Chapter 66

Before night fell completely, Zhu Ming went to knock on the door of the demon’s house where Tang Qiaoqi was staying.

The door did open, but Tang Qiaoqi was blocked by a transparent barrier and couldn’t come out.

“Boss Zhu, don’t worry. This demon sister is called Little Bai. She treats me very well and hasn’t drained my essence.” Tang Qiaoqi handed Zhu Ming some food and drink. “I asked her for all this. You shouldn’t waste your essence out there.”

Zhu Ming nodded. “Alright then. Take care of yourself. Try to stay as far from those lanterns as possible.”

Tang Qiaoqi obediently agreed and added, “I also asked Sister Little Bai about the Fox King. The Fox King lives in the biggest residence closest to the statue. He’s the Dungeon Boss here, incredibly powerful. Boss Zhu, be careful not to confront him directly.”

Zhu Ming nodded. Seeing she couldn’t come out, she was a bit worried. “Did she say when you’ll be free?”

Tang Qiaoqi said, “She said by tomorrow morning it should be fine. She wouldn’t reveal anything else.”

“Tomorrow morning, then.” Zhu Ming said, “I’ll come knock on your door later tonight to check the situation. Don’t sleep too early. We’ll regroup at dawn.”

“Got it.”

Zhu Ming warned again, “If any strange situation occurs, adapt on your own. If you can’t reach me, remember to check the Invitation Letter often. The moment it shows the mission is complete, tear it immediately to leave.”

At that point, Tang Qiaoqi suddenly remembered a question. “After leaving this town, where will I end up?”

Normally, wherever you entered the dungeon, you’d still be there after leaving. Meaning, even after leaving the dungeon, they’d still be in the real Demon Market.

That was indeed a problem.

Zhu Ming could only say, “Probably still in the Demon Market. Let’s do this: try to leave together after we meet up. If absolutely impossible, then you leave alone.”

The two of them wanted to guard each other like this, one inside the door, one outside, just to see each other and feel more at ease. But once it got dark, the lanterns hanging under the eaves emitted a faint red glow, and the wooden main door closed automatically.

Zhu Ming had to shout through the door, telling Tang Qiaoqi not to stand guard by the door, to quickly find a place where she couldn’t see the red lanterns and hide.

Exposure to the White Lanterns paralyzed you; who knew what consequences exposure to Red Lanterns would have?

Later, around eight or nine o’clock, Zhu Ming fulfilled her promise to knock. She circled the residence of the demon called Little Bai, calling out for Qiqi.

That heavy wooden door finally opened slowly. Zhu Ming strode over, only to find only Little Bai standing at the doorway, with no shadow of Qiqi anywhere.

Crap. An uncontrollable accident must have occurred.

“Miss Little Bai, may I ask where the Fox King’s next fiancée is?”

Zhu Ming didn’t get too close, because Little Bai was holding a red lantern in her hand. The lantern was ghostly dark, emitting an ominous blood-red light.

She didn’t want to get too close to her, nor could she force her way into the residence, so she had to use the Fox King’s name to apply pressure.

Little Bai, however, showed no fear. “Don’t worry, she’s fine. Just asleep.”

Asleep at this hour? For a modern university student, evening classes might still be in session at this time. Besides, she’d been warned earlier. Tang Qiaoqi shouldn’t be sleeping now.

“Could you trouble yourself to wake her up? Let me see her for a moment?”

Little Bai smiled slightly. “I can’t.”

With that, the door merrily swung shut, directly shutting Zhu Ming out. The bright moon hung high, its clear light casting a shallow shadow behind Zhu Ming. She stood by the door, frowning, not leaving for a long time.

Little Bai seemed to harbor no hostility toward humans, but she was still a demon, an NPC here. Zhu Ming couldn’t help but observe a moment longer.

She felt Little Bai’s aura seemed somewhat familiar.

If she wasn’t mistaken, Little Bai was also a fox. The totem at her door was a fox—but that wasn’t unusual; there were many fox demons here. However, only the totem at the Fox King’s door was exactly identical to the one on the back of the Invitation Letter.

And all day long, the Fox King had been the only one who hadn’t left his house, hadn’t participated in chasing and luring the participants. This was probably the self-cultivation of a boss, waiting until the very end to strike.

