Chapter 392 The Eerie Favorite

Chapter 392: A Ghost's Favorite

The kitchen door was small. Even though the wooden door was open, Su Bai had to duck to enter.

Before he could even look up, he was assailed by a nauseating smell of blood. When Su Bai raised his head, he noticed the bright lights and a kitchen almost as large as the lobby.

In the center of the kitchen stood a preparation table with various utensils, while the walls were lined with large food compartments, like a buffet line. Looking closer, these compartments, far larger than typical buffet ones, contained a small amount of vegetables and other foods humans could eat. However, most compartments were piled high with various kinds of raw, bloody meat!

The vivid red and the heavy stench of blood were sickening, filling the air with the foul, rank smell Su Bai detested.

The eerie entities in the Nightmare World came in all forms. After the collapse of the previous civilization, the surviving creatures didn't necessarily all turn into ghosts; some mutated into various terrifying beasts. So, it wasn't surprising to find unidentifiable meats in the kitchen.

But perhaps because of what Wen Wen had said earlier, many players couldn't help imagining the worst when looking at that meat.

The players forced themselves not to think about what the meat might be. However, since the ghost waitress had mentioned they needed to prepare food their "family members" liked, and now two-thirds of the kitchen was filled with various meats... it was hard for the players not to make connections about their "family members'" favorite foods.

With little hesitation, the players picked up plates from the central table and began, with discomfort, piling various raw meats onto them.

In contrast to the other players, Su Bai was more interested in the nearby compartments filled with various vegetables and salad dressings. After taking a plate, he walked over to the neglected vegetable section and carefully selected what looked like the freshest greens, stacking them high on his plate.

"..." Tan Ying, who was still loading up on meat nearby, noticed Su Bai's actions. "Su Bai, do you like salad?"

Everyone believed the vegetables and dressings Su Bai was choosing were for himself.

However, Su Bai just smiled and said, "My 'child' is still young. If he doesn't eat more vegetables, he won't grow tall!"

As he spoke, he piled even more leafy greens onto his plate!

The players around him shot him strange looks.

That 'family member' is a ghost, right?

Who worries about a ghost not growing tall?!

Or rather, who feeds vegetables to a ghost?!

Just as most players found this utterly baffling, Wu Hang, in his black cloak, also came over and piled a considerable amount of vegetables onto his own plate.

"Wu Hang, you're not also..." Li Feiwen felt this faceless, cloaked man was odd, always seeming to be around Su Bai.

"My child is also still young," Wu Hang's voice remained low and hoarse, so calm it was almost impossible to sense any emotion.

"..."

After preparing enough food, Su Bai and the other players returned to the lobby with their selections. The scene in the lobby was creepy at first glance. Under the flickering lights, the television hanging on the wall also flickered with static in a regular pattern. The surrounding furnishings gave off an antiquated feel, but each "family member" sat bolt upright, exuding an eerie atmosphere.

Once seated, the players showed little interest in how their "family members" would consume the bloody raw meat or whether they liked the food. Instead, their gazes were fixed on the table shared by Su Bai and Wu Hang.

No one believed a ghost would like vegetables. This was something even a child in the real world would find strange. Yet, the whole time, Su Bai and Wu Hang carried out this incomprehensibly bizarre behavior with utter naturalness, as if they were genuinely raising and caring for children.

"Bang!"

Su Bai's "family member," Xiao An, was indeed furious when he first saw the mountain of vegetables piled on the plate. His originally livid, frostbitten face flushed with anger. The fire burning in his eyes, devoid of whites, made him slam his hand on the table several times, causing the tableware to jump slightly.

Liu Yongzhi, among the nearby players, saw this and a smug, gleeful smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth, as if anticipating Su Bai and the others to continue making laughable blunders.

However, Su Bai, acting as the "mother," wasn't flustered. Instead, he reached out and gently stroked Xiao An's head. His movements were tender, as if dealing with a real child, and his tone was very gentle: "Be good. You need to eat more vegetables to grow tall. Next time you bite someone, you won't have to stand on your tiptoes."

「...」

Su Bai's voice and actions were soft, yet they seemed to carry a peculiar power.

This power suddenly made the not-too-bright little ghost recall some terrifying things. His face turned deathly pale again, and he muttered angrily in a low voice: 「One day, Xiao An will use Mommy's blood for dressing!」

Xiao An's words carried a chilling viciousness. However, in the very next second, he held his spoon wrong and began stuffing the vegetables into his mouth at the fastest speed possible, as if fighting for his life. His expression was one of disgust, as if each bite was chewing something unbearable, yet he didn't dare stop at all.

On the other side, Wu Hang's "family member," the little girl ghost, had an eerie glint flickering in her dark, hollow eye sockets. She was constantly tearing at the large leafy greens on her plate, her face full of delight, as if these ordinary vegetables were the most interesting toys in the world, or perhaps something else she could easily rip apart.

Wu Hang watched quietly as the little girl ghost ruined the food. Without saying much, he simply extended his well-defined fingers and lightly tapped the rim of her plate.

Almost instantly, the little girl ghost buried her entire head in the plate, devouring the food ravenously like a wild beast. She seemed to be enjoying the meal, yet also seemed... well-trained.

The players who witnessed the entire process found it unbelievable. Their eyes were filled with shock and confusion.

Weren't players in the Joyful Hotel supposed to be constrained by the rules and their "family members"? Why did the table next to them not give off that feeling at all?

Could it be... that ghosts' favorite food really is vegetable salad?

They had considered that ghosts might prefer things raw, but did ghosts actually like raw... lettuce?!

This was utterly absurd!

"Well, I'll be damned," Li Feiwen muttered softly, then immediately felt he was stating the obvious.

Completely unable to comprehend the actions at Su Bai and Wu Hang's table, the players could only turn their attention back to their own "family members." They were curious whether, compared to raw meat, these "family members" truly preferred... well... vegetables?