Chapter 107: Realm of Mortals (10)
As Tang Cuo continued to fight with the souls, Xiao Tong was in the monitoring room, smiling and pping his hands intermittently. He raised his feet d in military boots and put them on the table, leaned back against the swivel chair and watched the show with gusto.
Xiao Tong specifically put Tang Cuo in the only single-yer gate in the entire dungeon and let him face the three strongest Bosses. At present, one Boss was down and the story was only halfway through, but Xiao Tong felt that he could already see the ending.
It would be an ending with no suspense.
Tang Cuo was a neer to Yong Ye City, yet he could obtain sacred artifacts like the [Sword of Judgment], dexterously use various equipment and skills, and took up duo sses in magic and martial arts. A yer like that was incredibly rare to chance upon. Xiao Tong was sure that Tang Cuo still had a lot of trump cards hidden somewhere, yet he could already ace the game so easily. Naturally, this was attributed to one important reason he had a brain.
Whether it was his choice on the method to pass the game requirements or his attempt to constrain the battle within a certain area, they all pointed to one thing he had indeed found the best way to clear this gate.
He tried his best to find the correct three tombs and defeat the Bosses while, as far as possible, not destroying other tombstones. The more tombstones remained, the greater the rewards.
As Xiao Tong expected, Tang Cuo sessfully defeated the five souls and absorbed their soul balls. This time, because there were too many light balls, his Soul Instability Index reached 37, so he had to rest longer.
After another half an hour, he opened his eyes again. Although he had recovered, his face was still a little pale.
At this time, two and a half hours had passed since he entered the dungeon.
Tang Cuo got new clues from the five soul balls again. For example, using their omnipotence, within the shortest time, theizens studied the videos and screenshots of the incident to pick up the brand of rain boots that the mysterious man was wearing.
That pair of shoes was very pricey, for it was a limited edition of a certain brand, and there was no way to buy it in China. For items like this, there would be a record of who the store sold to.
It was just that normalizens wouldnt be able toy their hands on such records, and Tang Cuo also suspected that these rain boots werent the murderers own shoes at all. He yed the role of an ordinary worker who installed surveince cameras in various residences, so would he buy himself a pair of such expensive shoes that had to be purchased from abroad?
The purpose of pretending to install the surveince cameras was to enter the house and kill people rather than to steal, which showed that the murderers motive wasnt money. If the act wasnt for money or material enjoyment, the probability that these shoes were owned by him would be very small.
If the police investigated further into those rain boots, they might be able to discover another case. Would there be a third victim in this case?
Tang Cuo thought for a moment and boiled down to a direction he remembered that one of the 99 cell phone screens belonged to a purchasing agentA person that helps his/her clients to buy goods that arent easy to get through normal channels, likely due to geographical barriers..
The agent was on his way to the airport, but as expected, he was stuck on the road due to the car rear collision on Xishan Road. Tang Cuo had seen his cell phone interface just now, where he was basicallyining to his friends about the damn rain and wondering if it would dy his flight.
At this point, Tang Cuo looked back again to find that the information had been refreshed.
Xiao Tiantian Europe Purchasing Agent: [Picture] Sh*t, what did I just see? ! These are the shoes I sold!!! Theres an inconspicuous stain under the trademark, I remember it clearly!
Pao Qi: Whats wrong?
Pao Qi: Dont worry, you just sell shoes, not a murderer. Itll be fine.
Xiao Tiantian Europe Purchasing Agent: But the shoes are fake, you know it! If they check the records of the authentic shoes, they wont be able to find this pair. And if they cant find it, theyll know that those shoes are fake. If the police trace them back to me, my business would be over!
Xiao Tiantian Europe Purchasing Agent: Maybe a lot of customers will want to return the goods and even ask forpensation. Its over, its over
Xiao Tiantian Europe Purchasing Agent: Wait!
Xiao Tiantian Europe Purchasing Agent: Dont tell this to anyone!
Pao Qi: Dont worry, were friends, how could I expose you? [Bleh]
An unscrupulous purchasing agent sold fake shoes and the shoes ended up on a twisted murders feet, therefore he became anxious. But this wasnt where Tang Cuo wanted to focus on. What he cared about was how Pao Qi turned up again.
He immediately returned to check Pao Qis cell phone tombstone, clicked on her WeChat address book and quickly swiped to the bottom. With one swipe, he couldnt reach the bottom; with one more swipe, he still couldnt reach the bottom.
