Chapter 46
[Medusa’s Eye]!
Gu Quan’an removed his glasses. One eye looked dull, but the other burned red like blood.
The landlords’ legs turned to stone for an instant.
And in that instant, Mei Xue seized her chance, snatched the pipe, and flung it backward.
Gu Quan’an caught it and twisted his body—now holding two identical pipes.
After their last dungeon failure, they had commissioned a professional to forge a perfect replica, planning to swap it out.
Gu Quan’an grabbed the real pipe and bolted, giving Lu Chuan and Lilus a meaningful glance.
“Landlords, we’ll help you!” Lu Chuan and Lilus shouted, rushing to block Gu Quan’an and Mei Xue.
In that moment, Gu Quan’an slipped the genuine pipe into Lu Chuan’s sleeve, while he himself made a dash for the exit.
Mei Xue followed close behind.
Medusa’s Eye might stall powerful NPCs briefly, but it couldn’t hold them for long.
If not for the fog enclosing this Flesh Apartment, Mei Xue and Gu Quan’an would already have escaped cleanly.
Still, this was the best opportunity they’d get. Tomorrow would bring only more uncertainty.
The landlords quickly broke free of the petrification, roaring in fury as they gave chase.
“You’ll never escape! Return the pipe to us!” the landlady snarled, closing in, the old man ready to strike.
The four players Mei Xue and Gu Quan’an had brought tried to intervene, but Lu Chuan and Lilus stopped them with sharp glares.
Lu Chuan crossed his arms in an “X.”
Don’t interfere. Leave this to us.
“Landlords, should we help you?” Lu Chuan shouted theatrically, but he never left the apartment.
“Back to your rooms, all of you! Don’t meddle!” the landlady barked.
“Got it, we’re gone,” Lu Chuan replied, signaling Lilus to drag the other four away.
There was no need to worry about Mei Xue and Gu Quan’an now. After their last dungeon experience, they knew how to deal with this situation.
“This is the second time,” the landlady fumed. “I never should’ve let you two go last time! You travelers are all the same—over and over! Do you think I’m that soft?”
Last time, Mei Xue had used Absolute Stasis to snatch the pipe. This time, knowing they’d be wary, she had Gu Quan’an use his ability instead.
And they hadn’t acted while paying rent, but struck suddenly, leaving the landlords no chance to react.
Clearly premeditated.
“Don’t be angry, landlady,” Gu Quan’an and Mei Xue stood calmly at the edge of the fog. “If you come any closer, we’ll throw this pipe straight into the mist. That would be trouble for you, wouldn’t it?”
“Throw it? I can always buy another,” the old man sneered. “Wife, let’s just kill them.”
“In this Flesh Apartment, it’s still too soon for you to touch us,” Mei Xue said with a smile. “My ability may not be much, but if you really want to fight, I’ll gladly drag you into the mist with me.”
“That pipe is useless in your hands. Haven’t you learned your lesson from last time?” the landlady forced down her fury. She couldn’t act recklessly—breaking the rules would get her punished too.
In special dungeons like this, rules were absolute.
If the Burial Squad was summoned, it would be disastrous.
“We just didn’t study it carefully enough last time,” Mei Xue said, then casually made a proposal. “How about this? It’s still early. We’ll just sit here until night falls. Once the fog lifts, there will be no restrictions. If we can’t uncover the pipe’s secret, we’ll return it as is, and you won’t touch us. Worst case, we leave this dungeon again.”
The landlords hesitated.
“If you refuse, then we’ll just keep standing here. Either you snatch it back, or I drag you into the fog with me,” Mei Xue smiled faintly. “Your call.”
The couple grew wary, holding back their killing intent as best they could.
Losing the pipe was one thing—they could always buy another.
But if the two had stolen it twice, perhaps they had already begun to uncover its secret. That would be a real problem.
As expected, they really shouldn’t have been greedy.
Travelers like Mei Xue and Gu Quan’an, who had already cleared a dungeon once and then came back to raid it again, should’ve been eliminated early on using the apartment’s rules. Now that things had developed like this, making a move became much more difficult.
“Only until nightfall?” The landlady chuckled twice. “Fine then. But once night comes, if you don’t return what belongs to us, don’t blame us for taking real action. The mist will only protect you for a single day.”
“That’s nothing for you to worry about,” Mei Xue shot back without backing down.
The landlord and landlady slowly retreated into the apartment. But they dragged the front desk counter into position, right in line with the entrance, clearly intending to watch Mei Xue and Gu Quan’an constantly to prevent anyone from helping them.
