Salted Fish Zombie

Chapter 37.2: Manman (10)

May 21, 2023 by Wyrd

Zhu Shuangshuang snapped out of her daze and glanced discreetly at her ghost friend.

She remembered the night when she first saw the strange monster children. After mentioning the Water Infant Spirit, Shi Tianzhu asked if the Water Infant Spirit was the focal point. She replied that the focal point should be the ghost friends.

At that moment, it seemed like Shi Tianzhu approved.

Therefore, their path should lie with the ghost friends.

But how exactly could they expedite the “birth” with the ghost friends?

Shi Tianzhu said, “Starting today, we will only have one table of food and try to eat as little as possible.”

This meant that the remaining players would have to sit together at a table again, just like when they first entered the castle. By now, the relationships among the players had already broken down, but no one disagreed.

Recalling the past few days, the food appeared on the table somehow, and they would eat as they pleased. And when they ate a lot one day, the following day would bring even more food, enough to satisfy their hunger.

It seemed to be the “Mother’s” provision. No matter how weak she was, she would provide them with ample food.

It was the provision of the “Mother,” but also a deprivation of her vitality.

Meng Jiang said, “I’m going to chop up that table and use it as a barricade!”

Zhu Shuangshuang disdainfully glanced at him.

Who would have expected that you, the burly and strong warrior with thick eyebrows and large eyes, would be such a sycophant?

After Shi Tianzhu finished speaking, she left, and the other players began to leave one after another.

Zhu Shuangshuang watched Shi Tianzhu’s figure and said to Ning Su, “I really like her.”

Ning Su responded, “Hmm?”

Zhu Shuangshuang said, “She is powerful and indifferent, but deep down, in a place unknown to others, she holds compassion.”

Ning Su replied, “Hmm?”

Zhu Shuangshuang looked at Shi Tianzhu’s bare feet.

As the senior goddess of the base, Zhu Shuang Shuang had a lot of curiosity about Shi Tianzhu, especially after meeting her. She and Chen Qing would privately discuss this goddess.

Whenever the two girls talked about her, naturally they would talk about her beautiful appearance and elegant attire.

Regarding her clothing, Chen Qing told her that Shi Tianzhu had a particular hobby.

She loved wearing silver high heels. Almost every time she appeared and had the choice, she would wear silver high heels.

Zhu Shuangshuang said, “She always wears high heels, but once she enters the castle and changes out of her riding outfit, she walks barefoot. Because we were in the ‘womb’, to be precise, in the uterus, taking off the sharp high heels is a sign of respect and care.”

Ning Su made a sound of understanding. He thought about what Shi Tianzhu said to the pregnant woman when they first met and had a different understanding of it.

Ji Mingrui, in a typical cold and indifferent manner, said, “Girls tend to overthink. I feel like Shi Tianzhu, who has gone through two thousand instances, must know something and is strategizing.”

Zhu Shuangshuang: “......?”

Meng Jiang cleared his throat and said, “Regardless, we must protect the mother well.”

This was unanimously agreed upon by the four of them.

Meng Jiang suddenly sighed, “According to this explanation, we are all in the same mother’s body, so after we are born, we could be considered siblings? Am I the older brother?”

Zhu Shuangshuang replied, “You’re being wishful!”

The four of them, accompanied by their ghost friends, walked towards the garden together.

They played with their ghost friends in the garden for an hour.

Ning Su, Zhu Shuangshuang, and Meng Jiang went upstairs first. Before lunch, Ji Mingrui came up to update them on the current situation.

Ji Mingrui said, “Basically, all the players have realized that the method to ‘be born’ as soon as possible is related to the ghost friends.”

This wasn’t hard to imagine.

Being born involved two parties, the mother and the child.

In terms of the mother’s side, they could only minimize the harm to the mother as much as possible, while on the other hand, they could strive for the sake of the child itself.

That night, Shi Tianzhu asked Zhu Shuangshuang, and many people were present and knew that the focus was on the ghost friends.

Ji Mingrui: “As for how to utilize the ‘birth’ with the ghost friend, the main view is to obtain a sufficient amount of luck from them.”

It was also easy to think of this point. The ghost friends had been giving them luck points before, and the system also emphasized luck points.

Zhu Shuangshuang asked, “How much is considered sufficient?”

“All of it, everything from the ghost friend,” Ji Mingrui said. “They deduced it from Qian Dongfang and the straw doll, so it should be 8 points.”

Zhu Shuangshuang pursed her lips, and suddenly a sense of unease surged within her.

She felt as if the system had set up some kind of trap, and it wasn’t such a simple situation.

Meng Jiang said, “Aren’t we almost there?”

For some reason, only the straw doll gave Qian Dongfang 6 luck points last night, and the others didn’t receive any luck points.

Even so, among the four of them, three have 6 points, and one has 5 points. If their ghost friends started giving them 1 luck point every night from today onwards, they could leave the castle in at most three days.

They just need to hold on for three more days.

The fifth floor still had to endure two more days of being attacked, and the remaining one day could be either the sixth floor or them. Even if it’s them, in reality, they only needed to endure for one day.

Suddenly seeing the life gate not far away, both Zhu Shuangshuang and Meng Jiang felt happy.

Ji Mingrui paused for a moment, not knowing what he was thinking. He rubbed his temples and said, “Some people also say that based on this, they need to endure for ten more days, corresponding to ten months of pregnancy.”

This was only the sixth day.

Meng Jiang said, “Conditions are already so difficult, can’t I have a ‘premature birth’?”

“...”

Ning Su: “No, I don’t want to be born prematurely.”

“............”

