Chapter 15: Splitting Up

Chapter 15: Splitting Up

"Right, this round requires collecting blood!" Everyone snapped out of their daze, but only a few had the strength to move. Fu You and Xin Lei, two taller men, each grabbed one of Huang Botao's legs, suspending him upside down over the cauldron to let his blood drain into it.

Unfortunately, they were too late. Huang Botao's blood had already spilled all over the ground, and only enough to form a shallow layer at the bottom of the cauldron. Xiao Tu desperately scooped up blood from the ground, trying to pour as much as possible into the cauldron.

A Xi, unable to bear it, said, "Stop, the ritual has purity requirements for blood. You might contaminate it this way..."

"A Xi," Xiao Tu collapsed to the ground, her face full of despair, and asked, "Why didn't those heretics bleed at all, not even a little...?"

They had killed so many members of the Intestines Cult, but their corpses only oozed thick, viscous intestinal fluid—not a single drop of blood. Even Liang Yue and Xu Ningnuo were the same, suggesting they had already been assimilated by the heretics.

"It's possible this type of heretic is just like that." A Xi held back her most terrifying suspicion and gently comforted her, "Their bodies have long been colonized by intestines, after all."

She crouched down and reached out to gently wipe the tear stains from Xiao Tu's face. But as she did, she accidentally rubbed off a thick layer of foundation, revealing sallow, rough skin with fine wrinkles underneath.

Both of them froze. A Xi withdrew her hand awkwardly, feeling like she had accidentally exposed the girl's secret. Xiao Tu smiled bitterly and said, "I haven't been able to sleep much these past few days. My skin must be a mess, right...?"

"I understand," A Xi said sympathetically. "It's okay. Just push through these last two days, and victory will be ours. Once we're out, you'll be the universe's most beautiful girl again!"

But the others didn't have such a positive mindset. Song Ziming stared grimly at the mountain of corpses for a long time. "No, I have to see for myself!"

"Brother Song, you should rest first..."

"Don't stop me! How can you sleep without knowing the answer?!" Song Ziming's composure was crumbling as he growled rudely, "Who's brave enough to come with me?!"

Everyone was exhausted, and only a few pairs of helpless eyes met his. Song Ziming wiped his face and heard someone respond from behind, "I'll go too."

It was Xie Yunzhu.

During the earlier chaos, the two ranged fighters might have been the only ones who still had some stamina left—though, seeing Xie Yunzhu's barely-standing, swaying figure, it was hard to say for sure.

Song Ziming had always disliked him, but at that moment, he was grateful to have such a consistently reliable teammate. While everyone else had been drained of their energy by the dungeon, Xie Yunzhu remained as lifeless as ever, looking like he could survive until the very end.

Carrying the hopes of everyone, the two of them picked up their weapons and ventured back into the ruins.

The others, gripped by the same fear, surrounded by the mountain of corpses, found it impossible to sleep. After resting and recovering some strength, they began disposing of the Intestines Cult members' bodies—shoveling them into a pile, setting them ablaze, and watching them burn to ashes.

Two hours later, Song Ziming and Xie Yunzhu returned, trudging through the charred remains, their steps heavy and unsteady.

They seemed less physically exhausted and more spiritually collapsed. Xie Yunzhu had even closed his eyes, swaying with each step like a sleepwalker, trailing behind Song Ziming like a listless shadow.

"Well?" Everyone's hearts sank, but they still clung to a sliver of hope. "Did you find any blood?"

Song Ziming shook his head stiffly. "We went to three different places and killed three different types of heretics... None of them had blood. Not a single drop...

"And that blood-spouting fountain I saw before, the pool filled with blood—when we went back, it was empty. Completely empty, as if there had never been any blood there at all..."

The steadfast man covered his eyes, his voice trembling with a choked-up cry.

"From the moment the High Priest demanded blood, this world hid all of it away!"

"What? How...?" Hei Bei stared blankly. "Then where are we supposed to find blood?!"

"Find what? There's no need to find anything. Nonsense," Xie Yunzhu opened his eyes and scanned everyone coldly. "The blood is right here."

Right here, pumping from everyone's hearts, flowing through their limbs and veins.

"Big shot, I have to remind you—losing more than 400 milliliters of blood will make you dizzy and weak; losing more than 800 milliliters makes shock extremely likely. Besides, we don't have a clean, sterile environment for bloodletting. Wounds are very prone to infection." A Xi objected without hesitation. "To fill this cauldron, each of us would have to lose at least 1,000 milliliters of blood!"

"If this were the final round, I wouldn't object," Fu You added. "But if this move leaves all of us weakened, what do we do on the last day? Wait for a group wipe?"

Of course, there was an extreme method that wouldn't require everyone to lose so much blood, but their remaining humanity kept them from voicing it. In that moment, a despicable thought probably flashed through everyone's mind—if only two more people had died earlier.

"This is the method with the smallest sacrifice. If you're not willing, then there's nothing I can do." Overwhelmed by exhaustion and mental strain, Xie Yunzhu showed no patience. He returned to his shed and outright checked out. "Wake me when it's time to bleed."