Only then did Mei Xue and Gu Quan’an breathe a little easier.
“They’ve already taken away the real pipe. In one day, can they uncover its secret?” Gu Quan’an asked, worried.
“Those two are the darlings of their guild. They probably have some odd tricks up their sleeves. At this point, we can only put our faith in them.” Mei Xue sighed. “You heard what the [Astrologer] said yourself.”
Gu Quan’an fell silent.
All they wanted was to find their guildmaster.
—Meanwhile—
Lu Chuan and Lilus quickly took out the real pipe to study it.
“The system really didn’t notify us of acquiring an item,” Lu Chuan said. “Looks like Mei Xue wasn’t lying—this pipe truly isn’t a proper item.”
“But judging by how anxious that landlord couple was, even if this pipe isn’t an item, it must have special significance.” Lu Chuan tapped it lightly. “We’d better figure out its secret before night falls. Otherwise, we’ll be in trouble.”
“Didn’t you say earlier it might be something inside the pipe?” Lilus blinked. “You sounded so sure that I thought you actually knew what was in it.”
“…It’s normal to brag a little before cooperating.” Lu Chuan put on an innocent face. “I meant to investigate slowly, but Mei Xue’s group was too fast. I hadn’t even had time to probe its properties before they snatched it. And they didn’t even discuss it with us beforehand—so dangerous.”
He neatly pushed the blame aside.
Lilus, barely an adult and completely absorbed in the game, hadn’t yet encountered such a seasoned buck-passing style. He stood there stunned.
Do you even have any shame saying things like that?
And don’t you know why Mei Xue snatched the pipe in the first place?
“Let’s focus.” Lu Chuan ignored Lilus’ strange stare. Hmph, this kid had grown up sheltered with only a sister in his world. Twisted personality or not, he still hadn’t seen the filth of adults.
If Lilus ever wanted to meddle in the affairs of the Resurrection Guild, he’d have plenty to learn.
“I remember the old landlady, every time she snatched the pipe from the old man, she’d absentmindedly tap it against the Barrel of Proliferation two or three times—like this.” Lu Chuan tried to reproduce the gesture, rapping the pipe against the wall.
Nothing after two taps.
He tried three short taps and one long.
“Anything?” Lilus tried to recall; he hadn’t noticed such details. “You really paid that much attention?”
“Just a habit of mine, paying attention to details,” Lu Chuan said modestly.
Soon, a smudge of black ash appeared on the wall.
Huh? It really worked?
Lu Chuan reached out but hesitated.
[Host, you were right to stop. We can’t waste skills on something trivial like this.] #888 praised him as always. [If it’s poisonous, we’d have to burn a skill to deal with it—not worth it.]
“Good job, you’re improving. You’ve got potential,” Lu Chuan said with satisfaction. Finally, #888 was learning to be a proper sidekick.
[It’s my honor to be praised by you, Host. I’ll never find anyone as capable as you.]
All of #888’s previous hosts combined hadn’t progressed as far as Lu Chuan alone.
If it didn’t realize by now that Lu Chuan was its destined host, it had no right to stay at his side.
“Lilus, come check if this ash is poisonous.” Lu Chuan still preferred caution—better to let the kid test it first.
“Why me? You’re the one who knocked it out.” Lilus wasn’t eager to touch it either.
“You’re ranked third on the Newcomer Ranking List, I’m fourth. Shouldn’t the higher-ranked one be more knowledgeable? If you want to admit you’re worse than me, I can do it instead.” Lu Chuan spoke righteously.
Sister, I think I’ve met the most shameless man alive.
He remembered Lu Chuan was only 22—just four years older than him.
How could four years make such a difference in how a person thinks?
Still, Lilus’ thin skin couldn’t withstand being pushed this far. Reluctantly, he reached out his right hand to touch the ash.
His right hand had strong resistances—even poisons he could partly neutralize. From that perspective, he really was more suited than Lu Chuan to test it.
The moment his hand brushed the ash, a system notification chimed.
[Congratulations, player, you have obtained the item “Smoke of Transmutation.” Use: transforms certain objects into useful substances for the owner. Transformation type and usage count are random. Note: cannot be taken out of the dungeon.]
Lilus froze. “So that’s it!”
Seeing that he was unharmed, Lu Chuan reached out and touched the ash himself, receiving the same notification.
“I knew it. Why else would the landlord couple demand players’ flesh and sanity? No dungeon has ever required that before.” Connecting the ash’s effects, Lu Chuan quickly pieced things together.