Back to Little Bai. This demon was ordinary, with a very low presence, showing no hostility towards participants. She was very inconspicuous in a crowd of demons. This feeling was very similar to an old acquaintance.

Bai Lianxue.

Little Snow, Little Bai… it really seemed to match…

Moreover, Wenren Tu had said Bai Lianxue was a Half-Demon.

Zhu Ming began pounding on the door. “Bai Lianxue, open the door! Don’t hide inside without making a sound; I know you’re home!”

Little Bai: “…”

Zhu Ming hollered indignantly, “Bai Lianxue, I believe you’re not a bad person! Although you seem like a hidden troublemaker, I know your nature isn’t bad! Really!!”

Alas, this emotional appeal failed to get a response from the other side. But that very fact proved Little Bai was Bai Lianxue. If she wasn’t, she could have simply denied it. Her silence now was clearly a tacit admission.

“Even if you won’t help us, I can ask a question unrelated to the dungeon, right?”

Creak—

The door finally opened again. Bai Lianxue leaned against the doorframe and said helplessly, “What’s the question?”

Zhu Ming scrutinized her expression intently. “Last dungeon, what exactly happened with Sun Ningning?”

Who in their right mind would willingly sacrifice themselves to benefit someone else? Not to mention Bai Lianxue and Sun Ningning had only known each other a few days.

Bai Lianxue was the person most likely to have tampered with something in this matter.

Bai Lianxue thought for a moment, not really minding answering this. But she smiled and said, “One question, one sip. Let me take a sip first, then I’ll answer you.”

One sip it was. Demons couldn’t lie in this dungeon. If Bai Lianxue cooperated, she might even glean more useful intel.

Zhu Ming stepped forward two paces and extended her hand.

Bai Lianxue lightly absorbed a sip from her palm, then released her wrist. “Actually, it’s simple. I cast a Psychic Command on her. If she ever thought of harming me, she would rebound the harm onto herself according to her own intent.”

So at that time, Sun Ningning had actually wanted to sacrifice Bai Lianxue to the Six-Armed Goddess. But because of this command, she had thrown herself into the goddess’s embrace instead.

So that was it.

Zhu Ming found Bai Lianxue increasingly interesting. She’d definitely done some bad things, but didn’t harbor much malice toward others personally.

“After we leave this dungeon, how do we leave the Demon Market? Are you also in the Demon Market? Can you lead us out?” Zhu Ming fired off questions in succession.

A hint of strangeness crossed Bai Lianxue’s face. “Let’s talk about it once you can leave the dungeon.”

“I meant after we leave the dungeon.”

Bai Lianxue pursed her lips. She seemed to think of something and didn’t appear optimistic. “If possible, I wouldn’t mind doing a small favor.”

“Then it’s settled,” Zhu Ming said. “Don’t worry, once I get out, I’ll definitely put in a good word for you with the Management Bureau.”

Bai Lianxue smiled faintly. “I’m going to close the door now. Zhu Ming, strive to stay alive.”

Zhu Ming said with a cordial smile, “Of course. If you could help us out a bit, it would be even better.”

“Ah, I really have to close the door. Go now.”

“Oh, come on. Other demons would welcome me knocking late at night. Why are you so unwelcoming?”

Bai Lianxue looked silently at Zhu Ming and repeated softly, “I don’t mind doing a small favor.”

So saying, she directly closed the door. The blood-red glow of the lantern was sealed off by the door.

Zhu Ming stood before the door, pondering. That final glance, that sentence—what exactly did it mean? She knew she didn’t mind a small favor, and also knew she couldn’t interfere too much within the dungeon. But was there a need to repeat it…? Suddenly, a terrified lightning bolt shot through her nerves. Zhu Ming shuddered all over, breaking out in a cold sweat.

She couldn’t help but rub her temples forcefully, pinch the bridge of her nose, and knead her scalp to promote blood flow.

Her chaotic thoughts cleared in the chilly night breeze.

She realized where the problem lay, and also realized Bai Lianxue had already helped her. Saying she didn’t mind a small favor—because closing the door was already a small favor that helped. When Zhu Ming had stepped forward to let Bai Lianxue absorb her essence, she’d been bathed in that eerie, blood-red lantern light. She had been affected right then.

How could she easily believe Bai Lianxue was a good person? How could she genuinely believe from her heart that she would help her? How had she developed a reluctant sense of closeness?

