Chapter 21: The Cauldron Filled with Blood

Chapter 21: The Cauldron Filled with Blood

Rumble—

The cruel reality struck the old, pregnant, and sick trio like a thunderbolt. They yearned for their former leader; though he hadn't been warm or cuddly, at least he could handle things!

Hei Bei clutched his belly, his face a picture of misery, and asked, "By the way, have any of you seen Brother Song…"

Fu You raised his cane and pointed toward the hospital entrance. "Over there."

Though their paths had diverged, the four of them had exited the hospital almost simultaneously—all except Song Ziming. He stood just inside the threshold, his face a deathly pale, hesitating to step out.

The five guiding spirits had undergone strange transformations: the old man’s hunched back straightened, the patient’s festering sores healed rapidly, the pregnant woman’s belly flattened, the crippled grew new limbs, and the dead regained a rosy complexion. These five newly revived spirits remained inside the hospital, smiling and waving goodbye.

Their ailments hadn’t vanished into thin air; instead, they had been transferred to those who left the hospital. No wonder the spirits had been so eager to guide them out—every act of kindness had its hidden price.

"Brother Song, aren’t you coming?" Hei Bei shouted.

Having witnessed the changes in each of them, Song Ziming shook his head frantically, gritting his teeth. "No, I’m not coming out! I absolutely, absolutely won’t!"

In the chaos, the hand he had grabbed was cold, damp, and stiff—it belonged to "Death."

But the hospital gave him no time to linger. The solid-seeming darkness surged toward the entrance like tar, swallowing the light inch by inch and devouring Song Ziming’s faint shadow bit by bit. He glanced back in terror, took a frightened step forward, and half-stepped over the threshold.

He saw it—the dark, looping corridors, the endless cycle, the patients waiting in line for salvation, a hell more terrifying than death itself…

"It’s okay, Brother Song! You’ll recover once we finish the instance!" Xiao Tu cried out. "Didn’t they say the bounty can cure any illness?!"

"Don’t worry, *cough cough*, come out quickly!" Fu You urged. "Don’t forget you made a wish with the monkey’s paw! It will protect you and keep you safe!"

"Right, I have the monkey’s paw!" A flash of hope cut through the clouds of despair, illuminating Song Ziming’s eyes for a moment. "I have the monkey’s paw! It will protect me!"

In the final second before the darkness consumed him, he gritted his teeth and dashed out of the hospital. The brilliant sunlight embraced him like a rebirth. He danced around wildly, ecstatic. "I’m fine, really fine! The monkey’s paw really works, hahaha—!"

Song Ziming was so overjoyed he laughed until he choked, his throat making gurgling sounds as ecstasy turned to agony. Something seemed to surge up and block his throat, forcing him to bend over and claw at his neck.

After another bout of painful retching, Song Ziming vomited a long, pale red, branch-shaped, flaccid object.

It was his bronchial tube.

Once the vomiting started, it couldn’t be stopped. Next came a spongy, elastic lung, tinted light brown from years of smoking—the good news was he no longer had to worry about lung cancer; the bad news was the lung lay on the ground like a melted, dirty ice cream.

Song Ziming’s eyes widened in horror as he desperately covered his mouth, but shredded internal organs still spilled through his fingers. "Ugh... aah—!!!"

When his still-beating, pale red heart leaped out of his throat, Song Ziming finally stopped struggling amid the vomit of organs.

From start to finish, not a drop of blood accompanied his organs. All his blood remained perfectly preserved inside his body—a full five liters.

This unprecedented, horrifying death left everyone pale with fear. Hei Bei hugged his large belly protectively, thinking, *Thank goodness, my baby, your mother loves you!*

Only Fu You remained calm, as if he had anticipated this all along. He sighed. "‘Everyone leaves the hospital safely and obtains enough blood’—fulfilled to the letter."

The monkey’s paw’s wish had come true, but at what cost?

The trio had no time to lament, because Song Ziming, now a blood bag, hadn’t actually collapsed. Standing amidst the pile of vomited organs, he stiffly raised his head and grinned at them, his red lips parting to reveal white teeth still streaked with blood.