The couple collected players’ flesh and sanity, then used this smoke to convert them into resources they could use.
But wait—was that even allowed?
He remembered clearly: players who died in the rooms ended up as skeletons, all their flesh dissolved.
And given that this dungeon was called Flesh Apartment, it wasn’t the couple but the apartment itself that craved flesh and sanity.
Mei Xue and Gu Quan’an had said they’d asked the couple about becoming official residents, but they refused to reveal anything.
Were the landlords really just doing what they were supposed to?
Or… were they secretly undermining the apartment itself?
Lu Chuan rubbed his chin. If it was the latter, all the better.
If it was the former, then it was just a perk given to them by the system. But perks this good? No way—the system wouldn’t hand them to two old nobodies. Players were the main system’s property. Even to exploit them, there was no reason to waste them on a random old couple.
If it was the latter, though… now that would be interesting.
Things might turn out even smoother than he thought.
All that “rule-based dungeon,” all those “daily new rules”—
If his hunch was right, this place should really be renamed Golden Apartment.
“What are you thinking?” Lilus asked. He felt a chill down his back, sure Lu Chuan was plotting something unpleasant.
“Nothing kids need to know for now.” Lu Chuan waved him off. “Let’s pack up this ash. Tonight, we’ll try selling it at the stalls—see what we can find.”
“Right.” Lilus’ attention was quickly diverted. “Since the mist keeps us stuck here during the day, the only way to buy smoke like this is from the outside stalls. Wait—I get it. What you wanted to monopolize… it’s this smoke?”
Lilus was sharp. He’d heard Lu Chuan talking about monopolizing earlier, and now it clicked.
“I suspected as much, but wasn’t sure.” Lu Chuan nodded. “Think about it—the Barrel of Proliferation and the Weighted Scale don’t store anything. They only extract. If the couple were gathering flesh and sanity, what would they do, let it pile up in storage? No, they had to be using something to process it.”
And any material that could harness flesh and sanity had to be rare and valuable.
In this dungeon, only the landlords could use it.
Business-wise, as long as the supply was stable, so would the sales.
Which meant the couple couldn’t have stockpiled too much—hoarding would only risk discovery by players.
Unlucky for them, this time the raiders hadn’t focused on clearing rules, but on targeting the couple directly.
Mei Xue and Gu Quan’an guaranteed brute force, while Lu Chuan and Lilus covered the rest.
Since Mei Xue and the others already had one dungeon run under their belts, they were able to avoid a lot of unfavorable factors.
Especially now—this Flesh-and-Blood Apartment hadn’t even fully developed yet, but the dungeon was already close to being cleared by them.
If they waited until the dungeon reached its mid-to-late stage, when countless rules restricted the players, the further they pushed, the harder it would get. The paths available to them would only grow narrower, until in the end, they’d die trapped inside.
“With this smoke, all we need to do is find the supplier, figure out the price, and then monopolize it in one go.” Lu Chuan was determined. “Once we control it, the landlord couple’s lifeline will be in our hands. They’re skimming more off the top than we are—they’ll be more afraid of exposure than us.”
“Easier said than done.” Lilus actually agreed with him, but pointed out, “Our problem right now is that neither of us can get a loan—or rather, you can’t. Without loans, how are we supposed to monopolize anything?”
Lu Chuan dismissed it.
“We’ve already taken care of the critical tasks. All that’s left is for those two to take out the loans. Knowing their sense of responsibility, they won’t let our efforts go to waste.” He shamelessly concluded.
Mei Xue and Gu Quan’an were already S-class players—far more concerned about their reputations than newcomers like them.
A little moral blackmail would do the trick.
No matter what world you were in, people with a sense of responsibility and pride always ended up at a disadvantage.
[Host… you really are flawless in your calculations.] #888 had no human notions of right and wrong; it only thought the host’s plan was watertight.
“Ah, what can I do? Ever since I decided to become president of the Star Guild, I knew I’d have to play dirty. Besides, none of these people are even members of my guild.” Lu Chuan even gave himself a self-righteous excuse.
If Shen Li heard this, he’d probably curse him out—Lu Chuan, don’t you know exactly how you got that money in your hands?
Silently, Lilus raised Lu Chuan’s danger rating quite a bit.
If this went on unchecked, Lu Chuan would definitely become his sister’s greatest enemy!
——
Author’s note:
Lu Chuan: Relax, I’ve mastered the art of moral blackmail.
Lilus: This man is surely my sister’s greatest scourge!