Illuminated by the Red Lantern, Zhu Ming didn’t even seem like Zhu Ming anymore. She’d even neglected to be wary of the lanterns.

It was a silent, soundless erosion, hard to detect, hard to resist.

Zhu Ming walked to the riverbank, bent down, and washed her face. She grew even more worried about Tang Qiaoqi staying inside the demon’s residence. Bai Lianxue’s earlier statement proved she had no ill intent, but that didn’t mean the dungeon had none.

Forget it. Everything could wait until they regrouped tomorrow.

Zhu Ming found a flat, clean corner in the town square and spent the night sleeping there.

She was both tired and exhausted, and she did fall asleep. But sleeping in such a place inevitably left her body aching and limbs numb. So when a large blade slashed down beside her in the dim early morning light, she almost failed to dodge.

In the nick of time, before Zhu Ming’s eyes even opened, her body had already rolled a turn and a half.

Out of habit, she pushed off the ground to leap up, but stumbled halfway. Half her body was pressed numb and sore, her bones and muscles all uncomfortable.

This only worsened her mood. She roared furiously, “Who has no freaking common sense, daring to slash even the Fox King’s fiancée… Qiqi?!”

Tang Qiaoqi’s eyes were staring straight ahead. She raised a large kitchen cleaver and chopped down at Zhu Ming. “Overthrow human imperialist hegemony, eradicate the cancer of Earth!”

Zhu Ming: “…”

So the demons really hadn’t lied. They couldn’t casually deal fatal blows to participants, but the participants themselves certainly could!

On the second morning of the dungeon, amidst the hazy morning fog, Tang Qiaoqi had arrived punctually to their rendezvous. However, by this time, she had thoroughly become the demons’ “family.”

Swish—

Zhu Ming ducked low, her long leg sweeping out. The big red silk flower on her head was sliced at one edge, and Tang Qiaoqi was swept off her feet, sprawling onto the ground.

Demons were tough-skinned, rough-fleshed, and strong—difficult to deal with. But a delicate, pampered lady like Tang Qiaoqi? Zhu Ming could subdue her with one hand.

She straddled Tang Qiaoqi’s back, pinning her wrists behind her. “Qiqi, wake up.”

Tang Qiaoqi howled, struggling wildly. “Overthrow human imperialist hegemony, eradicate the cancer of Earth!”

“Don’t you have anything else to say?”

Freeing one hand, Zhu Ming grabbed her face and turned it, examining it closely. Aside from her staring eyes, there were no other abnormalities. It seemed the demons had brainwashed her into a fool.

But Tang Qiaoqi didn’t feel like a fool. Her face flushed red as she squirmed under Zhu Ming. Unable to break free, an idea struck her. She opened her mouth and chomped down on Zhu Ming’s hand with a loud ‘crunch’.

The bite landed right in the web between Zhu Ming’s thumb and forefinger. The intense pain nearly made Zhu Ming punch her senseless.

Such was the great power of money. Zhu Ming, holding back tears of pain, gently pried open Tang Qiaoqi’s jaw and extracted her own hand.

But this freed Tang Qiaoqi’s hands, and she immediately started thrashing again, trying to eradicate this human cancer cell, Zhu Ming.

Zhu Ming had no choice but to pin her down once more.

There were no ropes here to tie Tang Qiaoqi up. Zhu Ming sat on her in frustration, pressing down her hands and back, and ate the pastries Tang Qiaoqi had given her last night.

She’d been hoping she’d bring more the next day. Well, so much for that. Tang Qiaoqi had turned into a little fool whose head was full of overthrowing humanity.

She couldn’t just keep suppressing her like this forever. Zhu Ming marched her over to Bai Lianxue’s door and knocked. “Bai Lianxue!”

Tang Qiaoqi: “Rawr rawr rawr! Overthrow human imperialist hegemony, eradicate the cancer of Earth!”

Zhu Ming said, exasperated, “Can’t you change your lines?”

Tang Qiaoqi paused. “Rawr rawr rawr! Charge! Let the blades chop down on the heads of humans! Today, your grandpa will use your heart, liver, and lungs for a drinking snack!”

“Who are you calling grandpa? My grandpa’s long dead.” Zhu Ming didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and flicked her on the forehead.