"I’m sick. Don’t leave me behind," he said, his voice echoing hollowly from his empty chest. "Take me back to the hospital."

"Everyone is sick. Let’s go back to the hospital for treatment..." He took a step forward, the blood inside him sloshing like half a bottle of water.

Then the resentful blood zombie charged at the trio!

"No, no, stay away!" The old, pregnant, and sick trio turned and fled in terror—or, more accurately, one hobbled slowly with a cane, one dragged her sick body forward with difficulty, and one, frightened into contractions, had amniotic fluid streaming down his legs.

Hei Bei howled in pain, and in the blink of an eye, the blood-soaked horror was upon him. He closed his eyes in despair, only to hear a heavy thud as something landed on his back.

"Help, Mom! Mom—!" The grown man cried out for his mother.

One second, two seconds, three seconds... but death never came.

Hei Bei opened his eyes dazedly and turned his head, meeting a pair of clear, sky-like eyes filled with concern and sympathy.

It was the ace... In stark contrast to his pure, innocent expression, he held a blood-stained brick in his hand.

Song Ziming lay unconscious at his feet, completely immobilized. The brick had struck the back of his head with brutal force, splattering brains and blood across the ground.

It turned out that even if his mind was broken, his lethality remained intact—forever.

For some reason, the trio stood frozen, staring blankly at him. Xie Yunzhu grew slightly embarrassed under their gaze. Gently nudging the shattered head with his foot, he smiled sheepishly:

"Look, a smashed watermelon."

"..." Hei Bei sobbed, wiping away tears. Though he was about to become a mother, in that moment, he just wanted to cling to the ace’s leg and call him daddy.

"Brother Song is dead..." Xiao Tu murmured, unable to process it. Overwhelmed by grief, fear, and relief, she covered her face and wept softly.

From the very first day, Song Ziming had been their leader and backbone. They had managed to leave the hospital thanks to the monkey’s paw... Yet such a skilled veteran player had fallen so easily in a side mission, in the most brutal way possible.

It was the second-to-last day. With one round left in the instance, they dreaded what horrors the final day would bring.

"Well, Brother Song may be dead, but his death was significant and valuable. We will always remember his contributions to the team." Fu You was the first to regain composure, speaking with the authority of age. "Now we have the blood—a full five liters. *Cough, cough*... Someone load Song Ziming onto a cart. We need to find a way to transport him back..."

After speaking, Fu You squinted his aged eyes at the group and realized the final step was far from simple: he himself could barely walk without his cane; Xiao Tu was too sick to even crawl; and Hei Bei was on the verge of giving birth...

So, all eyes turned firmly toward Xie Yunzhu.

Xie Yunzhu glanced behind him, found no one there, and finally realized everyone was looking at him.

Flustered, he tugged at his collar and quietly whispered to Furball hiding inside, "What should I do?"

It had been Furball who directed him to attack Song Ziming earlier. His little Furball was truly clever, full of clever plans.

"Listen to them. We need that blood to complete the mission," Furball said.

"But I’m so tired..." Xie Yunzhu shook his head, his eyes glistening. "I want to rest."

Furball’s heart broke—though he wasn’t sure where his heart was. "Just hold on a little longer. Once we finish the mission, we can go home—haven’t you always wanted to go home?"

"Really?" Xie Yunzhu’s eyes curved slightly as he whispered, "Then let’s go now. My home is..."

He trailed off, looking around blankly at the ravaged land. "Where am I? Why can’t I remember the way home..."

Under everyone’s hopeful gazes, Furball knew what he had to do. "It’s okay, I know the way. I’ll take you home. Remember the rose? I picked it from your garden."

"Right, my home is in Lanyin City. There’s a big garden in front of my house, full of roses..." Xie Yunzhu’s face lit up, and he tugged playfully at Furball’s tentacle. "Let’s go now!"