Tang Cuo had no idea how many swipes he had made, but eventually, he saw the small line at the bottom of the address book 1001 contacts.
Pao Qi had added 1,001 friends, not counting also those in her group chats.
If it hadnt been for her to show up too often, Tang Cuo would never have thought about checking how many people were there in her address book. And if he hadnt seen it with his own eyes, he wouldnt have known that WeChat allowed users to add so many friends.
For people like Tang Cuo who didnt like crowds, this was too scary.
What role did Pao Qi, who was seemingly friends with everyone, y in this story?
Wait. Among so many of her friends, was there a murderer?
Tang Cuo frowned. The things shown on each persons cell phone tombstone were very specific, and it wasnt like every phone had WeChat. Some people only had an ordering interface, some only had a Weibo interface, while the murderer only had a monitoring screen. If he had WeChat, what would he be called?
With 1001 friends, to find one whose name was uncertain was equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack. But as he pondered the idea again, Pao Qi actually appeared in the murderers monitoring screen, which meant that she was one of the murderers targets.
This proved that the murderer and Pao Qi didnt know each other.
Tang Cuo narrowed his eyes and suddenly thought of something, then he hurried to the murderers cell phone tombstone to study the monitoring time again. The timespan of these surveince videos was very long, where the earliest could be traced back to one year ago, and thetest was one day ago.
The monitoring videos pointing to Pao Qi stopped on 17th May, while the Xishan Road ident urred on 25th June. There was a one-month gap between them. At first, Tang Cuo didnt pay much attention to the timing, but now that he thought about it
Was the Pao Qi that was captured by the surveince camera really alive?
Why did the murderer stop monitoring Pao Qi after 17th May? Had he given up, or had he killed her? If the Pao Qi with that pretty face was dead, who was still taking selfies now?
Perhaps, not only her words were untrue, but everything that belonged to Pao Qis ount might also be false.
She or he stole another persons pictures.
This another person had long been dead and wouldnt appear near Xishan Road on 25th June, so her tombstone wouldnt be in the Cemetery of Souls.
Tang Cuo had previously inferred that investigating the rain boots might lead to another case. Would the case of the man in rain boots be connected to the woman on the monitoring screen?
How many people did the murderer actually kill?
Thinking of this, Tang Cuos pitch-ck eyes couldnt help getting colder. At this moment, he remembered the takeaway-order call he received when he first entered the dungeon, and an idea suddenly shed through his mind. If he couldmunicate with these people via the phone, how about via WeChat?
He immediately returned to Pao Qis cell phone tombstone, located the purchasing agents ount, clicked on the chat box and found that he could really input sentences.
Pao Qi: Who on earth did you sell your shoes to?
Pao Qi: I think you should take the initiative to give these clues to the police. The Inte is so developed these days, all your transaction records and chat history will leave traces on the Inte, so theyll find you sooner orter. As your friend, I dont want bad things to happen to you.
The other person didnt reply for a long time, but Tang Cuo was very patient. About ten minutester, a reply finally came.
Xiao Tiantian Europe Purchasing Agent: I, I really dont know what to do. Im really an honest purchasing agent. Ive only sold fake products two or three times, but theyre all grade-A productsRefers to the Chinese grading system for counterfeit goods. There are Super A grade, A grade, B grade, C grade and sometimes lower grades. An A-grade counterfeit is basically a high-tier fake product that retains almost all characteristics of the original, but some minor ws will be left behind to preventwsuits., and the quality is very good
Xiao Tiantian Europe Purchasing Agent: The rain boots were bought by a man named Teenager Deeply In Love. When he bought the shoes and made the payment, he was super happy and didnt seem like a bad person. In hope of doing business with him again, I also gave him a Fidget Cube, which costs dozens of RMB you know, how would I know that this would happen?!
Immediately afterwards, the purchasing agent sent a screenshot from Teenager Deeply In Loves Moments. There were not only his selfie, but also histest two statuses.
Tang Cuo frowned when he saw that selfie, feeling rather familiar. Two secondster, he remembered. Wasnt he the poor guy in that dog-blood love story?
[A guy from XX province rushed to see his online girlfriend thousands of miles away, only to discover that his girlfriend was a man!]
The two statuses that Teenager Deeply In Love shared were also very interesting.
