Salted Fish Zombie

He recalled the exhaustion of being controlled by Gui Sheng Master once again.

Ning Su glanced at Gui Sheng, who had been staring at him all along, and Gui Sheng immediately buried his head into his arm.

Ning Su stubbornly said, “Even if there is a Ghost Master, the system hasn’t required decryption. Just ignore it and focus on surviving.”

Zhu Shuangshuang replied, “How can you survive if you don’t understand the rules of the game?”

Ning Su retorted, “I’m not that easy to kill.”

Zhu Shuangshuang, with a newly changed dress and clean appearance, asked casually, “You have high health points?”

Ning Su remained silent for a while before saying, “Don’t poke at people’s sore spots, even if you’re good-looking.”

His response confused Zhu Shuangshuang.

Ning Su thought about his life force of 0.1 out of 100 and left with Gui Sheng and his ghost friend in silence.

Zhu Shuangshuang felt a hint of sadness in his back, and oddly enough, she also felt a bit uneasy?

She reminded him loudly, “Be serious, Su Su!”

Ning Su responded with a grunt.

After Ning Su left, Zhu Shuangshuang saw the blanket on the sofa was messed up, so she put her ghost friend on the bed and went to tidy up the blanket.

In the rolled-up blanket, there was a small note that read, [I touched hair and scalp under the skin of your ghost friend.]

Zhu Shuangshuang was shocked and clenched the note tightly in her hand.

She hurriedly stuffed the note into her pocket while hiding it from the ghost friend behind her.

***

When Ning Su returned to the room, he planned to take the ghost friend to the children’s room to sleep. He found that the ghost friend was not only as white as a blank piece of paper but also lacked a sense of security like a newborn baby.

As they were about to close the door, she anxiously followed Ning Su and Gui Sheng to the door, and blood gushed out again.

Ning Su quickly handed her a large bowl, “...”

The two boys found a small blanket in the closet and wrapped her up, giving her a warm and safe feeling like a baby.

Unlike the hallway, the room’s lighting was warm and bright. In Blood Doll’s big eyes, the two figures busy for her were reflected clearly, as was the warm yellow light on their bodies.

She opened her arms slightly, and her little mouth also opened.

Ning Su didn’t hesitate to put his index finger in her mouth, and Blood Doll stared at him while absorbing the black energy from his body.

Ning Su said to Gui Sheng, “Gui Sheng, go find a toy for our ghost friend to hold.”

He didn’t know where he heard it from, but babies felt more secured when holding something.

Gui Sheng “Hmm” and went to look for one.

He first brought a small doll, but Blood Doll pushed it away. Gui Sheng then brought a small tiger, but Blood Doll pushed it away as well. Gui Sheng brought a small car, but Blood Doll didn’t even look at it.

Gui Sheng said, “Hmm?”

Gui Sheng ran away again.

After a while, the ghost child with green leaves on his head brought a small skeleton head to them.

“... “

Ning Su was surprised. “You actually found such a cute toy.”

Ning Su had never seen such a cute little skull before.

Just like the unforgettable dark, round eye sockets of a child you’ve never seen before.

The mini skull was gray with a layer of translucent white, appearing both eerie and exquisite under different lighting.

The Blood Doll clearly liked this toy and finally embraced it.

Gui Sheng happily “woos” and ran away, bringing back several small skull heads for the Blood Doll.

These skulls were of different colors and shapes, but were all small and undeveloped.

Except for the one held by the Blood Doll, the others were placed by Gui Sheng next to the Blood Doll’s cradle, keeping her company as she slept.

Feeling that she had had enough to eat, Ning Su retrieved his hand.

The Blood Doll blinked and kept looking at Ning Su.

She seemed tired, but didn’t want to close her eyes. Her small, gelatinous hand rubs her eyes, but the drowsiness eventually took over, and she slowly closed her large eyes.

She lies in a soft, red floral cradle, her long, slightly damp eyelashes spread under her delicate eyes, holding a small skull head in her hand, with several other small skulls attached to the cradle next to her.

Both Ning Su and Gui Sheng found her a little cute.

They watched her for a while, and Ning Su pulled Gui Sheng aside and asked him in a low voice, “Where did you find the skull heads?”

Gui Sheng pointed to the terrace, pulled Ning Su over, and then pointed to the area below.

Ning Su leaned over the fence and looked around.

When they entered the castle, vigorous dark green vines climbed all over the castle walls, black-green and flowing in the wind, adding a touch of eerie atmosphere to the castle.

At this moment, blood-red flowers bloom above the black-green.

***

A six-year-old boy stood on a small terrace of the towering castle, under the pale crescent moon, leaning against the low fence, reaching down with his little hand towards the deep vines.

Wide white cotton sleeves stretched out in the night wind, and small hands stroked a thick red three-petaled lily flower.

The tender temperature of the palm warmed the cold dew of the late night on the petals.

The small hand continued to reach into the thick, deep vine leaves, grabbing the pulsing vine.

The black energy on the hand and the red liquid in the vine battled and tangled through a layer of stem membrane.

The night wind stirred the loose shirt of the boy, the white shirt faintly showing black patterns under the moonlight, winding down from the small wrists, with black substances flowing inside.

Urgently, he brought his whole body down, with his waist tightly wedged against the fence.

The small hand suddenly exerted force, grabbing the surging red and green vine and lifting it off the climbing castle wall, bringing layers of green and blood-colored flowers.

One meter, five meters, ten meters, one hundred meters...

The vast and deep lily vines were like a layer of dense grids, gradually lifted by the small hand, revealing countless tiny white skulls underneath.

One, ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand... countless tiny skulls clung densely to every wall of the castle, shimmering with a sinister silver-gray sheen under the pale moonlight.

