as he asked, "It— It won't come after us again, right?"

Due to the absence of the hissing sound behind them, Saman slowed down while peeking over his shoulder.

A pair of glowing red eyes were silently staring back at them. 3va H7

"!" Saman tightened his grip on the giant sword in his hand.

What is scarier than a regular monster? It is a monster with intelligence.

They were obviously going up against a monster that could play dumb and take advantage of playing mind tricks.

What was worse is that this monster had dealt with the other monster they previously come across in such a short period of time; the other monster was also very strong itself. ud9R4m

"Stop!" Saman drew his giant sword.

"What?" Qing Lin hadn't reacted yet. He only saw that Saman was in an attack stance, "What's wrong?" He really has no strength left.

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"See for yourself."

See for yourself? When Qing Lin looked back, all the hairs on his body stood up at once. He jumped up and immediately turned around, "F*ck—" maLcrj

The monster suddenly opened its mouth and exposed its blue blood vessels that glowed in the dark. Qing Lin was too close and could feel something slimy hook around his neck.

Right at the critical moment, he no longer has any more reservations and gritted his teeth as he took out his hidden prop. He raised his hand and pulled the trigger. A bullet shot out and hit one of the monster's eyes. It was a special kind of bullet that has a freezing and slowing effect, which resulted in half of the monster's head being encased in ice.

The ice spread rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, half of the monster's body was frozen.

While that occurred, Saman had cut off the monster's hooked tongue with the sword. Qing Lin felt that the sticky and slimy thing around his neck loosened and precious air rushed into his lungs again.

"It's so disgusting," Qing Lin touched the sticky, blue mucus on his neck and cursed, "Damn, that bullet cost a tenth of a gold shell!"

The surface of Saman's giant sword had a golden lustre as if it had some sort of incantation. He swung down on the monster's eyes and the red lantern-like eyes were directly split in two. The fluorescent red fluid sprayed out and coated both the membrane and Saman.

The light of the sword was still spreading frantically in all directions, appearing like golden spider webs. Layers upon layers, snowflake-like membrane fragments scattered and the large membrane room disappeared as it was overwhelmed by the golden web. ZtXMpS

The space below could not keep up with the speed at which those spaces disappeared, and a large empty room appeared in front of Saman. The two seemed to be able to see a black wall on one side.

Golden lines also spread on the wall, crumbling it, and a hole gradually appeared. Through the hole, they could see the sky outside— a bright sky.

Before Saman could look away, the space they were in raised rapidly and the broken hole soon disappeared out of sight.

As they ascended, the ground shook and monsters roared, falling through the shattered rooms. It looked as though it was raining monsters. There were various shapes and sizes, resembling meteors falling to the ground as they wailed passed the two. o3vTpF

Qing Lin's eyes widened, "F*ck... you didn't just cut through the whole 'trunk', right?"

"Just taking a shortcut," Saman held the sword and felt that the other player was making a fuss.

In fact, he was a little drained at the moment and would need a few minutes to recover. However, Saman did not show any traces on his face.

He did not trust this player. UXJ6SV

The place on the back of his hand that was hit by the poisonous needle had swelled to the size of a steamed bun.

Saman took out a knife and cut open the wound, letting out a thick yellow puss. The inside of the wound festered.

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He waved his arm, "Go."

Qing Lin also touched the few remaining bullets in distress, and the two began to slowly rise again. eEWfy9

"Master, Kong Que is making a scene at Qing Quan Courtyard."

"Master, not good. There's a disturbance underground."

As if it was planned, the two subordinates reported bad news at the same time.

Qing Hong raised his hand, "Wake up more of those sleeping insects to catch those strange demons. As for the peacock, I'll personally go meet him." L8SBzn

He stood up and slowly walked out of the banquet.

There were no longer any big demons who were still standing in the banquet. All of them had fallen to the ground and were sleeping soundly while drinks and clothes were thrown all over the floor. A gentle and soft-looking beauty stood up with a smile, not caring that she had nothing on her.

"As expected of these big demons, their blood essence is delicious," tiny roots pierced into the demons' skin and secreted anaesthetic fluid while slowly sucking up blood. With each sip, these beauties became even more beautiful.

All of these demons drank until they were in a drunken stupor. Sx7O1L

Qing Hong had decided not to wait any longer. He had used the most potent wine made directly from flower petals on all the guests; with just one glass, anyone would be knocked out into the dream world.

As long as there is no major interference from the outside world, these demons would sleep here forever until the world ends.

"Unfortunately..." Qing Hong glanced back at those demons, "It's a pity that the peacock escaped. I still need to finish him myself."

Kong Que did not hold back his strength and destroyed Qing Quan Courtyard, He Jun's temporary residence, in the blink of an eye. However, despite making such a big commotion, no other demons were attracted to the scene. ZPinYq

Although Kong Que has thick nerves, he could still tell that something was wrong.

"It was said that Qing Hong's original body was a lotus," he recalled a rumour. Had He Jun given him the wicker lotus as a warning to be careful around Qing Hong?

Where did He Jun go? Could something bad have happened to him?

After becoming a demon for so many years, it was rare to meet a demon like He Jun who was single-minded and only focused on cultivating. It would be a pity if he died. 1glVFD

"Kong Que, why didn't you stay for a drink? Was it because I didn't entertain you well enough?" Qing Hong appeared under the moonlight, and with a snap of his finger, he was already in front of him.

He glanced at the empty land that was once Qing Quan Courtyard and said with a smile, "Kong Que, you have such a big temper. This is my senior brother's residence, do you have any grievances against my senior brother?"

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"Don't talk nonsense with me. Did you kill He Jun?" Kong Que didn't want to listen to the other's drivel, he only wanted to know the facts.

"How could I harm my senior brother?" Qing Hong's face turned cold, "Besides, I can't harm him." y2IPh9

Kong Que sneered, "He doesn't take precautions against you, you obviously can do it. In my opinion, He Jun shouldn't have persuaded his master to take in a wolf cub like you back then. If it weren't for you, he would have been number one in the demon world."

"Nonsense," what Qing Hong hated the most was when other people try to persuade his senior brother to abandon him. Ever since childhood... he couldn't bear it any longer. Green vines rose towards the sky and turned into a huge bird cage.

"Kong Que, this is where you will be buried."

"Weng weng weng," along with the sound of a flute, the dormant insects in the ground woke up one by one. vLTuPJ

The player who had already reached the halfway point was instantly overthrown and could only look at the light ahead as they dwell in their extreme misfortune. Elsewhere, a large number of insects had slaughtered a group of players.

Saman and Qing Lin were still ascending and were unaware of this.

They were making torches.

Qing Lin's lamp was destroyed by the mucus at the beginning, and Saman's candle also unfortunately perished. Fortunately, they still have a fire fuse, a few unused clothes and a small pine stick. Klmt x

Saman found some clothing made out of burlap, tore it into long strips and tied it around the wooden stick before fraying the cloth.

The frayed cloth will have sufficient contact surface with the air and would be more likely to burn. However, Saman still had to use a lot of effort to light this humble 'torch'.

"Actually, being in the dark is not without its benefits," Saman held up the torch that was finally lit to check for monsters, "In the dark, the sound of the monster's breathing is clearer."

"How is that possible? The sound of breathing is very weak and it's difficult to tell which direction it's coming from," Qing Lin shook his head. 1ESh5y

Saman unintentionally recalled something and a smile flashed across his face, "I've met someone who can do it."

"Who?"

"A certain... 'blind man'," thinking of that person, Saman's smile became somewhat more genuine.

Qing Lin had been with him for quite a long time now and this was the first time he saw this seasoned player show his true emotions. He asked out of curiosity, "In reality, or an NPC in the game?" j09AUs

"A player, a player who just wants to play the game," Saman replied, "To him, we're, at best, just unlucky bastards who don't know how to play the game."

After all, there weren't a lot of people who could force a boss to collapse.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

"They must be very powerful then, since they seem to always be in the back of your mind," Qing Lin lamented.

Saman was stunned, "Always in the back of my mind?" Eowqrx

"Is it not true?"

"Perhaps," Saman saw that the pine stick had burned a little and lowered his hand to protect it from the wind, although there was no wind to protect it from, "Okay, let's go."

"Achoo!... was it too cold?" Ren Yifei rubbed his nose. He had just lost focus and had to stand still for a few seconds to determine which direction to go once again.

After becoming numb from the cold, he put his body into some sort of hypnosis instead— the water, seems to be warm? 6PNVoE

With such self-deception, Ren Yifei had forcibly carried on through the freezing cold water all the way to the present.

After determining the direction, he continued to walk forward while counting the number of steps in his head. Each step was the same length and was used to measure the distance of the corridor to build a map in his mind.

Sight is used to help a person with their direction, so when you make a person who is used to relying on their sight and make them walk a straight line with their eyes closed, they won't be able to. Therefore, their ability to determine their location would always be somewhat wrong

But somehow, Ren Yifei did not have such problems. The map he drew in his mind has always been very accurate. KaJdrW

The sound of rushing water enter his ears, and the water that had not been able to submerge his feet was now up to his calves. Because of this, he was driven by the sound as he continued to walk.

He could imagine the image of tiny white foam rising and falling, as well as tiny waves colliding against his legs as he moved.

Perhaps the two events were too familiar, but he couldn't help but think of his first 'death'.

At that time, he was only a young boy and he had just experienced the most significant change in his life when something called the 'Big Bad System' came to him. VXYCa6

It wanted to collect grievances and had asked him to do evil things, but he refused. That night, he had his first 'transmigration' experience.

No, it would be more accurate to say that it was a 'possession' since it does not allow any changes to the pre-established fate.

In that dream, he was bound to a blind boy who lived in a remote mountain village during a war.

Ren Yifei's world was completely dark. He could feel the original owner's joy, sorrow, anger and all of the other emotions, but he couldn't 'move'. sAFfdX

He lived there for a long time. He learned to wash and cook in the dark, learned to take care of himself, learned to feed the livestock and weave bamboo baskets in the dark.

How did he die in the end?

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

It was a cold day when he was tied up to a tree while only wearing a patched sackcloth.

He remembered that it was a hemp rope, a very thick one, and the tree trunk behind him was also thick. His stomach was cut open and he could feel something come out of it. 6 ZO9X

Ren Yifei finally knew what it was like to have his stomach cut open.

If given the chance, even only a tiny bit, he would like to change that child's fate. Unfortunately, the system gave him the ability to 'experience pain' and not the ability to 'change destiny'.

He was just a manipulated fool.

In the dark world, he heard people laughing and cringing beside him. Some of them spoke in a local dialect, others spoke a foreign language that he could not understand. n6xX L

The smell of rust filled his nostrils, and the boy who had never seen light in his life finally had the concept of blood-red during that cold and gloomy season.

The young boy thought in his heart: Fortunately, it was not the student who was arrested. The student had said that the country will be reborn from the ashes, and the common people will be able to live a good life in the future. He was such a capable person, so he must be right.

The Big Bad System wanted him to understand despair and pain, but the blind boy had taught him to cherish.

Hua Li wanted to use this method to slowly torture him to death. But as long as there was a glimmer of hope, he would also grab the shoe that was stepping on his own and pull himself up. CXmRVj

Ren Yifei was not afraid of death, and he was even less afraid of survival.

T/N: Yay! We got to see more about A Fei's past. But sadly, every time we do, it just got to be so sad.