Teenager Deeply In Love: If you love that person, you must give him or her the best! [Picture of rain boots]
Teenager Deeply In Love: I dont care if youre a man or a woman, Ive spent so much time giving you so much affection, my sincere heart cant be crushed like that! Even if youre a man, you have to be with me! I want to talk about this love even if I have to bite the bullet!
He really deserved to be a teenager deeply in love.
Since he sent the rain boots out and came to meet aizen from another province, the probability of him being the murderer is very low. But was the murderer his online boyfriend?
Or was the murderer rted to that boyfriend?
At the same time, Jin Cheng and others in the First Gate had arrived at the Child Bearing stage. From Birth to Child Bearing, they walked for nearly three hours.
28 yers, one death.
[Ruleless] was like a ry baton. When a monster died, another would continue to hold onto it. The ceaseless coercion suppressed the yers spirits, making their already exhausted bodies even less able to exert their full strength.
Jin Cheng did think about snatching [Ruleless], but the system still defaulted [Ruleless] to be Xiao Tongs possession at this point. This was a bug. No matter how many times Jin Cheng seized it, as long as Mr. Crow was there, [Ruleless] would return to the monsters hands.
Reaching this point, Jin Cheng sneered coldly. In any case, he didnt waste much effort.
After passing the Child Bearing stage, they came to Postpartum Confinement, Baby Upbringing and Return to The Workce. They worked hard to kill all sorts of monsters and ghosts, then they arrived at yet another fork in the road. Everyone looked at the two big words Second Child written on the road sign on the left and almost vomited blood.
F**k, this again, just let me die Someone fell on his knees, panted desperately and propped his hands on the ground. He was so tired that he wanted to cough out his lungs.
More than one yer began to doubt whether they were correct to choose the Female path after the boss, but if they parted ways at this juncture, no one felt they could survive till the end.
Although the road ahead was difficult and dangerous, they definitely must hug the boss thigh.
At this point, Leng Miao finally came to a realisation. He stared at Jin Cheng with his icy eyes and asked: You want to go for the Second Child path, dont you? Why must we step on this burdensome path?
There were obviously easier paths, but Jin Cheng had to choose the hardest. Just why?
When ying a dungeon, just thinking in the simplest manner would allow one to figure that the hardest path only meant one thing the best rewards.
You arent an idiot, Miao Miao. Jin Cheng smiled.
What really is your purpose of entering Zone G? Leng Miao asked.
I cant tell you that. But since youve agreed to help, you cant change your mind at such ast minute. Only a puppy changes their mind sote, Miao Miao. Jin Cheng said, rxing his muscles a bit, then he firmly headed towards the Second Child path.
A second before he set foot on the fork in the road, he turned back and said: People should stand on their own two feet at the age of 30The idiom used here is , which refers to the general belief/principle that people should have a stable life around the age of 30, aka they should have a career, be married, have a child, own a house, etc.. Everyone, you should have your own ideas. To follow me or to go by yourself after this, please make your own choice.
As his voice fell, half of the yers tailed behind him without a second thought, but the others were hesitant and gazed at Leng Miao. Leng Miao pondered for a moment. He actually wanted to go the other way to see whether Jin Cheng or he would reach the end first.
Jin Cheng was right in saying that in Yong Ye Citys dungeons, the hardest thing might turn out to be the simplest. As to whose hands the great rewards would fall into, it remained unknown.
That said, Leng Miao still had no idea what the rewards would be.
But just when he was about to take that step, Mr. Crow stood atop the road sign and mumbled: Hey, wherever 79081 is, [Ruleless] will be there, and the more people there are, the more monsters youll encounter. You shouldnt follow him, arent you rushing to die?! All of you will be grilled into roastmb!
Hearing this, Leng Miao withdrew his stretched foot and decisively followed Jin Cheng.
Why?! Mr. Crow was very angry, so angry that his feathers started falling off.
Leng Miao was a cold man, so of course he wouldnt answer He simply hated other people making a fuss in front of him, which only made him want to do the exact opposite. This was especially true when he faced the great and benevolent Mr. Crow.
<em>Go to hell.</em>
He thought.
While Jin Cheng and Leng Miao were walking on the Second Child path, the diligent storyteller Qian Wei was still telling Zheng Yingying the tale of [Two Big Bosses and I: A Story of Fate That Has To Be Told], part two.
