Chapter 1170: Lin Sanjiu Possessed by the Adventurer King
Chapter 1170: Lin Sanjiu Possessed by the Adventurer King
"Hurry, find a place to hide!" Amidst the loud footsteps, the persistent alarm, and Mrs. Manas's continuous urging, Lin Sanjiu quickly called out the towel to cover her hand and swiftly wiped off the amber glow enveloping Hei Zeji. Thankfully, the amber disappeared as expected, and Hei Zeji lightly landed on the ground.
As soon as he landed, Lin Sanjiu reached out and grabbed the man who was about to push the door open, as if she had anticipated it. "It's me—Lin Sanjiu! You can't go out. Come with me!"
Still want to go out and continue to be tricked?
She looked back and found that apart from the stairs, there was nowhere to go, and it seemed that the footsteps were about to reach the corridor below the stairs. If she rushed down, what if she bumped into that NPC head-on? Well, wherever she bumped into him, it was still a collision. She had taken other risks today anyway. Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth, motioned for Hei Zeji to follow, and rushed down the stairs ahead of him.
"The choker effect has less than 30 seconds left!" Mrs. Manas shouted, then paused before adding, "He really followed you, huh? Didn't he just fall for a trick before? He's so easy to deceive."
Would they have to fight for Hei Zeji to believe her?
Lin Sanjiu didn't have the time to respond to Mrs. Manas. Her full attention was focused on what was ahead, but she couldn't see if there were any people under the stairs. The basement room was a mystery to her, and she could only barely make out a general area within a radius of one to two meters around them. It was as if she was walking in a dark, dense fog, and only the fog around her was dispersed.
The last step!
When her feet touched the flat ground, the sound of the approaching person was so close that it felt like a slap in the face, suddenly clear and distinct: the jingling of keys at her waist, the soles of leather shoes hitting the floor, even the clearing of a throat... In that instant, Lin Sanjiu almost thought that she had collided head-on with the NPC. But when she looked up again, she realized that there was no one in the dimness before her.
She immediately realized that there was a turn ahead. The NPC was just after the next corner, about to meet her!
At that moment, Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt her collar being tugged from behind. Before she could turn around, a hand wrapped around her waist, and she was pulled upwards and backwards in one swift motion. She was more accustomed to hugging others than being hugged, so it took her a moment to realize what was happening when she saw the ground beneath her feet receding and the ceiling above her coming closer.
But she couldn't just hang like a hanged corpse in the corner, right? How did he stabilize himself on the ceiling?
"Bend your legs against the wall," Hei Zeji whispered gently in her ear, seeming to have thought of the same solution at the same time. "Don't look at him."
The last few words were almost simultaneous with the appearance of the NPC below. She had already curled up her legs, pressed against the wall behind her, preventing her feet from entering the NPC's line of sight. To avoid making the NPC feel watched, she turned her head like Hei Zeji and only used her peripheral vision to glance quickly.
Although she couldn't see clearly, she knew that the newcomer was not the plump female NPC. That female NPC behaved, spoke, and looked just like a human. From the face down to the throat, she was not a pitch-black gaping hole.
After just a glance, Lin Sanjiu turned her gaze away. However, it seemed like the irregular oval, seemingly bottomless black hole under the grayish flesh-colored face, still lingered before her eyes.
Was he a security guard?
Wait, didn't he just spit something out earlier?
The piercing alarm outside grew more and more shrill. Despite the heavy employee door blocking it, the sound hovered like a hurricane in the air. The newcomer hastened his steps, hurrying to the staircase but suddenly stopped at that moment.
Both of them couldn't resist taking a brief glance at him. His gray head was sparsely scattered with some dry hair; the head, looking like a deflated ball, turned around in place as if he sensed something was amiss and was searching for clues.
"24 seconds," Mrs. Manas whispered.
Amidst another sharp alarm urging them, the male-like creature shook his head and quickly went up the stairs, swiftly opening the side door. With his movements, the light filtering through the crack turned into a rapidly expanding pale yellow sheet. Then, Lin Sanjiu heard a sound resembling a gasp coming from the black hole in the center of his face.
He probably wouldn't notice the missing items in the counter when he opened the door. So, what did he see? The tent? Wait, shouldn't the [Temporary Right Of Abode] prevent suspicion?
Lin Sanjiu suddenly understood, and her palms became sweaty, as if ants were crawling through her veins and skin, causing an itchy sensation.
"Put me down," Lin Sanjiu said softly, and she felt the arm around her waist hesitate for a moment. She retracted her feet, squirmed out of Hei Zeji's embrace, and landed on the floor. Afraid that the landing might make too much noise, she used Higher Consciousness to cushion her feet. Keeping her eyes fixed on the gray back of the man, she slowly straightened her waist and quickly climbed up the stairs.
"What are you doing?" Mrs. Manas asked in an incredulous tone. "Are you alright?"
