On closer thought, every point in Suhr's analysis made sense, but his role was merely to pass on the message, a typical case of getting something for nothing.
Zhu Yanyan withdrew her shocked gaze, shook her head slightly, and sighed that the world had indeed changed.
By the end, Soul himself was somewhat convinced, yet he dared not relax even a little. The mucous membrane was still surrounding him, and he could not be sure it would sweep over him at any moment. A few short seconds felt like a century to the player.
On the ceiling, the monster's tentacles retracted again.
The most troublesome thing was that the other party couldn't speak human language. Su Er could only grope carefully: "If you don't mind, please let us clean the room first."
The monster didn't leave, but it also didn't drip any more venom.
Zhu Yanyan went to the bathroom and found a towel to wrap around her hands to prevent contact with the corrosive liquid and possible damage to her skin. Despite her fear, she worked quickly. The thought of dozens of eyes staring down at her made her wish she could finish cleaning in a flash and then grow wings and fly away.
The fact that the bed and floor are completely corroded actually has its advantages, as it makes it easier to disassemble and throw away.
As Su Er worked hard to tie the planks together, he occasionally said to the monster, "As a second-generation ghost, your family must have left a lot of good things for you."
Its yellow-brown eyes rolled around, but it showed no admiration for its parents. Rather than calling it a monster, it would be more appropriate to describe it as a demon.
Suer noticed the monster's impatience and thought about the demon's ruthlessness. He added, "If you can devour them, you will surely become the overlord."
The long, flat body slowly crawled and moved on the ceiling. It was obvious that only these words of Sur touched its heart.
It was happy, but the three people below felt a chill in their hearts.
Yao Zhi whispered, "We have to speed up."
Su Er nodded, suddenly changing his mind. This thing was unpredictable and ruthless. If they really sent it on this mission, what if it got upset and unleashed its wrath on them? Even if they needed to keep him to deliver the message, how would Yao Zhi and Zhu Yanyan's safety be guaranteed?
After the cleaning work was completed, Soul took a deep breath and winked at the other two, asking them to retreat to a safe distance.
Yao Zhi and Zhu Yanyan each dragged their garbage to the corridor.
Su Er tried to speak to the being on the ceiling in a kind tone: "Actually, there is a faster way. Just give me some worthless things and I will go directly to trade with Gou Bao Pu."
The monster swung its translucent tail impatiently.
Everything seemed like mere food to it, yet it was asking for endless demands for a single ingredient. It was truly ungrateful. He exhaled, and green smoke rose from the soles of Su Er's feet. He felt no pain, but Yao Zhi, who was standing outside, warned, "Be careful! Your strength is decreasing."
The force value on his chest badge dropped by 5. Su Er resisted the urge to flee and said through gritted teeth, "It takes time to complete the mission. The sooner you make the deal, the more likely you are to devour your own kind."
The smoke has not completely dissipated and is still swirling around. Fortunately, it has become thinner, and at least the rate of decrease in military power is slowing down.
"Gou Bao Pu is extremely cunning. You will definitely be exploited by him if you go there. Humans are good at negotiation. I can help you get the information at the lowest price."
The yellow-brown eyes were fixed on Sur, as if they wanted to see through him... This ingredient seemed to be quite talkative, and it really hated Gou Baopu's cowardly look of being friendly to everyone he met.
A white egg fell from the air, and Sur caught it with his sleeve. Even though it didn't touch his skin, a slight numbing and tingling sensation could still be felt through his sleeve.
Walking out of the room, Yao Zhi said, "I'll get it."
Suer did not refuse. His fighting power was not high to begin with. If it dropped further, his life might be in danger.
When they were far enough away from the guest room, Zhu Yanyan whispered, "Are you okay?"
Sur smiled bitterly. No one would believe him if he said he was in good condition. He leaned against the wall to conserve his energy and stared at the white egg. "This monster is smarter than I thought."
Yao Zhi nodded: "The eggs are poisonous. Even if they are wrapped in something, it will be useless."
In other words, they can't carry it with them all the time and can only make transactions as quickly as possible.
Zhu Yanyan: "How about finding a place to hide first?"
"Not appropriate," Su Er had just thought of this idea, but quickly rejected it: "If you delay, things will change."
As he spoke, he looked towards the end of the corridor in front of him.
Zhu Yanyan looked up and, upon seeing the smiling merchant, her gaze instinctively averted. Most players had long harbored a deep-seated fear of the host. She instantly understood Suer's underlying concern: if she hid the item, the host would surely exploit it to cause trouble.
Sur proposed to make a deal, and the smiling merchant naturally had no reason to refuse.
The white egg returned to his hand, and before his strength dropped further, Sur quickened his pace.
Gou Baopu always had a smiling face, and he was not surprised to see Suer walk in with the egg in his hand.
Quickly placing the items on the table, Soul took a few sips of the free water and asked, "How much is it worth?"
Gou Baobu: "One hundred thousand."
Suer frowned...not as valuable as he thought.
"Without mating, this egg is dead," Gou Baopu said with a smile. "It can lay more than a dozen eggs a month, and then devour them to strengthen itself."
Su Er slowed down and changed the question: "Are there any things for sale here?"
"Of course." Gou Baopu nodded without hesitation, and was surprisingly frank: "You can think of me as a pawnshop, buying low and selling high."