Furball suppressed a sob. "But we have to finish the mission first. We’re still in the instance, remember? We need to bring the body back to complete the task."

He repeated the simple request over and over before Xie Yunzhu, with his addled mind, finally understood.

He briskly hoisted Song Ziming, loaded him into the small cart, and then pushed it forward, following Furball. He hummed cheerfully to himself along the way; after all, once this task was done, he could go home.

This whole unbearable situation was finally coming to an end.

Even while pushing a corpse, he moved faster than the old, weak, and infirm. Fu You hobbled along with his cane, making an annoying clatter; Hei Bei, who was on the verge of giving birth, and Xiao Tu, gravely ill, clung to each other for support, struggling to keep up behind them.

Along the way, Xie Yunzhu was constantly getting distracted by things—a pinwheel stuck in a brick crevice, a teddy bear with half its face torn off—often wandering off course, wanting to touch and look. Fortunately, every time Furball called him, he obediently returned, muttering to comfort himself, "It's okay, we have everything back home, and it's even better there..."

Though Xie Yunzhu’s intelligence had diminished, his fighting skills seemed to have improved. Under Furball’s direction, he paved the way with a brick, leading the team all the way back to the altar.

It was already 4 p.m., and the team that had gone to the slaughterhouse still hadn't returned.

The group that had set out full of determination in the morning now returned like a defeated ragtag remnant. The dungeon had taught each of them a hard lesson.

Surprisingly, the High Priest was standing on the altar from afar, waiting for their return—an unprecedented event. She raised the ritual instrument in her right hand, levitating Song Ziming's body from the cart through the air and holding him over the square *ding*.

Then, with her other hand, she made a wringing motion, like squeezing a towel. Song Ziming’s upright body began to contort like a pretzel, his bones emitting loud cracking and popping sounds.

Every drop of blood was squeezed from his body, first gushing out in torrents, then dwindling to a trickle, dripping into the *ding*.

Then, the High Priest pulled her hands apart as if snapping a corn cob, tore off Song Ziming’s head, and mounted it on the fourth spear.

Xie Yunzhu let out a frightened "Ah!", his face turning deathly pale, his dark eyelashes fluttering nervously. He lifted Furball to cover his eyes and whispered, "The mission is complete. Can we go home now?"

Furball didn’t know how to answer. In his short life, he had never experienced such complex emotions—wanting to cry but unable to, his heart feeling heavy, as if stuck in an endless rainy season.

Gradually, Xie Yunzhu understood from his silence, his eyes downcast with sadness. "It’s okay, I know... I know we can’t go back..."

"It hurts! I can't take it anymore!" Suddenly, Hei Bei clutched his stomach and screamed, "Help! I think I’m giving birth... Someone save me! I don’t want to have a baby, ahhh!!!"

As he screamed, amniotic fluid flooded out, and something sharp tore through his pants, emerging from between his legs.

He collapsed backward, his legs thrashing in pain. Everyone could see clearly: between his legs, a bird’s claw was spasming uncontrollably!

More things were squirming out. Soon, a second and third bird claw emerged!

"Save me!" Hei Bei screamed. "You must save me!"

Amid the group of old, weak, and infirm, Furball stepped forward, extending three tentacles to grab the twitching bird claws and pull them out forcefully. Amid Hei Bei’s piercing screams, a large black bird soon plopped onto the ground, its feathers drenched in amniotic fluid.

Good news: the delivery went smoothly.

Bad news: it was a crow—and a three-legged one at that.

Its umbilical cord still attached, eyes unopened, it twitched faintly in the sunlight before going still.

Hei Bei, barely conscious, driven by a sudden maternal instinct, struggled to sit up and look at his child. The moment he saw the abomination, he almost passed out from shock.

Furball tentatively poked the three-legged crow twice. "My condolences, your child died right after birth."

"This isn’t my child!" Hei Bei pounded the ground frantically. "It’s not even a bird-person—it’s just some black chicken!!!"

Seeing how emotional he was, everyone resisted the urge to ask which hole the baby came out of.