The others exchanged uneasy glances. Everyone was nearing their limit. Song Ziming lit a cigarette wearily. "Those on night watch, take your posts. The rest of you, sleep."

That night, everyone quietly pulled their coverings tighter, remaining vigilant and unable to close their eyes for a long time. Eventually, deep exhaustion dragged them into sleep. It wasn't until around ten in the morning that they reluctantly got up, each in terrible condition.

Zhou Lan had been unconscious for a long time yesterday and hadn't participated in the fight. Though badly shaken, she still had some energy left and got up early to make porridge for everyone.

They numbly ate the porridge in silence. Then A Xi spoke up: "Actually, I thought of a place where there might be blood."

Everyone listlessly turned to her, not holding out much hope. A Xi continued, "It was probably on the second day. I was returning from the northwest direction and saw a place that looked like a slaughterhouse. There was a rank smell, and I even heard pig noises inside. But I was pressed for time and didn't go check it out."

"How could there be live pigs in a place like this? Isn't it more likely a trap set by heretics?"

"That's possible, but if it were a trap, why not set it right in front of me? Then I would've gone in directly." A Xi reasoned, "Besides, I've found well-preserved food in many places. Pigs are hardy omnivores—they might have survived even after humans disappeared."

"But... can pig blood really be used?"

"The High Priest never said it had to be human blood." A Xi argued confidently. "Pigs are one of the three ritual animals. They've been used in rituals throughout history. Don't you place a pig's head at your ancestral worship altar?"

Persuaded by her argument, everyone decided to investigate the slaughterhouse, even though it was far away. After all, using pig blood was much more acceptable than using human blood.

Then Xiao Tu suddenly said, "Actually, I also thought of a place where there might be blood—human blood, at that."

She nudged Hei Bei's side. "Remember that hospital we passed by the other day?"

"Oh, right! That hospital was incredibly well-preserved. It was cool and shady inside, and we even rested there for a while." Hei Bei scratched his head. "But it got more eerie the longer we stayed, so we left quickly."

"Eerie?" The others were puzzled. For them, exposed to the sun all day, "cool" was an incredibly tempting word.

"It was too dark inside—unnaturally dark, right?" Xiao Tu pursed her lips at the memory. "The hallways were pitch-dark; you could barely see a few meters ahead..."

"It was pretty scary," Hei Bei nodded. "But hospitals have blood banks, right? There might be human blood stored there—even if it's expired. The High Priest never said we can't use expired blood."

"Have you thought about what blood expired for years would look like?" A Xi disagreed. "Besides, hospitals nowadays store blood components."

"It's still better than pig blood," Hei Bei retorted. "Besides, who knows if your pig is even alive?"

"Alright, alright. Both are valid ideas. There are eight of us—let's split into two groups." Song Ziming stepped in to mediate. "We have one day left. We should try every possibility. We can't just wait for death."

Everyone volunteered. Four people, including A Xi and Xin Lei, decided to go to the slaughterhouse in the northwest. The other four, led by Xiao Tu and Hei Bei, would check out the hospital in the southeast.

Hei Bei optimistically said, "It's not a loss to go check it out. We can even rest inside, look for medicine—it'll be like having air conditioning."

Just then, Xie Yunzhu poked his head out of his shed and lazily said, "Count me in."

"Does the big shot think the hospital has a higher chance of having blood?" Fu You asked.

"Not really, but the hospital has three advantages," Xie Yunzhu analyzed logically. "It's closer, it's cooler, and the teammates are slightly less of a hassle."

The less troublesome teammates: Big shot, you're still so easy to understand...

"Actually, it's all the same. At this stage, don't expect to get the quest item without going through hell."

"Not necessarily. The weapon round was pretty easy, right?" Hei Bei tried to stay positive. "Maybe we'll find blood as soon as we enter the hospital this time?"

"Simple?" Xie Yunzhu sneered, crushing his glimmer of hope. "Why do you think the Intestines Cult attacked last night?"

Hei Bei jolted. "No way... Are you saying this was intentionally arranged by the dungeon to prevent us from clearing it too easily? The Intestines Cult attack is part of the difficulty?"

Xie Yunzhu grinned at him. "If I were designing this dungeon, I’d mess with you exactly like that."

Everyone thought to themselves: What kind of damn demon is this? Thank goodness it’s not you!

Of course, no one could say for sure whether this was intentional design, and Xie Yunzhu had no evidence to prove it. Only seasoned players who had been through many games could vaguely sense that malice—as if there were no coincidences in the game, only endless arrangements.

"Regardless, with the big shot joining us, our strength has leveled up," Song Ziming clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention back. "The hospital isn’t far; it’ll only take half a day to go there and back. For the remaining time, we'll need everyone to search the ruins diligently. We can’t put all our hopes in one basket."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Compared to the other group, their team was stronger and should take on more responsibility. Besides... the big shot was in their group. Since they’d managed to catch this big shot, everyone was counting on him to work some miracles.

Author's Note: