Salted Fish Zombie

Chapter 40.1: Manman (13)

June 02, 2023 by Wyrd

[Mother’s belly is so warm, I want to drag it to accompany me to hell.

When I die, it trembles, but is it longing for me?]

Bam bam bam bam bam!

The song of the monster children and the knocking sound of the ghost friends simultaneously entered Bai Shuang’s ears.

She narrowly escaped last night, but today she endured an unusually agonizing day because she knew she would die tonight.

Would a miracle happen tonight?

Bai Shuang bit her lower lip, forcing herself to stay awake through the pain.

If they followed the original route, she would surely die. Tonight, the player on the fifth floor would definitely break down her door.

Having learned from Chen Jinpeng’s case, there would be no more cases of ghost friends committing suicide.

If there was to be a miracle, she had to make a change.

Bai Shuang tightly gripped the doorknob, took a deep breath, and made a decision.

Since she was going to die anyway, instead of waiting here to die, she might as well take a risk and try once more.

The door of room 505 opened.

Bai Shuang looked at the ghost friend knocking on the door and said, “Welcome to my room.”

Then, she looked at the two ghost friends at the doors of other rooms and asked, “Do you want to come too?”

She also opened the door that was sealed at the entrance of the fifth-floor corridor and let the two ghost friends, who couldn’t knock on the doors of their own floor, come up.

Before the monster children arrived, a total of three new ghost friends entered Bai Shuang’s room, and one entered Zhu Ji’s room.

When the monster children crawled through the arched window, she didn’t close the door.

She was the first player to face the monster children directly, looking at their twisted bodies head-on, inching closer to the window.

After enduring two nights of terrifying torment, her gaze gradually became determined, with the reflection of the pale, oily monster children trembling in her pupils, gradually revealing a hint of madness.

She slightly raised the corners of her bleeding lips, grabbed her stone doll ghost friend who had just entered through the open door beside her, and resolutely smashed it towards the monster children in the window.

She was an experienced player at the base, able to survive for so long not only because of her excellent archery skills, but also because she had always been cautious and careful.

This was the craziest thing she had ever done in her life.

Trembling, she stood in the dark, chilly corridor. At this moment, scenes of many people dying here flashed through her mind, as well as memories of her past moments of groveling.

She saw the stone doll ghost friend accurately smashing down the most ferocious monster child.

A surge of energy rose from her abdomen and was finally released after being suppressed for a long time.

She stood there, watching the monster childreb crazily chasing after the stone doll ghost friend and falling down.

[Player Bai Shuang’s ghost friend has been destroyed.]

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

...

“Hahahaha!” She stood in the corridor, laughing with joy, pleasure, and madness.

Her laughter echoed through the corridor.

One by one, the doors on the fifth floor opened.

Even the Gu Witch opened her door.

They silently watched Bai Shuang, and the three remaining ghost friends behind her.

Three ghost friends, three lives, three portions of luck.

“Wow!” The first person to break the silence was Zhu Ji.

After a whole day of despair, he also opened the door for another ghost friend. Originally, he was still anxious, but now he jumped up excitedly.

He ran and jumped over to Bai Shuang’s side. “Bai Shuang, is it alright to have one less ghost friend?”

Bai Shuang nodded. “Without a ghost friend, we would die, but as long as we have at least one more, it’s enough.”

Zhu Ji shouted happily, “Isn’t this a case of being at death’s door and finding a way to survive?”

Today, he despaired when he realized his ghost friend was a worthless waste who couldn’t produce any luck. He thought he would be among the last ones left in the castle.

A major turning point came in the evening. Not only did he gain a ghost friend to collect luck, but he also gained an extra life.

“Hahaha, this is great!” He slapped his thigh, unable to contain his joy.

He glanced at Bai Shuang’s three ghost friends again and said with envy, “Bai Shuang, you’ve become prosperous. You’re amazing.”

Bai Shuang smiled and looked at the Gu Witch, then went back to the room with her three ghost friends.

Bang!

The door of room 505 was forcefully closed.

According to the agreement, the windows on the fifth floor were supposed to be open for three days. However, something unexpected happened to Chen Jinpeng last night, and the windows on the fifth floor didn’t have to be opened. Even so, considering that tonight was already the second day, there’s only one day left.

