Chapter 5: The Phantom King's Bride (5)
As soon as those words were spoken, the faces of all the male players changed abruptly.
“Aren’t we bound to our teammates? If we die, they won’t survive either.”
“Yes,” the old crone’s clouded eyes drifted toward the one who’d asked, “but that only applies while you’re on the ship.”
“Once you reach the far shore, the ties to your teammates will be severed.”
Though she was hunched over, it didn’t hinder her from gripping a pearwood walking stick and tapping it lightly upon the deck.
Atop the stick perched a red-eyed, gold-faced raven.
From head to toe, the raven radiated the aura of death—profound and absolute.
“Beyond that, you will spend two days and one night on this ship. Remember: every night between eleven and one, no matter what sounds you hear outside, do not leave your room, and do not let those things find you. Otherwise, you’ll end up just like this.”
The headless spectral chef brought out trays for everyone, laden with brains and blood sausages.
Before Tang Mu, four plates were set: monkey brain, bloody beef, duck intestines dripping with blood, and blood tofu.
All raw.
Everyone else’s meals were cooked medium.
A girl at the next table was about to overturn hers. “Old woman, why is everything on our table raw?”
Could it be human blood, human flesh?
If someone hadn’t whispered, accurately identifying that the ingredients had been harvested from animals, most would have bolted immediately to vomit—let alone eat.
Her protest drew only a cold snort from the old crone. “You can choose not to eat.”
“Is there any red wine?” Tang Mu, far more composed than the girl’s impotent rage, addressed her request to the old crone.
Her voice was icy. “No red wine, only blood wine.”
As she finished speaking, the headless chef placed a tall glass filled with a crimson, unknown liquid before each passenger.
Turning the transparent glass, Tang Mu watched as the red liquid clung stubbornly to the surface, slow to slide down—a substance likely from some animal.
Several people couldn’t bear it, rushing to the rail to retch.
Joseph was among them.
He too ran out onto the deck to vomit.
Yet Xue Fen and Tang Mu remained at the table, observing proper etiquette.
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“Why aren’t you throwing up?” Even a mature, imposing man like Joseph was undone by the bloody spectacle.
Surely Xue Fen, soft and delicate as a pup, would cry even harder.
“I must stay by Sister Tang Mu’s side to protect her!” He clenched his small fists, fierce in a childish way. He wasn’t actually afraid of the raw blood and meat, but he forced himself to act as though he was—just to show he could endure for the sake of his beauty.
“If I die, Sister Tang Mu dies too. So I won’t leave her side, not even a step!”
“Is that so?”
Tang Mu picked up knife and fork and lazily began to cut into the raw beef. The meat, though uncooked, was remarkably tender. It melted in her mouth—a true delicacy.
After finishing, Tang Mu smiled—a smile she knew was captivating and seductive. Sure enough, Xue Fen was transfixed, staring at her for a full ten seconds.
“Then hurry and eat,” Tang Mu said. “Eat more, so you’ll have the strength tonight.”
“What do you mean?” Xue Fen tilted his fluffy little head, amber eyes shining with bewilderment.
Tang Mu answered gently.
“Only four died in the first round,” she explained, slicing more beef. “No matter what happens in this game, the survival rate in a B-level scenario is only ten percent. Which means, to increase the death toll, the later rounds will only get harder.”
While the others were still absent, she swept all the beef to her side, chewed it slowly, and swallowed every bite.
“So we have to do our best.”
When the others returned to the table and saw the raw beef gone, they glanced at the remaining blood and meat… and immediately had to go vomit again.
Half an hour later.
Except for Tang Mu, nobody wanted to eat. Most tables looked exactly as they had at the start—untouched.
The old crone showed no reaction, merely instructing the headless chef to clear away all the plates.
“You may go to the second-floor cabins now.” She tapped her walking stick, signaling for everyone to descend from the third deck.
“After eight o’clock each night, no one is allowed on the top deck or in the cargo hold below. Otherwise, you die.”
“From eleven to one, no one may leave their cabin, nor make a sound. Otherwise, you die.”
“Now, the old man and I will assign your rooms.” She handed each person a slip of paper.
Tang Mu’s was number 04. Xue Fen’s, number 28.
Each cabin housed four, and each person had a wooden bed, coffin-like, built into the wall—a narrow shelf.
Men and women were not housed together.
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Tang Mu’s cabin included Xiao He (01), Ai Zhuzhu (02), and Wang Qing (03).
It was already seven thirty in the evening.
They needed to wash up and settle inside the cabin.
Xiao He and Ai Zhuzhu hurriedly took out basins and tossed their pajamas and undergarments in, heading to the washroom to queue for showers.
Wang Qing did not go.
She stared fiercely at Tang Mu.
Tang Mu paid her no mind. She leisurely removed her wine-red boots, climbed into her narrow bed, and turned over to sleep. As for Wang Qing’s intentions, who cared?
Just then—
A scream erupted from the washroom, sharp enough to pierce the human ear.
“Dead! Someone’s dead!”
When the others went in, they found the girls who’d entered before had been corroded by water flowing from the wooden showerhead. The floor was slick with a mixture of river water from the Underworld and blood.
On the tiles lay undissolved strands of hair and fingers—remnants of the victims.
The scene was brutal beyond words.
Several girls were so frightened, they nearly lost control.
“What’s going on with you?” The male players stormed over, demanding to know who had lost their heads this time.
“On the ship, our lives are tied to yours. If you die, we die too. Just now, three men were dragged into the sewers by spectral hands. There’s still blood at the entrance. You…”
When they saw the carnage in the washroom, their voices fell silent.
It was truly horrific.
To see the most beautiful girls meet their end in such an unexpected place.
Everyone fell into uneasy silence.