Changsheng Building
Chapter 257: Doing business means forcing buying and selling!
Wen Jianyan suddenly realized something was wrong.
By the faint light emitted from the candlestick in his hand, he saw the “customer” standing still not far away. It was standing upright and motionless, its body stiff and straight, wearing old, tattered clothes that were dirty and rotten. Clearly… at some point, it had changed to face him directly.
In the darkness, nothing could be seen clearly, but he inexplicably felt a sense of being “watched.”
Wen Jianyan’s hair instantly stood on end.
Not good!
A scene flashed through his mind—the moment when the candle flared up. At that moment, he was probably too close to the “customer”…
The reason “customers” do not attack humans after entering the shop was that all the anchors gather near the counter, and the light of the oil lamp not only attracted the customers into the shop but also temporarily prevented them from sensing the presence of humans, ensuring safety for the time being.
The “customers” would come in, pick out goods, and leave. However, when there were no goods left in the shop, they would disregard the rules and attack humans—just like the first customer on the fourth floor.
The second customer came from another shop; it was guided here under the rule of the talisman, and its only purpose was to “feed.”
Wen Jianyan gripped the candlestick tightly.
In the dim candlelight, he saw blue-black corpse spots appearing on the back of his hand, as if it were rotting rapidly.
A cold, death-like sensation quickly crept up from his feet.
He knew he was now being “attacked.”
Cold sweat dripped from Wen Jianyan’s forehead, and a strong sense of foreboding surged from the depths of his heart.
This is bad. If he doesn’t get out of here soon, he might really die here—
Just as Wen Jianyan was about to step back, he suddenly froze.
He noticed that his current state seemed different from that of his teammate, who had been targeted just now.
More importantly, the rotting corpse spots did not start appearing near his neck, which means…
Thinking this way, Wen Jianyan quickly glanced at the incense burner not far away.
The burning red spot had not changed position.
Sure enough.
Wen Jianyan squinted his eyes.
Judging by the situation, he was not yet the “offering” for the time being.
After he dripped his blood into the incense burner, the “customer’s” attention was diverted from the first sacrifice and directed toward the incense burner. However, before it could continue to feed, because he was too close, and the candle’s protective effect was far inferior to that of the oil lamp, this attack was not “feeding” but pure, unhidden, cold-blooded killing.
The moment he realized this, Wen Jianyan felt a layer of cold sweat instantly seep down his back.
Not out of fear, but due to excitement.
If viewed from his previous perspective, this terrifying substitution state seemed unsolvable because the “customer” was still determined to be in another shop. Therefore, no matter whether it’s an item from inside the instance or outside the instance, it has no effect on it. Even if they successfully send it away, they would still end up wasting valuable resources in vain, ultimately watching it leave with nothing gained.
Those offerings that could share damage were useless, and the red lights that could attract the “customer’s” attention could not reach it either, because the “customer’s” actual attack positioning is currently determined to be in another shop, not here.
However, this seemingly unsolvable state has now changed, because Wen Jianyan discovered that being too close to it could trigger the “customer’s” desire to kill.
Wen Jianyan stared intently at the “customer” not far away, his breathing becoming slightly rapid.
…This also meant that as long as he got close enough, he could be determined to be within the attack range.
And thus, he could have an impact on it!
His gaze fell on the crooked, pitch-black talisman. He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and instead of retreating, he took a step forward.
Within his line of sight, the “customer” became clearer—the pitch-black, dirty clothes, the rotting, blue-black hands hanging on either side—all exuded an aura of terror.
After calming down, Wen Jianyan quickly realized that although it had “noticed” his presence and launched an attack, this attack was much slower compared to that of the previous customer.
It seemed that this meant the mechanism of the talisman was also a double-edged sword. Although it caused them to be unable to interfere with a “customer” determined to be [in another space], likewise, the danger level of the attacks launched by a “customer” [in another space] was also greatly reduced.
In a sense, it was also a form of protection. Although the talisman’s way of transferring risk was quite insidious, for them, being in another space also meant that removing the talisman would be easier than attaching it.
This was good news.
