At the stairwell, Yao Zhi, ready to meet the enemy, had already planned his escape route. There was a job on the to-do list: gardening. The pay was low, but the expected risk was low. If he could reach the gardener, he'd be relatively safe.
A minute later, Sur appeared, with a terrifying presence beside him.
Worried that the old woman holding the scissors would suddenly stab him in the back, he deliberately slowed down his pace and fell behind by half a step.
Yao Zhi cast an inquiring look.
Su Er smiled without any intention: "I will take this mother-in-law back to the room to get the skin."
Yao Zhi was a clever man and immediately understood his plan. This method was feasible, but it also required a bit of luck... The monster wasn't stupid enough to mistake an elderly woman for its biological mother. If the monster became stronger, they would be the ones in trouble.
Su Er knew this very well, but he couldn't think of a better way at the moment.
The castle was very big and the old woman walked slowly, so it took her more than ten minutes to walk a distance.
Standing outside room 1233 again, Suer calmed himself down and opened the door.
"On the ceiling." He said in a low voice the moment he pushed open the door.
Even though the room had been cleaned recently and all the windows were open, the fishy smell hadn't dissipated much. Dozens of pairs of yellow-brown eyes flashed a crimson red at the sight of Sur, conveying a message of hunger.
As early as when Sur left, it had made up its mind that once it learned of the news of its own kind, it would devour this person first.
Sur went one step further, standing by the door and speaking incoherently: "Are you satisfied with what you see?"
The old woman looked at the monster with a tailor's eye and said critically, "There's a flaw at the end, but the area is large enough."
The monster was also staring at the old woman. Its first reaction wasn't to wonder why Soul had brought her here, but to prepare to kill them both. This time, it didn't hold back at all, swung its dangling skin, and highly corrosive liquid shot out like an arrow.
Be it gods or monsters, when they fight, it is the mortals who suffer.
Fortunately, Suer had chosen a good position to stand, hiding behind the wall sideways. After a burst of strange crackling sounds, the wall was corroded and mottled as if it had been doused with concentrated sulfuric acid.
Yao Zhi was standing one meter in front of him on the left, signaling with his eyes that he should leave now.
Su Er told the whole story of what happened in the attic and whispered, "If the old woman wins, it won't be worth it to leave."
Yao Zhi frowned: "Don't trust everything a ghost says. It's not too late to ask her for her reward later."
The doll the old woman promised was only one of the reasons why Su Er stayed. He pursed his lips and said, "Actually, I want to..."
During a few brief conversations, a strange cry suddenly came from the guest room, interrupting what was about to be said.
Yao Zhi: "I'll go take a look, just stand there and don't move."
The green smoke had spread outside the door, and Sur's fighting power did not allow him to be reckless. He covered his mouth and nose and returned the props that the other party had given him.
The room was like a world filled with fog. In the center of the fog, half of the old woman's arm was torn apart by the poison, but she turned a blind eye and was skillfully peeling the skin.
Yao Zhi quickly retreated. His vision was a little blurry due to the poisonous gas. He took a moment to open his eyes again. "The monster is dead."
Su Er said thankfully.
About twenty minutes later, the old woman folded the thin piece of skin in half and walked out of the guest room. During this time, her sinister gaze passed over Su Er's hand, as if she still had not given up her interest in this piece of skin.
Soul's fingers curled slightly. "It would be better if you deal with the new materials first."
The old woman listened to him a little, threw a doll over, and walked slowly past him. Only when her figure completely disappeared around the corner at the end did Su Er and Yao Zhifang breathe a sigh of relief at the same time.
Su Er couldn't wait to glance in the direction of the guest room and said, "Let's go pick up the body!"
"…"
The residual poisonous gas was still there, and the ground was corroded with small holes. After the skin was peeled off, the monster's body was like shrimp paste, leaking out from the middle.
"Looking for eggs." Suer said in a deep voice.
Yao Zhi reacted even faster than him. He used the trash can as a temporary storage tool and searched carefully in the meat paste with the end of a mop.
Suer's throat tasted bloody, probably due to the influence of poison gas. He ran to get a dustpan from the bathroom and shoveled everything into the bucket.
"withdraw!"
After all, because of his high fighting power, Yao Zhi is in much better condition than him.
Sur lay beside the bucket, almost fainting. After a long while, he calmed his breath. Sweaty as he pushed the spoils forward, he continued to search outside the guest room.
Including Yao Zhi's, a total of four eggs were harvested.
"Luckily, it didn't eat it all," Yao Zhi wiped his glasses, "otherwise, it would have been all in vain."
"One monster egg can be exchanged for 100,000," Su Er thought for a moment. "We'll keep three and give the other one to Zhu Yanyan. But she has to use 50,000 of it on Zhao Xue and Lu Huan."
Yao Zhi agreed with his approach. The other players, except Zhu Yanyan, had only completed low-level quests and couldn't possibly afford the room. The welfare camp only lasted three days, and anyone staying in the corridor tonight would likely be spared.
People will do many unexpected things when they are desperate. Once half of the members of the team start killing each other, they will be in trouble.
Yao Zhi thought of something and asked knowingly, "What about Hou Kewei and Cai Dou?"
Su Er: "Let them fend for themselves." After taking a breath, he shouted "deal".
The smiling businessman seemed to appear out of nowhere and appeared in front of them the next moment.