On the next day, even if Bai Shuang opened the door, she could survive.

Next would be the fourth floor and the sixth floor.

No matter the rotation, with three ghost friends by her side, she would have at least four days. In these four days, she would have more than one ghost friend to give her luck, enough to accumulate and leave.

Moreover, her position had clearly changed now. It’s not certain that it would be her turn to open the door. She had more than four days.

The players on the fifth floor returned to their rooms, each lost in thought.

Sixth floor.

Shi Tianzhu stood by the arched window and looked down. She touched the head of the wax doll and said, “It’s really becoming more and more fun.”

After Chen Jinpeng’s death, there were only three players left on the sixth floor.

Besides Shi Tianzhu, there was a man and a woman. Tonight, the male player also opened the door for a ghost friend.

He currently also had two ghost friends, and the incident just now made him extremely happy.

Shi Tianzhu turned to look at him and said, “Treat them well.”

The male player immediately responded, “Okay! I will definitely do that.”

Fourth floor.

Zhu Shuangshuang said in surprise, “The monster children left, what happened? Bai Shuang didn’t die?”

Ji Mingrui said, “The monster children only leave if they destroy one ghost friend every night. They don’t kill players themselves; the death of players is a rule of the instance. If there are no ghost friends, they will die like how their ghost friend died. Maybe she opened the door for a new ghost friend, so one ghost friend died, but there’s still one left. As long as there is one ghost friend, we won’t die.”

He explained it clearly, and the speculation seemed reasonable.

For now, it seemed to be the case.

Zhu Shuangshuang asked, “So you’re saying having an additional ghost friend is only beneficial? Could such a thing happen?”

She was very clear-headed, which relieved Ji Mingrui and Meng Jiang of their regrets for not opening the door to ghost friends.

Meng Jiang asked, “If there is another ghost friend born next time, will you open the door for them?”

Zhu Shuangshuang and Ji Mingrui hadn’t spoken yet, but Ning Su immediately said, “No, we have the best Blood Doll in our family. One is enough.”

Gui Sheng followed, “Mm!”

Meng Jiang: “...”

Why did it feel like he’s trying to curry favor with ghost friends now?

Zhu Shuangshuang: “...”

Actually, he only wanted one ghost friend because he’s lazy. Taking care of more would be troublesome, and anyway, having one was enough for free food and lodging here.

The Blood Doll looked up at Ning Su while holding a milk bottle, then obediently lowered her head and took a sip, sticking close to him.

Zhu Shuangshuang glanced at Zhizhi, saying, “I’m fine with just one. Unless Zhizhi wants a companion.”

Ning Su thought for a moment and said seriously, “The way you said that sounds just like discussing whether to have a second child or not.”

“......”

Zhu Shuangshuang: “Hey!”

Although it really sounded a bit like that.

No one died tonight, and the atmosphere was much more relaxed. The four of them were chatting and joking in the corridor, playing around for a while.

Humans were resilient creatures. Zhu Shuangshuang and Ji Mingrui, who were frightened by the corpses outside the window in the bus, would never have imagined that they would sleep in a death castle and make jokes while being accompanied by death.

“We can finally have a good night’s sleep tonight, right?” Zhu Shuangshuang said.

Ning Su was about to nod when Zhu Shuangshuang said, “I’m not the kind of person who falls asleep in a minute.”

Ning Su: “.”

Meng Jiang burst into laughter. “Go back and sleep. Maybe tonight I can fall asleep in a minute too.”

The four of them were about to go back to their rooms.

The ghost friends of the four were also very happy tonight. When Zhu Shuangshuang walked forward, the paper doll squeaked and jumped along, accidentally bumping into Ning Su and causing it to fall.

Ning Su turned his head and looked at it for a few seconds, then bent down and helped the clumsy little paper doll up.

“You’re timid and clumsy. Don’t call yourself Zhizhi anymore. Let’s call you Xiao Ben (Little Clumsy).”

That’s what he said, but his actions of helping up the paper doll were very gentle, and his fingers lightly touched the dry paper face.

Black energy flowed along his fingers and quietly entered the red paper, causing the soon-to-be-cracked red paper to soften considerably.