After saying that, he actually ate the goods he had just bought.
Soul's eyelids twitched.
Gou Baopu commented: "It tastes good."
Sur vaguely guessed why the other party could tolerate monsters with strong destructive power to survive here, which was equivalent to storing food.
"Since the customer brought me some snacks," Gou Baopu narrowed his eyes, "I suggest that if you need them, it would be more cost-effective to buy them at the auction in two days."
Su Er kept his head down when he came out. Yao Zhi was waiting for him alone in the hall. "Zhu Yanyan has asked Guiwawa to transfer the breakfast money to your card. Remember to check it."
Su Er nodded: "Where is she?"
"Do the mission."
Sur looked at the task list. The total reward for cleaning the guest rooms was 30,000, which was 10,000 each for them, just enough to pay for one night's room.
Yao Zhi reminded: "Be careful when you take on missions next time and avoid that thing."
Sur nodded. Without getting any real benefit, no matter how eloquent he was, he would still be eaten by the monster as food.
"Don't worry too much," Yao Zhi analyzed, "Monsters in the dungeon can't kill people at will."
At least from the current perspective, there are only two situations in which the two sides will meet. One is that there are no guest rooms to stay in at night and they may meet while wandering in the corridor. The other is that they take on the task of cleaning the rooms during the day.
After pondering the form for a while, Suer and Yao Zhi decided to try a task of "mending a rag doll".
The location is in the attic.
The castle seemed cut off from sunlight, and no matter where you walked, you couldn't escape the cold. The attic was slightly better, with a single window open, letting in sunlight, giving the iron bars a slightly soft sheen.
Hou Kewei was there too, his face pale, and he quickly took a step back when he heard the footsteps.
Sur didn't even say hello, and even sold out his teammates, so they could basically be classified as human.
Hou Kewei also knew that he was not welcome, so he made way without looking around, indicating with his actions that they could do this task first.
But after just a few breaths, Su Er knew where this "humility" came from.
An old woman was sitting in the attic, skillfully operating a sewing machine, sometimes stopping to stuff cotton, and all her materials came from the human body.
A thin layer of human skin was draped aside, and the head was placed on the windowsill. The broken part of the neck was wrapped in thick wax to form a base, pointing straight towards the door.
"It's the player who died last night." Su'er's face looked a little ugly.
No wonder Hou Kewei has been delaying the mission. How could he remain unmoved when the teammate he killed appeared in this way?
The old woman sighed softly and said to herself, "Young people nowadays are too busy watching to lend a hand."
His foot accidentally lifted the bucket beside him, and with a snap, the cardboard covering it fell off, revealing the flesh and blood inside.
"Let's go." Yao Zhi winked.
Even those who were originally overcoming their psychological barriers were now ready to leave.
Old woman: "Leave the best skin."
Yao Zhi was definitely excluded, and Hou Kewei's skin was also very good, so he couldn't help but shiver nervously.
The old woman smiled at Su Er and said, "You are young and your skin is elastic."
Seeing that she had made a decision, Hou Kewei hurriedly left. Yao Zhi knew that it was useless to stay, so he quietly handed a prop to Sul before leaving, glanced at the stairs, and indicated that he would meet him there.
"Not bad." The old woman seemed very satisfied. The sunlight shone on Sul's body, especially on his hands, and the blood vessels made his skin look even whiter.
Including the items Yao Zhi had given him, Su Er had three items on him, so he figured escaping shouldn't be a problem. He thought for a moment, "The mission says we're here to sew dolls."
The old woman nodded: "So I need you to be responsible for providing the materials."
Su Er frowned. This was not a welfare facility at all, it was more like a place where one could die.
"I'm kindhearted, Grandma. You have two choices," the old woman said gently. "One is to peel the skin off your hands and give it to me, and I'll give you money. Or, if you keep the skin off your upper body, I'll give you a doll."
As he spoke, he took out a palm-sized figurine from his pocket and looked at Su Er with a loving yet strange look: "It's very useful."
The first option might save his life, but his strength has already dropped a bit, and if it drops any further he will almost die.
Su Er said tentatively: "If I can take you to find a better, more transparent and whiter skin..."
The old woman stopped sewing and became interested: "Where is it?"
Su Er: "It's in the room. I'll go back and get it now."
The old woman's eyes suddenly turned unfriendly.
Su Er: "If you're worried that I might run away, I can take you there myself."
I brush my five-three every day, and it's not in vain that I write essays: "This skin is as thin as a cicada's wing, and can withstand cutting. It's so-called smooth and smooth skin..."
The long string of flowery words gave the old woman a headache.
Su Er said in due time: "If you are satisfied, you can take it away. If not, I will provide you with my own."
After about a minute of silence, the old woman slowly stood up, picked up the sharp pair of scissors on the table, bent her waist, walked unsteadily, and moved towards the door little by little.
Su Er suppressed his conditioned reflex to escape, tightly grasped the props left by Yao Zhi, and quietly reached into his pocket with his other hand, grasping the electric shock device.
The old woman squinted at him and said, "If you're not satisfied, I'll take your skin off."
If the other party hadn't talked nonsense, she wouldn't have bothered to go.
Su Er lowered his eyes and said, "Okay." Finally, he asked, "If you are particularly satisfied..."
The old woman said: "I will give you a doll."