Changsheng Building
Chapter 261: Eat While Hot
In front of the counter, Su Cheng and the others waited anxiously.
Soon, a series of hurried footsteps came from the dark room, rushing straight in their direction!
“They’re back!” Zhang Yu whispered.
Just as he spoke, Qi Qian and the others rushed into the light. Although they looked a bit disheveled, they seemed to be unharmed.
“Did it work?” Zhang Yu stepped forward.
Su Cheng also hurriedly stepped forward, looking at Wen Jianyan in An Xin’s arms:
“How is she?”
With An Xin’s support, Wen Jianyan sat down as close to the oil lamp as possible.
His eyelashes were lowered, his face drained of any color, appearing terribly pale, and his body was as cold as a corpse, as if his life force was still continuously draining from his body. He gasped for breath, shook his head, and said weakly:
“…I’m okay.”
He took a deep breath and said, “Wait.”
This time, they didn’t use a sacrificial offering that could share the damage. After all, they only had half a stick of incense left, so even if they used it, it wouldn’t make a difference.
So, this time, the purpose of the incense wasn’t for the ritual but to lure the “customer” into the dark room, the place closest to the tomb, to start the offering.
Once the offering begins, the “path,” which is more restrictive but also more demanding, will emerge.
Next, what they needed to do was use methods other than the sacrificial offering to lure the “customer” in before the incense burns out.
During this entire process, the incense must keep burning; otherwise, the “path” would disappear instantly. This meant that until the instance judged that the customer had entered the tomb, Wen Jianyan’s life force had to be continuously “eaten away.”
Their action this time was akin to a big gamble.
They were betting on a time difference.
Would the remaining half-stick of incense burn out first, or would the customer be lured into the tomb first?
All they could do now was wait.
Wen Jianyan leaned against the wall, his strength gradually draining away. He slowly slumped, his eyelids becoming heavier over time, and he seemed a bit drowsy.
“Isn’t it over yet?” Su Cheng anxiously waited beside him, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. He grasped Wen Jianyan’s hand, which was resting beside him. “His hand is getting colder and colder.”
Qi Qian shook his head gravely:
“It seems the time it takes for the customer to enter the tomb is longer than I imagined.”
Moreover, what’s worse was that the “Changsheng Building” instance was different from other instances. Due to its high difficulty, it had its own internal system, so most crises within the instance couldn’t be solved using items from the system shop. Even if there were life-extending items, they couldn’t be used on Wen Jianyan.
Although the burning lamp oil could slowly restore human vitality, the recovery rate was too low compared to the rate of consumption. It was like trying to put out a raging fire with a cup of water; it made little difference.
“Here.”
Orange Candy, who had been resting with her eyes closed nearby, suddenly looked over. She took something out of her pocket and tossed it to Su Cheng, who was closest to Wen Jianyan.
Su Cheng fumbled to catch it, and when he looked closely—
…It was the backup oil tray from Orange Candy’s team.
“If one tray isn’t enough, light this one too,” Orange Candy said before closing her eyes again and reclining back.
Su Cheng: “Th-Thank you…”
Everyone immediately got busy. At this point, they couldn’t be bothered to save resources; they lit every oil tray and candle they could find and placed them near Wen Jianyan.
The different colors of light overlapped, and the area behind the counter brightened. Whether it was an illusion or not, Wen Jianyan’s face indeed seemed a bit less pale under the illumination.
Wen Jianyan kept his head down, his long silver hair covering his pale profile. His eyes were shut, as if he were asleep.
Su Cheng and the others stared nervously at his face, quietly waiting.
Please, let this work!
The feeling of life force draining away is very strange. At first, there is fear and weakness; then, later on, only coldness remains.
Wen Jianyan was getting drowsy.
He felt his body temperature slipping away, and his consciousness gradually became dark and blurred, as if he might fall asleep at any moment.
So cold.
With his eyes closed, he shivered, instinctively leaning to the side, but the presence next to him seemed to have no warmth either.
It was even colder than he was, like an ice cellar.
A deep voice sounded, with a hint of displeasure: “You’re too cold.”
Wen Jianyan shivered, his eyelids flicking open as he looked in the direction of the voice.
Wu Zhu frowned, leaning down to look at the human who had leaned into his embrace, casually commenting, “I still prefer you when you’re warm.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
Ah, it seems he might have fainted again; otherwise, this guy wouldn’t appear so openly in front of him.
He wasn’t sure if it was because he had grown accustomed to this not-so-dangerous interaction or because his brain had frozen from the cold. A thoughtless joke slipped out:
“Because… food should be eaten while it’s hot?”
Wu Zhu tilted his head slowly, his cold, inhuman golden eyes glinting in the darkness, seemingly seriously considering the feasibility of Wen Jianyan’s words.
He leaned in closer.