Su Er looked down at the contents of the bucket and asked Yao Zhi, "Do you want any?"
Yao Zhi shook his head.
Su Er was ready to take just one egg, but Yao Zhi told him to take two: "There's an auction the day after tomorrow, and it would be nice to have all the wealth in one person's hands."
Suer knew what was important and nodded, picked up the bucket and walked forward, the sweat on his forehead slid down his cheeks and fell on his collar.
The smiling businessman said something meaningful: "Those who are too bold often don't live long."
Su Er stopped and wiped the sweat from his forehead, then said, "I'm just an ordinary porter."
"…"
Compared to the previous two times, Soul was in a rather miserable state when they met this time... His shirt was dirty and wrinkled, the toxins accumulated in his body caused his lips to be unnaturally purple, and his eyes were bloodshot.
From the Ghost King's point of view, he was naturally happy to see humans suffer. His chubby white fingers rolled the beads on his wrist, and he had a smile on his face.
The eggs themselves are poisonous, so Suer didn't dare to delay and quickly took them out and put them on the table, then pointed to the bucket.
After only glancing at the meat paste in the trash can, Gou Baopu turned his gaze away and chose to ignore it. He only offered a price for the monster's eggs: "Two hundred thousand."
Su Er was confused... It doesn't make sense to eat eggs but not meat!
Ignoring the stinging sensation on his skin, he expertly rolled a snow-white meatball with his hands and said, "We use the freshest ingredients. They're tender, smooth, not greasy, and sweet."
Ask yourself, which ghost in the game doesn't like this and prefers to use meat and bones that are hard to tell where they come from as food.
Zhao Sanliang had many complaints about this and complained to Suer more than once, and almost developed anorexia because of it.
From the ghost's perspective, Soul continued, "If you don't want to eat it now, you can refrigerate it. When you take it out, add some water and cook it into a fragrant broth with a light layer of white oil foam on top."
He described it vividly, but Gou Baopu's smile was a little stiff.
Su Er, who was always observing the other party's words and expressions, shut up on his own initiative, realizing that the other party might not like to hear this.
I don't know if it was because of someone's "extreme" remarks, Gou Baopu did not swallow the monster's eggs directly as before, but temporarily put them away.
Worried that staying too long would attract the ghost's suspicion, Soul followed the smiling merchant out. The ghost doll happened to be at the door and bowed respectfully: "I will transfer the money to you in one minute."
Su Er nodded: "It's troublesome."
The smiling businessman walking in front suddenly asked, "What's your father's name?"
Su Er's heart moved. After a moment of silence, he raised his head and for some reason he said his real name: "Su Heyang."
"Where's Mother?"
Su Er looked at him: "Song Zhi."
"Biological?"
Suer nodded. The genes are very strong. If he stands with his parents, you can tell at a glance that he is their child.
Throughout the conversation, his eyes never left the smiling businessman. Unfortunately, the businessman didn't react much, except for a momentary frown. Instead, he fiddled with his hat and said, "So he's not an orphan."
"…"
Smiling Merchant: "Cunning and cunning, he has some traces of Gou Bao Pu."
But his behavior in some things is somewhat like mine.
In short, he doesn't act like a human being.
Unconvinced, he asked again, "Did any of your ancestors have the surname Xiao or Gou?"
Sur's eyebrows jumped, and at this moment another voice interrupted, saying that a transaction was needed.
Yao Zhi was nearby, and when he saw him come out, he prepared to exchange the egg he had in his hand.
The smiling businessman fulfilled his duties as host and led the way for Yao Zhi. Having temporarily avoided the soul-searching, Su Er breathed a sigh of relief and walked to the hall to check the task list.
The two highest-paying quests were already completed. The third, 'Help the Chef Pick Vegetables,' didn't look particularly impressive. Looking further down, it was mostly just physical labor. Soul was nearly exhausted, so he decided to rest. Considering the devastated state of the guest room, he simply sat in the lobby and waited for lunch.
About an hour later, two ghost dolls appeared and were busy laying the tablecloth. Not long after, another player arrived early.
Lu Huan's face was pale, and his hands were wrapped in a thick layer of gauze.
Su Er: "You..."
"I went to take the task in the attic."
There was no doubt that the skin on his hands was peeled off.
Lu Huan was also a patient man. Even at this moment, he could still maintain a polite smile: "I used up all my healing items, and I can barely hold on... Oh, by the way, I haven't had time to thank you yet."
Su Er raised his eyebrows.
"I met Zhu Yanyan in the garden. She paid for my room for two days."
Zhu Yanyan did not take all the credit, explaining the whole story. Therefore, Lu Huan and Zhao Xue inevitably had a good impression of Su Er.
Suhr didn't say much: "I just made the most advantageous choice."
There was some selfish motive involved, but in a dungeon, everyone only cared about the results, and Lu Huan remembered the favor.
The castle's three meals a day were all luxurious. As players gradually arrived, the variety of dishes had already reached over twenty. Everyone chose the cheapest food, occasionally chatting aloud.
Su Er remained silent throughout the entire meeting. The auction was only a day away. With his current wealth, survival wasn't a problem, so he had to look further afield. His most pressing task was to accumulate more initial capital to finance the auction.
As I was thinking, my eyes involuntarily swept across the host in the corner. My heart skipped a beat and I quickly reminded myself of the concept I set at the end of the last dungeon: develop slowly and don't waste time.