The conversation ended there.

Just a few hours later, during lunch, they could clearly sense the air filled with anxiety.

Sometimes, people were like this. When they thought everyone was trapped in a castle, even though someone might die every night, they deceived themselves into thinking everything was fine because they faced it together. They even thought, in a more sinister manner, that everyone would die in the castle.

They might feel fear and sadness, but not such restlessness.

However, when they found out, there was a way out and some people were going to leave immediately while others couldn’t, they would be left behind to wait for their deaths, things started to change a bit.

Everyone’s luck was different, so they weren’t facing it together as “equals.”

This morning, when many players delved deep into this issue, they used the fourth floor as an example.

Currently, there were four people on the fourth floor, and three of them were only two points away from reaching the required luck value. Moreover, the fourth floor happened to have two “safe days” in the next two days, so it was highly likely that they would accumulate enough luck points to leave safely before the arched windows on the fourth floor opened.

No one would think of not leaving if they believed they could survive. They would choose to leave.

That left Ji Mingrui alone. Could he fend off the monster children by himself?

This was still the difference between six luck points and five luck points. Perhaps Ji Mingrui could find a way to gain just one more luck point and leave.

What about the difference between six luck points and zero luck points?

Players with fewer luck points didn’t even need Shi Tianzhu’s command to limit their food intake because they couldn’t eat at all.

The remaining 14 players sat around the table, eating in silence.

As one of the players with the highest luck points, Zhu Shuangshuang ate with extreme caution, not daring to make a sound, fearing to attract attention.

She secretly slipped a chicken leg to Ning Su, tapping his elbow, gesturing for him to be more discreet and not eat so happily, looking blissful.

Ning Su let out a sound of “hmph” and happily started gnawing on a chicken leg.

Zhu Shuangshuang: “...”

Crack!

A loud sound of a porcelain bowl shattering suddenly echoed on the quiet dining table.

“Why are you so clumsy?” followed by an angry roar.

All the players at the table turned their heads in the direction of the sound.

Including Ning Su, who was still gnawing on the chicken leg.

The one who smashed the porcelain bowl was a rag doll.

It looked somewhat similar to Ning Su’s Blood Doll, with a doll-like appearance that many girls liked, covering its face.

However, Ning Su’s Blood Doll was more human-like, with eyes, nose, and mouth almost identical to those of a human, even the skin looked very human-like.

As for this rag doll, it was made entirely of cloth, including the skin, eyes, and mouth.

It was the ghost friend of a male player named Chen Jinpeng on the sixth floor.

Ning Su remembered hearing about him from others or discussing him privately.

Being able to reach the sixth floor proved his strength to some extent. He was a player with some fame in the base, but he hadn’t gained any luck points so far.

Since breakfast today, he had been restless but still had to treat his ghost friend with a smiling face. He took his ghost friend on the swing for a while, then on the slide, playing all the games they could in the morning, all with a smiling face.

His smile was particularly big.

In fact, it wasn’t just today. Two days ago, he had been like this, using various methods to appease his ghost friend.

In some ways, his restlessness was similar to Ji Mingrui’s. They both couldn’t accept the gap between them and others.

As the player who ranked just below Shi Tianzhu and Gu Witch on the surface in this instance, players who were much worse than him had gained luck points, but no matter how hard he tried, he had zero luck points and was talked about behind his back.

Ji Mingrui completely let go of his pride and accepted his ordinary status in the game, releasing his restlessness and pressure. But Chen Jinpeng couldn’t do the same.

At this moment, he finally erupted.

After the doll clumsily shattered a bowl.

The phrase he cursed, “Why are you so stupid?!” revealed his long-standing dissatisfaction.

It wasn’t just about breaking the bowl; this “stupid” carried other meanings.

Why could other ghost friends provide luck points, but you were so useless and couldn’t contribute?

Since the first night of terror, players, upon hearing Ning Su and Shi Tianzhu obtaining luck points, started treating their ghost friends kindly. Not only did they avoid being hostile, but some players treated their ghost friends as their ancestors.

He was the first person to curse his ghost friend.

The players at the dining table stopped eating and watched in silence.

Chen Jinpeng also realized that he had made a big mistake, undoing all his efforts from the past few days.

Treating the ghost friend like an ancestor all the time didn’t yield any luck points, and now that he had cursed him, it would be even more impossible in the short term.

Since he had no luck points at all, and he wouldn’t get any in the next few days, what purpose did this doll have left?

Chen Jinpeng became even more desperate and irritable. He kicked the doll’s small stool in frustration, saying, “Why on earth? According to the system, shouldn’t the ghost friend be protecting me? I have been protecting you for so many days, and you haven’t given me even a bit of luck point!”

Since he started scolding the doll, the doll cowered on the stool, shedding tears. After being kicked and falling to the ground, the tears flowed even more vigorously.

“Buwu.“

It lay on the ground and cried for a while. Seeing that Chen Jinpeng showed no intention of helping it up, the doll got up on his own, stretched out its little arms, and ran towards Chen Jinpeng, wanting to hug his arm.

“Get away!” Chen Jinpeng erupted completely, pushing it away.

The doll was completely soaked in tears, trembling all over. It was unclear whether it was crying or scared.

Trembling and in panic, it once again tried to embrace Chen Jinpeng’s leg, “Buwu...buwu...buwu...“

【Congratulations to player Chen Jinpeng for receiving 1 luck point from your ghost friend.】

There was a dreadful silence at the dining table.

Ning Su lifted his long eyelashes and looked at the doll.

Zhu Shuangshuang’s heart sank heavily. She had a premonition that this was a terrible turning point.