With less than 20 seconds left, as Lin Sanjiu stepped over a few steps, the person at the side door heard her footsteps and quickly turned around. "Who?" he asked.
His voice was like a gust of wind seeping out of a cave, cool and fishy, carrying a damp and dim odor. Due to the backlight, his appearance was immersed in shadow, with only the deep hole on his neck and chin faintly outlined by an even deeper darkness.
"It's me," Lin Sanjiu replied, trying not to consider what would happen if time ran out. Adrenaline was burning through her body, making her feel flushed. "I just got here. Did someone break in?"
"Yes..." Though she couldn't see his expression clearly, his hesitation was evident, as if he wasn't sure of the current situation.
Just answer "yes."
[Temporary Right Of Abode] only allowed the poor to live with no more than two Special Items on them. So, every time she used the tent, she had to throw her cards on the ground like the petals of a goddess before getting inside. However, in her haste, she didn't carefully search Wushi Ming's body and just stuffed him inside the tent. Now that the tent's effect hadn't been activated, it naturally appeared to the NPC that an outsider had invaded the payment counter.
She had also considered the possibility of other players following them into the payment counter, but upon further thought, it didn't seem likely. When she rushed in after snatching the items, no one dared to chase after her, let alone now.
Lin Sanjiu stretched her neck, pretending to look inside, but from her angle, all she could see was the top of the tent.
"Alright, take that tent out first," she said, trying to sound half commanding and half casual, as if everything should be done like this. "Then you go check what's going on with the alarm."
Mrs. Manas said coldly, "10 seconds."
It seemed like she was displeased with Lin Sanjiu's consecutive risky actions.
In response, Lin Sanjiu had only one word, fired like a bullet. "Hurry!"
In the midst of confusion, the man seemed to receive an instinctive command and moved without thinking. Lin Sanjiu saw him open the door and walk inside, but she didn't follow him. She could hear that the posthumans were gathering outside the counter, and with the sudden appearance of this man under the light, exclamations, shouts of anger, and questions erupted all at once. If she exposed herself and was recognized, she would become the target of everyone's attacks.
Although the tent was not far from the door, it still wrapped Wushi Ming inside. Could he drag it out within ten seconds? Lin Sanjiu secretly decided that as soon as he was distracted by the players and showed the slightest sign of responding, she would immediately turn and leave.
His movements were too slow; he needed to be faster.
She stared intently at the man. Fortunately, he seemed not very good at talking and ignored the players outside the counter. He used both hands to grab the tent's support and pulled it towards the side door. The shouts of "Don't go!" and "Leave that thing behind!" were incessant, but no one dared to come in for a moment.
"Five seconds," Mrs. Manas said, also beginning to feel anxious.
If he dragged the tent inside, there wouldn't be enough time. Anxious, Lin Sanjiu signaled to Hei Zeji, who was still on the ceiling. Without looking at him to check if he had come down, she used her foot to push the door wide open.
Just as she crouched down and pounced towards the payment counter, a hand quickly reached out from behind and pulled the door for her.
"I'll help you," Lin Sanjiu said, not forgetting to bluff even at this moment. "You can't handle this alone."
Thanks to her unusually heightened state of excitement, the side effects of the coffee had diminished quite a bit, and she had enough strength in her hands. As she grabbed the tent and forcefully dragged it into the doorway, she couldn't help but wonder to herself why she was doing this. She already knew that there was a Wushi Ming inside that couldn't be converted into a card, so why didn't she ask Hei Zeji to do this physically demanding work?
As the tent wobbled through the doorway, the man was trapped on the other side of the tent. Mrs. Manas's voice rang out, "Time's up."
"Close the door!" Lin Sanjiu shouted, unable to afford to pretend anymore. Holding the tent, she stepped back continuously. "Don't let him in!"
Hei Zeji banged on the door with such force that it seemed to shake the ceiling. The alarm, the noise of the players, and the angry screams of the man all sounded from the other side of the door, but with his hand pressing down, the door remained as steady as a mountain.
Lin Sanjiu quickly pulled out Wushi Ming, shouted, "Carry him on your back," and swiftly turned the tent into a card. She stood up and looked at the stairs, remembering the internal telephone on the wall of the payment counter. The man was probably about to notify more NPCs.
"Let's go quickly," Lin Sanjiu said, patting Hei Zeji's shoulder. She then turned around and rushed down the stairs. "More people are coming!"
Hei Zeji let go of the door, but it didn't open immediately—this could only mean that the person who went inside was probably at the telephone right now. He quickly caught up, and together they passed the corner. Both Mrs. Manas and Hei Zeji's voices rang out at the same time.
"Have you been possessed by something?" asked Mrs. Manas, of course.
"You're quite bold," Hei Zeji said.
Lin Sanjiu turned her head and smiled at him, feeling a bit embarrassed herself.
"Usually, my companions aren't very... strong. I always have to be cautious and hope the stronger ones don't hold me back. Now that I think about it, it's your support that allowed me to take such bold risks with ease."