Wen Jianyan mustered up his courage, stepped forward again, and reached out his hand toward the motionless “customer,” cautiously approaching the talisman on its body.
In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:
[Ahhh, oh my god, oh my god!]
[Wuwu Wen Wen is amazing! I thought they would definitely be trapped this time, but who knew…]
[So tense!]
[To avoid even such an invisible trap… just how well does the anchor understand this instance? This is terrifying!]
[Ugh!]
As the distance closed, a muffled groan of pain escaped from Wen Jianyan’s throat.
The cold sensation rose from the soles of his feet, swiftly spreading throughout his body, as if he were immersed in an icy pond.
Life force was rapidly draining from his body.
His vision began to blur, and his legs gradually stopped listening to him.
He was indeed closer.
Wen Jianyan raised his hand, his pale, bloodless, and rotting corpse-spotted fingers gradually approaching the talisman exuding a terrifying aura on the “customer,” the distance shrinking down to mere centimeters.
Damn it!
He stared intently at the distance that was gradually narrowing. If he could just stretch his hand a little bit further, he would be able to touch that terrifying blue-black talisman.
Almost there, just a bit more!
“Cough, cough cough!”
In the darkness, the “customer,” who hadn’t moved at all since earlier, slowly turned its head and precisely “looked” at Wen Jianyan’s hand, which was reaching out in mid-air.
The sluggishness from before had vanished.
At this moment, Wen Jianyan felt as if he was facing this corpse directly, without any form of protection.
The protective layer created by the talisman’s spatial difference had disappeared.
In an instant, a strong sense of panic swept over him.
I’m going to be killed!
I’m definitely going to be killed!
However, dragging his weakened body to this distance was already Wen Jianyan’s limit. His limbs had gradually lost feeling, as if they didn’t belong to him. Even though every cell in his body was screaming to run away, his body seemed to be rebelling against him.
He simply couldn’t take a step!
A sudden sense of powerlessness surged in his heart.
Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth, ready to make one last desperate gamble—would he be the first to tear off the talisman, or would the “customer’s” curse kill him first?
The “Integrity First” livestream room was also infected by the tense atmosphere, and the bullet comments became sparse, as if the viewers couldn’t divert their attention.
A bullet comment suddenly popped up:
[Ahhhh, no, no, no! Anyone else can tear it off, but not the anchor!]
[Huh? Wait? What do you mean?]
[Don’t you guys think that placing a talisman and tearing it off comes without any cost? Placing a talisman consumes half of a living person’s life force, and tearing it off does the same… If it were anyone else, it might be fine, but the anchor has already sacrificed a third of his life force earlier, and now that he’s been targeted, his body is being constantly devoured and is rotting. If he tears it off, he’ll definitely die!]
[!! Damn!]
[Ahhhh, is that how it is! No wonder the anchor’s condition looks so bad right now!]
[Damn it, it’s over, it’s over!]
Just then, a voice came from behind Wen Jianyan without any warning, breaking the dead silence:
“Hey!”
In Wen Jianyan’s buzzing ears, the voice sounded particularly strange and distant. It took him two seconds to realize where the voice was coming from.
“…?”
The next second, before he could react, a strong force came from behind, yanking him backward.
Wen Jianyan felt a dizzying sensation; the world before him turned upside down. His body had already reached its limit, and with this tug, he lost his balance and fell straight back. The candlestick slipped from his hand.
“Still alive?”
A voice that sounded quite bad-tempered came from above.
Wen Jianyan struggled to lift his heavy eyelids and looked in the direction of the voice.
In the faint candlelight, Orange Candy’s impatient face appeared very close. “Haven’t you been a sacrifice once already? Why is it you again? Are you really looking to die?”
“…Orange Candy?” Wen Jianyan was stunned.
“It’s me.” Orange Candy lowered her head, looked at him with disdain, and quickly let go of his hand, wiping the palm that had touched Wen Jianyan’s arm on her own clothes. “I noticed that the customer didn’t follow, which seemed off, so I came over, only to witness your suicide scene directly.”
“And you’re way too heavy, aren’t you?”
A hurried sound of footsteps approached; Zhang Yu and Wei Cheng quickly ran over from the darkness behind.