Just then, the High Priest slowly approached, picked up the three-legged crow that had died at birth, and walked to the square *ding*. Her gnarled hands slowly pressed together, and the crow was squeezed into black liquid in her palms, dripping into the blood.

No one could understand the meaning of this cruel ritual. Hei Bei, having lost his bird-child in an instant, lay dazed in a cold sweat. The lower half of his body was numb with pain as he muttered, "Am I going to die soon too? I’m hallucinating..."

Before he finished speaking, the High Priest dipped her ritual instrument into the bonfire, scooping up a scattering of sparks. With a flick of her long nails, the sparks flew out, accurately striking each of them between the eyebrows.

An unprecedented warmth instantly spread through their limbs, miraculously healing their wounds. The old, weak, and infirm were revitalized in an instant—Xiao Tu’s severe illness vanished, and she became energetic again; Fu You regained his youth, tossing away his cane; Hei Bei carefully closed his legs, vowing never to sit with his legs spread on the subway again...

The High Priest had saved them, though no one knew why. After saving them, she returned to her usual spot and sat down, looking weary. Though curious, no one dared to approach her.

Xie Yunzhu’s mental impairment was also cured, his mind clearing like a flowing spring. The invisible mental fog dissipated, the world became clear again, and he regained awareness of his body—

He touched his cheek in a daze, feeling wet tears.

Rather than feeling embarrassed, he was surprised. He hadn’t known he could still cry, even if it was when his rationality had completely collapsed.

Furball said honestly, "I’m sorry, I lied to you. I don’t know where your home is, and I can’t take you back..."

Xie Yunzhu habitually rubbed Furball’s head. "It’s okay, you did well."

Completing the task at all costs, even if it meant using himself, was only natural.

Furball had even managed to deceive him—more useful and daring than he had imagined.

As for going home, something he hadn’t managed in three years, he naturally didn’t expect this silly furball to accomplish it. There was not even a sliver of hope, so there was no disappointment. But Furball seemed deeply dejected, clinging to his arm and saying, "I’m too weak now, I can’t do anything... But I’ll grow up quickly, become very strong, and then take you home..."

As he spoke, he suddenly fell backward with a "thud," exhausted and fast asleep. He had likely been holding on until now, and with Xie Yunzhu regaining his senses, he could no longer keep going.

"What big talk," Xie Yunzhu thought amusedly, patting Furball’s belly with an unconscious smile before tossing him back into his hood.

The four survivors, now restored to health, felt even more energetic than before, as if returning to their first day in the dungeon.

The only thing that remained was mental exhaustion. They had experienced too much fear and sorrow in one day, exceeding human limits. Everyone sat down as if their tendons had been pulled out, taking several deep breaths to recover.

Fu You kept patting his pockets. "By the way, has anyone seen my tie clip? The one with the sapphire."

Everyone shook their heads. Xiao Tu said, "It’s probably lost in the hospital. Don’t worry, it’s a miracle we made it back alive."

"True," Fu You sighed. "It wasn’t expensive, but I’ve worn it for years."

"Don’t be sad, have something to eat," Hei Bei said, chewing on a piece of bread and handing one to Fu You. "Sigh, I finally feel alive again."

They sat together, eating and chatting, both reviewing the day’s events and processing their emotions through sharing.

"Let’s start from the most recent events," Xie Yunzhu said, opening a self-heating hot pot provided by Xiao Tu. "First, that monster Hei Bei gave birth to reminds me of the three-legged golden crow from mythology."

His tone was as calm and detached as before, rational to the point of seeming emotionless. The other three felt a pang of regret, knowing that this face could once show carefree smiles and this mouth could speak innocent words.

But with his sanity restored, that side of him would likely never reappear.

"I know about that too," Xiao Tu sighed. "The three-legged golden crow is a divine bird that lives in the sun. It drives the sun chariot as it rises from the east, and when it crows, all the roosters in the world crow with it."

"In my memory, the three-legged golden crow and the Eastern Lord aren’t from the same mythological system. They shouldn’t be directly related, right?" Xie Yunzhu looked at Fu You.