At the same time, the surrounding black mist coalesced into tendrils, forcing Wen Jianyan to tilt his head up.
A cold, wet tongue slowly licked the young man’s throat. The sharp tips of his teeth even caught a small piece of skin, nibbling on it like he was grinding his teeth.
“…!”
Wen Jianyan regretted it the moment he said it.
He tilted his head up, feeling the other licking and nibbling at his throat. The places that had been bitten by those cold lips and tongue suddenly became scorching hot. A sense of instinctual shivering rushed over him, causing his entire body to stiffen and his scalp to tingle.
—Why on earth did you remind him of this?!
Wen Jianyan was filled with regret.
A few seconds later, Wu Zhu released the human’s soft, pale neck, and his scarlet tongue licked his lips with lingering interest.
He said, “Yes.”
Those golden eyes locked onto the young man in front of him, like a predator still clamping down on its prey’s throat. His voice was low and hoarse, filled with a chilling, deathly threat, yet it also seemed like a private whisper between lovers.
“I prefer to eat it hot.”
He concluded.
“!”
Wen Jianyan sharply gasped, his eyes snapping open.
The overly bright light made him dizzy and lightheaded. His body hadn’t fully recovered from its weakness, and the sudden movement caused his vision to go black for a moment; he nearly fainted again.
“Wen Wen! You’re awake!!” A delighted voice came from the side.
“Thank goodness!” Su Cheng rushed over, looking anxious. “Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere? How do you feel?”
“Ugh…” Wen Jianyan let out a pained groan.
He felt as if his body had been thrown off a tall building, with his bones, muscles, and skin all separating from each other. The intense sense of exhaustion made him feel extremely cold, and he couldn’t stop shivering.
“I’m… I’m fine.”
He took a deep breath, and as the dizziness in his vision gradually faded, he looked up:
“The customer… have they been sent away?”
Seeing Wen Jianyan was okay, Su Cheng couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. He nodded and replied, “Yes, your plan worked.”
Qi Qian, standing to the side, added:
“From about half a minute before you woke up, the darkness in the shop began to gradually dissipate. Although we haven’t checked inside the dark room yet, judging by the current situation in the shop, there shouldn’t be much suspense.”
After getting a definite answer, Wen Jianyan also let out a long breath.
“Then the ghost money…”
Just as he was about to get up, Su Cheng pressed him back down firmly. “An Xin went to get it. He should be back soon. Don’t worry about it; just rest for now.”
Only then did Wen Jianyan realize that he was practically lying in a sea of light. All the oil trays and candles had been lit and placed near him. The originally rotten, sickly sweet smell of corpse oil now seemed to bring a slight warmth, continuously flowing into his body.
No wonder he woke up so early this time despite losing so much.
He frowned slightly, “But using resources like this is a bit wasteful…”
“Don’t worry, it’s not just for you.” Su Cheng shook his head, pointing to Zhang Yu, Orange Candy, Tong Yao, and the others not far away. “They’ve also expended too much life force during the previous offering. To face the challenges that might lie ahead more smoothly, they also need to recover their strength as soon as possible.”
True.
Wen Jianyan nodded, closed his eyes, leaned back to his original position, and began to focus on regaining his strength.
His silvery-white hair softly fell down, revealing his neck.
Su Cheng’s gaze suspiciously lingered on his neck for a moment.
…Wait, are those bite marks?
Or is he seeing things?
Before he could take a closer look, a series of hurried footsteps sounded from nearby.
It was An Xin.
He ran back from the dark room, holding a grayish-white piece of ghost money in his hand, looking excited. “Captain, we got it!”
Although they had expected it, everyone couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief and show relaxed expressions after receiving the definite answer.
Thank goodness, it looks like they really succeeded.
They had sent away the last customer with half a stick of incense, and what remained was—
“Ring, ring, ring!”
It was as if speaking of the devil.
A crisp telephone ring echoed, resonating in the vast, dark shop.
Qi Qian quickly stepped forward and picked up the phone.
The familiar stiff female voice came through:
“Congratulations on achieving your performance goal.”
“Would you like to open the path to the next floor?”
Qi Qian answered without hesitation, “Yes.”
The call disconnected, and a busy tone of “beep, beep, beep” sounded from the other end of the receiver.
After he placed the phone back in its holder, the glass door not far away slowly opened to both sides. Outside the door was no longer an endless dark corridor but a staircase leading upward.
The staircase extended upward, its end shrouded in darkness, unclear to the eye.
…It was the road to continue upward.
Wen Jianyan supported himself on the counter and stood up, his eyes fixed intently outside the door. He felt his heart rate slightly quicken, and he had to take a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Going further up would lead to the most crucial floor of the entire Prosperity Tower.
It was also the most central area of the whole instance.
[Fifth Floor]!
thank you for the update!