The two squatted down and helped Wen Jianyan up. Their movements were much gentler than Orange Candy’s: “How are you? Are you okay? What happened?”
With their help, Wen Jianyan managed to sit up and looked toward the “customer.”
Sure enough, the numbness caused by the “talisman” did exist.
After Wen Jianyan left its attack range, the “customer” turned around stiffly and began to take steps toward the incense burner, preparing to continue enjoying the offering.
“Quick…” Wen Jianyan raised his hand with difficulty and grabbed Zhang Yu’s sleeve. “Stop it! We absolutely can’t let it reach the incense burner and start feeding!”
“It was driven over by anchors from another shop; if we don’t tear off the talisman, all our efforts here will be in vain! We’ll be doing all the work for others to reap the benefits!”
Wen Jianyan spoke quickly, and with just a few words, the other anchors understood the current situation. They couldn’t help but gasp, and their expressions turned slightly grave.
“So we need to tear off the talisman, right?” Orange Candy squinted her eyes and handed the candlestick she was holding to Wei Cheng, who was beside her. “You two stay here.”
“Okay.” Wei Cheng nodded.
He had confidence in his captain’s abilities. Although tearing off the talisman from the customer was dangerous, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for Orange Candy.
“…”
Wen Jianyan’s vision darkened, and he leaned against Zhang Yu, feeling dizzy and almost half unconscious. Indeed, although the red candle was dangerous, its healing ability was much stronger than the gray-white candle. After breathing heavily for a while, Wen Jianyan gradually regained his strength.
“Where’s Orange Candy…?” he asked.
“Captain went to tear off the talisman,” Wei Cheng answered.
“I know,” Wen Jianyan propped himself up on the ground and struggled to sit up straight, his face pale as paper. “How long has she been gone?”
“Two or three minutes?”
Zhang Yu was startled and nodded. “Naturally.”
When they were on the third floor, they didn’t have a chance to use the talisman they exchanged on the second floor, and they weren’t clear about its specific effect, so they kept it until now.
“Take it.” Wen Jianyan handed the candlestick to Zhang Yu. “Follow Orange Candy.”
He spoke concisely:
“Once the black talisman is torn off, stick the yellow one on it.”
Wei Cheng was stunned: “The yellow one? What does it do?”
“……” Zhang Yu stared at Wen Jianyan for a moment but didn’t ask anything. He just took a deep breath and responded decisively, “Alright.”
In this race against time, they had to fully trust the decisions made by their teammates; otherwise, they could waste extremely valuable opportunities.
Zhang Yu stood up, holding the candlestick, and walked toward the customer.
With Wei Cheng’s support, Wen Jianyan struggled to sit up, his gaze fixed on the direction of the candlelight moving forward—
He was also making a gamble.
Since the black talisman could make the customer change targets, then tearing it off should make the customer return to its original shop.
But in that case, they would still suffer a major loss.
The arrival of this customer had already caused them to waste nearly half of their incense. If they simply sent it back like this, their precious resources wouldn’t be recovered, and they wouldn’t get any compensation.
For the other team, even though they didn’t completely get rid of the customer, they still managed to deplete the opposing team’s strength and reduce the danger posed by the “customer.”
A losing deal like this was something Wen Jianyan absolutely wouldn’t do.
It’s one thing to trick others, but to be tricked by others?
Impossible!
—So, since the customer came in, it shouldn’t think about leaving.
The black talisman and the yellow talisman are a pair; they were both taken out from the donation box by a hand for them to choose from. Therefore, their effects should also be paired.
Although he didn’t fully understand the specific effects of the yellow talisman, he could roughly infer some vague direction based on the black talisman.
Wen Jianyan took a breath and looked up.
A very beautiful face with soft lines had turned pale due to weakness. His figure was thin and fragile, leaning softly against his teammates. His silver-white long hair made him look even more delicate and easy to bully. But deep in those amber eyes, there was a cunning glint like a fox and a cold expression like a snake.
To send away the meat delivered to his mouth without taking a bite was definitely not his style.
In doing business, one must be forceful in buying and selling!
Thanks for the update~