Meng Yufei leaned his arms against the window, his face as ck as the bottom of a pot.
And then he died. This was the conclusion, or more specifically, Qian Weis conclusion to Meng Yufei.
Many people in Yong Ye City knew that Jin Cheng chased Meng Yufei into the dungeon topletely annihte this disaster, so Qian Wei didnt bother hiding it. He openly recounted this detail, with so much zeal that his saliva was flying everywhere.
And then he died. How mundane did this ending sound? It was as if Jin Cheng just trampled on an ant on the roadside.
Meng Yufei almost couldnt restrain himself, but as soon as he gripped the hilt of his de, Zheng Yingyings words poured over him like a basin of cold water: He really deserves to die. He has killed many people.
Zheng Yingying was also a part of these many people.
Zheng Yingying originally squatted on the ground and hugged her knees to listen to Qian Weis story, but at this moment, she suddenly lifted her head to look at Meng Yufei. The exposed lower half of her face showed a broad grin, where her spotless white teeth could be seen. Seeing this, a chill ran down Meng Yufeis spine.
Meng Yufei didnt have the nerve to move.
Zheng Yingying retracted her gaze and asked Qian Wei: Were they the only two? Didnt they bring anyone else?
Qian Wei was sitting cross-legged on the ground. Since Zheng Yingying had a friendly attitude, he slightly let down his vignce and waved his hand dismissively: Wasnt boss Jin Cheng punished back to Zone F? Except for Tang ge, in Zone F, who else has the strength toe to the same dungeon as him?
Zheng Yingying nodded thoughtfully and didnt ask any further.
Qian Wei was a little curious. After hesitating for a moment, he finally couldnt help asking: Do you know them?
Zheng Yingying shook his head: Theyre good people, I admire them.
Meng Yufei:
<em>I, Meng Huanhuan, really thought that you were evil.</em>
At this moment, the pregnant woman suddenly cried out excruciatingly while holding her belly. She was sitting on the ground, but right now, she couldnt even sit still. She slumped to the ground, screaming again and again.
Whats wrong? Is she going to give birth? Qian Wei jumped up from the ground in horror. It was the first time for a little boy like him to witness the reproduction process with his own eyes.
<em>Its all blood, its scary!</em>
One after another, the other people also gathered around her. Seeing that she was in such pain, theughing man was reminded of himself earlier, and his eyes couldnt hide a trace of despair and helplessness.
Qian Wei was busyforting her over and over: I still have healing potions here. Bear with it, ah, no, you need to use force to let the baby out. Dont be afraid
Baby, what f**king baby?! The woman suddenly exploded, grabbed Qian Wei by the cor and stared at him with bloodshot eyes: Im not pregnant! What will I give birth to?! A monster!
When the woman entered the ward, Qian Wei had been knocked out by electricity, so he didnt know that her belly only bulged up after she was injected with the medicine. As soon as the woman said so, other people started putting on a strange expression as they looked at her belly, especially after seeing that there seemed to be something moving.
What, what do we do? If theres really something in her belly, we cant do anything! Theughing man sweat nervously.
No, I cant give birth to it, I dont want to, I dont want to The woman clenched her teeth and her tears immediately rolled down the moment she lost control of her emotions. It wasnt that she hated children, but she just hoped she could make that decision on her own. Even if having her own child was a mistake, she was willing to bear with that mistake till the very end.
Even if I die, I dont want to give birth to a monster! Her gaze wandered around for a long while, and she grabbed the only other girl at the scene: You help me, you help me
This time, Zheng Yingying responded very firmly. She raised the [Nameless Dagger] above the womans belly and said: Ill kill it with a single stab, but you may also die.
The woman wept and wept, unable to answer her.
Shaking like a leaf, Qian Wei quickly took out a sk of healing potion and brought it to the womans mouth while ncing at Zheng Yingying: You, just stab very lightly, and I will pour the potion immediately. Maybe itll work.
I still have some here. Theughing man also gritted his teeth and pulled out a sk with his hands still shaking. No one knew how determined he actually was.
Meng Yufei let out a cold snort, turned the other way and said nothing.
The woman cried harder, but finally she nodded. She clutched her clothes tightly with both hands and closed her eyes: Do it.
Everyones heart jumped to their throat, and their eyes were all intently fixed on the womans belly.
Zheng Yingying raised the dagger and thrust it down.