Ning Su was stunned, watching this shocking scene.

The densely packed and chattering little skulls covered every inch of the castle’s walls, as if they were trying to burrow into the castle.

Who knew what the view was like from high above?

When Gui Sheng began to pluck the skulls strung on the vines, Ning Su let go of his hand.

The dense and vast lily vines, like a web covering the world, covered the castle once again, hiding the countless tender skulls.

Ning Su stood on the terrace for a while, then went to bed with Gui Sheng.

It was almost midnight, and the entire castle was silent.

18 rooms with closed doors, nobody knew what’s happening in the other rooms.

Midnight...

[Congratulations to players Shi Tianzhu, Ning Su, Zhu Shuangshuang, and Meng Jiang for receiving 1 lucky point from your ghost friends.]

Instead of each system separately prompting them, this public prompt made players think differently.

Some of them were thinking about the interaction between these four players and their ghost friends. In some rooms, players gritted their teeth and walked towards the corners where their ghost friend was.

Ning Su seemed to have heard the system prompt, but also seemed to have not heard it. He fell asleep after two breaths.

Gui Sheng, lying next to him, did the same.

Only two small night lights were still on in the room.

At some point, the Blood Doll in the swaddling clothes opened her eyes, her round eyes stiffly turning left and right, crawling out of the swaddling clothes.

She still held the little skull given to her by Gui Sheng in her arms, while the other few little skulls slowly rotated beside the swaddling clothes, growing skeletal bodies and becoming little skeletons standing behind her.

The Blood Doll stared at the two little boys on the bed for a long time, with big eyes flashing with innocent and eerie light, murmuring two words.

The castle faintly echoed with the sorrowful singing of children.

[Daddy grows taller, mommy grows wider.

Daddy gets rich, mommy’s heart is small.

Heart is small...]

After resisting, struggling, and fearing, the players in the castle gradually fell asleep, exhausted, gave up, and accepted, feeling as if the castle was gently swaying in their dreams, just like the feeling of being in a cradle as a child.

The only person who hadn’t slept from the beginning to the end was Shi Tianzhu.

She changed into a white sleeping robe and still didn’t wear shoes. She half-knelt on the soft carpet, with her hand under the carpet, feeling the slight tremble that was difficult to detect.

Beside her, her ghost friend, the wax-oil little doll, was oozing a layer of foul-smelling wax under the moonlight, dirtying her white linen sleeping robe.

Shi Tianzhu didn’t mind at all. She even touched the little doll’s head and said softly, “Go to sleep.”

The wax-oil little doll then fell into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, the smell in the castle was especially complex, with fishy, cold, and putrid smells coming from different places, mixed together and fermenting in the castle.

***

The next morning at eight o’clock, prompted by the system, the players brought their ghost friends downstairs for breakfast.

There was another long dining table in the large dining hall. Strange and grotesque ghost friends gathered in the dining hall, extremely eerie.

Yesterday, before dinner, Shi Tianzhu only needed a wet towel to clean her hands, but she said to her ghost friend, “Sit here and wait for me for a while. I’ll go wash my hands.”

Strange but understandable, many players wanted to wash their hands before the meal.

There were washrooms on both sides of the dining hall. After Shi Tianzhu went to the one on the right, two male players went to the one on the left, and then Zhu Shuangshuang and a female player went to the one on the right.

Little Gu Witch stood up. Ning Su followed and quickly stepped forward to hold her arm. “Little Gu Witch, do you want to wash your hands? Let’s go together.”

Little Gu Witch stared at the hand on her arm for a long time, and when she came back to her senses, she had already been pulled into the washroom on the left.

Several little boys inside saw Little Gu Witch and directly went into the toilet further inside.

Little Gu Witch was unaware and quickly rinsed her blackened hands before leaving.

After she left, Ning Su slowly washed his hands and heard the whispers inside.

“Have you seen the ghost friend of Little Gu Witch? Damn, it’s scary and disgusting.”

“Don’t you think it looks like her?”

“Actually, it does a little bit, dirty and oily. I’ve heard that her black-shell soft-belly gu worms are made from the lice on her head.”

“Eww, stop talking. It’s too disgusting!”

“Sigh, the goddess of the base should be like Shu Tianzhu, a little fairy since childhood. Little Gu Witch is too disappointing and disgusting.”

Suddenly, a loud door slamming sound was heard and a male player came out from a toilet stall. “Women like Shu Tianzhu who keep a bunch of sex slaves, are they really better than Gu Witch? They don’t even fear breaking their tongues when gossiping behind people’s backs.”

Ning Su paused his hand-washing motion.

He stepped back and saw what was happening inside.

The two male players who talked about how disgusting Little Gu Witch was were from the sixth floor, while the one who spoke up for her was from the fifth floor.

Most players had been avoiding Little Gu Witch, let alone speak up for her. But after just one night, it seemed that something had happened on the two upper floors and power dynamics were being redefined by floor levels.

Ning Su confirmed this as he dried his hands and left the restroom.

Because of the addition of their ghost friends, the cafeteria had added a new table, not specifically for the ghost friends, but for players to sit with them.

Players from the sixth floor sat at the original table, while those from the fifth floor sat at the new one.

Players from the fourth floor seemed to realize something and were sitting somewhat lost, divided between the two tables.

When Ning Su came out, there were empty seats at both tables.

Little Gu Witch looked up at him and spoke for the first time since she entered the instance, her voice raspy, “Come sit over here.”

At the table next to them, Shi Tianzhu pushed her ladder back a distance to make room for someone to sit next to her and said, “Come sit here.”

Everyone’s attention in the cafeteria was now on Ning Su, and it suddenly became quiet.

Ning Su: “...”