dmims Chapter 14: Friends, it's delicious
Chapter 14: Friends, it's delicious
There were no other messages in the bathroom. This person named Lin Wan may have found the cellar and escaped, or he may have died. No one knows the exact location of the cellar.
Zhang Ze had to find it himself.
The forest is very large.
Like a blood-soaked labyrinth, every tree was crooked and twisted, as if corpses were buried beneath them. The air was always filled with an unusual crimson hue, and the silence was unsettling.
After leaving the cabin.
Zhang Ze and Li Yang, along with Xiao Zhou, walked along the path they had come from, but soon got lost in the forest.
When the road forked ahead, Zhang Ze chose the path with denser bushes.
A while later.
The bushes and shrubs along the way became even denser.
Before Zhang Ze's eyes appeared a lush, century-old Chinese pine.
The trunks are so thick that it takes three or four people to hug them, and the roots are intertwined and embedded in the ground, with signs that the soil has been disturbed.
"Before you came in, it was just me, Lao Zhou, a young girl, and a woman."
"After Xiao Zhou arrived, the little girl was killed by a crow that suddenly appeared."
"We buried her under this tree."
Li Yang said.
"Unless a new person enters, people who die will generally be resurrected at a fixed location. Only when a new person enters the world of the painting will death be permanent."
"After you went in, the middle-aged woman was also killed by crows."
"If there are new recruits next time, I'll be the one who dies, and the next one after that will be Lao Zhou."
Zhang Ze glanced at the mound of earth at his feet.
"What is the point of Lingling doing this?"
"If she had become the complete Red-Clad Woman, she could easily have taken revenge on her parents, but after taking revenge, she would still be killing people."
"If it's indiscriminate killing, this efficiency is far too slow."
Li Yang shook his head. "If it were me from the past, when I still had the memory, I might have been quite happy to talk to you about these things."
"But I've lost those memories. I only remember what happened after I entered this hellish place, and my guesses about my former personality. I must have been a paranormal enthusiast before, and I even bought that damn painting."
A new fork in the road appeared before us.
As usual, Zhang Ze chose the path with denser bushes.
They had already gone very deep into the forest, and going any further was seriously hindering their progress.
"Are you sure you want to go this way?"
"We can't even see the ground clearly. It's fine if there are leaves, but what if a snake or something suddenly appears?"
Li Yang was a little nervous.
He and Lao Zhou had always avoided going near these places.
After all, staying there too long might attract crows, and then you'd die again.
Zhang Ze replied, "If the news about the cellar is true, it might be the only way to escape. If you were Lingling, you would definitely try to hide the cellar."
"Instead of letting it be exposed in the most conspicuous place."
"The world in the painting is the embodiment of Lingling's will; the denser the area, the more central it is."
As Zhang Ze spoke, he broke off a tree branch that was more than a meter long.
Blood was flowing from the broken branch, and upon closer inspection, vein-like patterns could be seen on the surface of the bark.
Zhang Ze poked the ground covered with leaves with a twig.
If the cellar is covered by leaves.
He should be able to poke a hard metal opening.
"Ding!"
The branch actually poked something hard.
Zhang Ze was immediately overjoyed.
Push aside the bushes.
Before me stood... a crow.
To be precise, it was countless crows, a dark mass gathered together, and their countless jet-black eyes started to dart around instantly when Zhang Ze spurred them on.
Almost simultaneously, all the crows' eyes were fixed on Zhang Ze.
"quack!"
An astonishing number of crows took flight instantly.
A familiar figure soon appeared among the crows.
His limbs were disproportionately elongated, as thin as tree branches, especially his neck, which was two or three times longer than normal, forcing him to stand with a hunched posture.
"Take Xiao Zhou to the cellar!"
Zhang Ze made a decisive decision.
He shoved Li Yang aside.
Li Yang was completely bewildered. He didn't understand why Zhang Ze was so resolute, as if Lingling would definitely hunt him down.
The sight before him left him speechless.
Countless crows circled around the woman in red, and from her severed wrist, reddish-black ink or blood flowed, dripping to the ground and turning into new crows.
They actually chased after Zhang Ze in the direction he had fled.
They completely ignored him and Xiao Zhou.
"How...how did you do that?"
Li Yang was completely baffled.
But he quickly realized that the crows had gathered together to guard something extremely important.
While all the crows were chasing Zhang Ze.
This was his once-in-a-lifetime chance to escape.
Perhaps the cellar... is hidden inside!
Zhang Ze glanced back.
The crows were all behind him, keeping a distance of less than a few meters.
But in his vision, Lingling was just a red shadow, and he couldn't see her walking at all, as if she were floating in mid-air.
His priority is definitely higher than Li Yang's and Xiao Zhou's.
After all, he was the man who received the "Nightmare Nova" reward from the system.
Under the same conditions, there is no doubt that he is more likely to be a target of vengeful ghosts than others.
"quack!"
The crow cawed mockingly.
It seemed they were waiting for Zhang Ze to run out of energy.
The branch scratched Zhang Ze's skin and cut open his flesh, but it healed quickly.
Every now and then, Zhang Ze would step on something crunchy, making a "crack" sound, but he didn't have time to figure out whether it was a bone or a twig.
Finally, when Lingling's shadow appeared directly in front of Zhang Ze, Zhang Ze knew that she had gotten tired of playing with him.
After playing with the prey...
It's time to enjoy the prey.
Zhang Ze stopped running.
"Lingling, I know you can hear me."
"Don't be nervous, I'm here to help you."
When Zhang Ze spoke, he tried his best to make his voice sound gentle, which was very difficult for him. Before he transmigrated, he was just an ordinary college student who had never interacted with girls or ghosts in his life, let alone female ghosts.
However, even if you're forced into it, you have to do it.
The woman in red tilted her head slightly, like a crow, seemingly not understanding what Zhang Ze was saying.
Zhang Ze continued:
"The pain you experienced before is over, and you have made your enemies pay the price. You have trapped yourself in this cruel world you have created, reliving your past despair over and over again."
"You don't have to do this at all. We have a better way. As long as you are willing to take this step, I will help you face the world again as an artist."
"I am Zhang Ze. I understand you. I'm here to be your friend, Lingling."
Zhang Ze had already said everything he could think of.
Although it was a bit of a headache, Zhang Ze assured that he had conveyed his meaning perfectly.
According to the normal script, Lingling should feel a slight tremor in her heart, thinking that as a ruthless hunter, she is already used to launching one hunt after another in this bloody game.
Now, someone actually understands her pain, comforts her, and helps her.
The next second she should show emotion, relief, and then move on to a dumpling-making ending.
Isn't this just Chen Ge's standard routine?
Zhang Ze was filled with anticipation.
But then the woman in red's deep black pupils darted around, and she managed to squeeze out a few hoarse words:
"...Friend, it's delicious..."
The next second, Zhang Ze's abdomen began to twitch.
He heard the sound of crows.