The paper doll stared at him blankly and said, “Squeak... Ya...“

Meng Jiang whispered to Ji Mingrui from behind, “Why do I feel like Ning Su is nicer to ghosts than to people? How should I put it, it’s a bit different?”

Ji Mingrui responded coldly, “I thought you would have realized that when you saw how much he cares for Gui Sheng compared to you, a hundred times much better than how he treats you.”

Meng Jiang: “...”

Ning Su withdrew his hand, and the paper doll instinctively reached out to grab his finger. Ning Su turned his body towards Zhu Shuangshuang and said, “Let’s go.”

“Squeak.“

The soft and tender voice of the paper doll called out as it approached Zhu Shuangshuang. Upon seeing Blood Doll, who was holding a milk bottle and staring motionlessly at it, the paper doll quickly ran over.

“Squeak!“

Zhizhi swiftly arrived by Zhu Shuangshuang’s side.

Zhu Shuangshuang held the little hand of Zhizhi and said to Ning Su, “We mustn’t call little children stupid!”

Ning Su grunted and dragged Gui Sheng and Blood Doll back to the room.

Tonight at midnight, all the players who didn’t open the door for the new ghost friend received 1 point of luck. Zhu Ji also received 1 point of luck.

When Ning Su and Zhu Shuangshuang came down for breakfast, Ji Mingrui called them to the balcony of the dining room and shared the information he had collected.

“There were a total of five ghost friends born last night. On the fifth floor, Bai Shuang took in three, Zhu Ji took one, and on the sixth floor, Fan Mingyu took one.”

Zhu Shuangshuang exclaimed, “Three? Doesn’t that mean she still has three ghost friends now?”

Ji Mingrui nodded and motioned for Bai Shuang and Zhu Ji who were coming down the stairs. “Let’s eat first, we’ll talk later.”

The four of them sat in their original positions. Since no one died last night, there were still 13 players remaining, and their positions were almost determined.

Shi Tianzhu sat to the right of Ning Su, and a female player from the sixth floor sat to her left.

Just as the female player was about to sit down, Bai Shuang came over and squeezed in front of her, saying to Shi Tianzhu, “President Shi, can I go back to the sixth floor?”

She pulled her three ghost friends forward slightly. “I’ll take them with me.”

When they initially chose their rooms, she followed Shi Tianzhu without hesitation because she knew she would be protected by staying with her.

At first, when Shi Tianzhu withdrew the spatial props, she “seized the opportunity” to find the Gu Witch that same night and went to the fifth floor.

She thought the witch would protect her on the fifth floor, but she didn’t expect that the people on the fifth floor would be so disgusting.

The sixth floor was where she could truly feel at ease. Even if Shi Tianzhu didn’t protect her, she didn’t have to worry about being harmed.

She came to find Shi Tianzhu publicly, just to vent her frustration from the fifth floor. She was confident that Shi Tianzhu would let her go back. She had three ghost friends who could help her withstand two days on the sixth floor.

“Bai Shuang, you...” Zhu Ji looked at her in surprise.

The other players on the fifth floor also looked up at her.

Bai Shuang looked at them triumphantly, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

“You’re different from before.” Shi Tianzhu looked up at her.

Bai Shuang understood what she meant. She wouldn’t have come to find Shi Tianzhu publicly before.

“It changed since last night,” she said.

Shi Tianzhu nodded. “Since you’ve left, don’t come back.”

Bai Shuang was taken aback.

Shi Tianzhu stopped talking and lowered her head to eat.

Bai Shuang stood there awkwardly.

Zhu Ji said, “Come sit here, Bai Shuang!”

Bai Shuang pursed her lips and sat next to Zhu Ji.

Zhu Ji said, “Why go to the sixth floor? Let’s be together.”

Last night, he received 1 lucky point from his new ghost friend. He was in a good mood.

The new ghost friend had given him a luck point on the first day, showing great potential. He kept the new ghost friend by his side, treating it like a precious treasure.

Bai Shuang nodded, gripping her chopsticks tightly, and looked at Shi Tianzhu.

Shi Tianzhu quietly ate her meal, and the four people on the fourth floor also ate in silence.

After breakfast, they took their ghost friends to the garden to play as usual.