"I remember it that way too," Fu You nodded.

"But at least one thing is certain: the three-legged golden crow symbolizes the sun, and it died the moment it was born, used by the High Priest as sacrificial material," Xie Yunzhu said. "That sounds like an extremely ominous sign."

"Whatever that pregnant woman forced on me was definitely not a good thing," Hei Bei rubbed the goosebumps on his arms. "It’s good that it died. I don’t have a child like that."

Everyone shared their thoughts, but unfortunately, they had no further insights into the three-legged crow. They decided to set the issue aside for now and ask A Xi when she returned.

Mentioning A Xi, they instinctively glanced northwest, wondering when the other four would return—or if they would return at all.

Even after draining Song Ziming, the *ding* was only half-filled with blood. If the slaughterhouse team failed to complete their task, they would have to go out again to find more blood.

"My second doubt is about the High Priest's aberrant behavior." Xie Yunzhu raised a second finger. "Aside from assigning tasks, she has always shown no concern for us, but today she went so far as to heal our injuries."

"Right, that's totally unlike her style. She'd rather see us dead, with our heads impaled on spears!" Hei Bei grumbled indignantly.

After he finished speaking, he noticed the other three staring at him with puzzled stares. He scratched his head and, though unsure what he had said wrong, sullenly fell silent.

"Moreover, since the battle with the Intestines Cult, the High Priest has clearly weakened, and the bonfire has grown smaller than before," Fu You continued. "I feel that she wasn’t unwilling to help us earlier—it’s just that every time we consume Divine Light, we’re actually using her power. Perhaps because the Sun God hasn’t been summoned yet, she’s unable to handle many things."

"Exactly. So the question is, why did she act out of character and help us today when her own power is limited?" Xie Yunzhu’s gaze swept slowly over the three of them. "Why would the High Priest save her followers? Or, why would a king motivate her warriors?"

The answer was on the tip of their tongues. Xiao Tu said in horror, "She’s preparing for war!"

"Then, who is her enemy?"

They looked at each other, and Hei Bei felt a chill down his spine. "Don’t tell me she’s going to declare war on all the heretics in the ruins. Does she think she’s the Empress Dowager Cixi?"

"We could barely handle a few dozen Intestines Cult members..." Xiao Tu flinched. "How could we possibly win?"

Xie Yunzhu fell silent for a moment before saying, "Some battles aren’t fought because victory is certain—sometimes they’re fought because they have to be."

If you don’t declare war, others will still attack. This small, measurable ruin is a contested ground for these abandoned followers of the gods.

"Look on the bright side—once we collect everything, we can summon the Sun God!" Fu You clapped his hands. "Maybe the old-timer will just breathe out from the sky, and the enemies will drop dead!"

"Right. The main quest is to gather ritual items. Once that’s done, we can teleport away, no matter what happens afterward," Xie Yunzhu added. "No need to worry unnecessarily and scare ourselves."

He and Fu You worked in tandem to calm the panicked couple. In truth, they both were well aware that after the evil god awakening event recorded on the Divine Remains, it was uncertain whether this dungeon could end normally.

"Third, regarding the hospital and the monkey’s paw, there are still some things I can’t figure out." Xie Yunzhu raised a third finger. Just the mere thought of the hospital made everyone’s faces turn ashen with fear. In this bright and prosperous land, the hospital had forever branded darkness and terror into their hearts.

"Clearly, those five ghosts corresponded to our numbers. The hospital gave us clues to clear the level from the very beginning, along with a clear way out: as long as we held the ghost’s hand, we could escape—though at a corresponding cost," Xie Yunzhu explained. "I call this the 'maze-escape' mode—a complete, self-consistent system, a standard side quest line."

"The problem lies with the Blood Transfusion Department. It was filled with Satanic symbols, yet we found no traces of them anywhere else in the hospital. That room was too special." Xie Yunzhu asked gravely, "If you were the game designer, why would you arrange it this way?"

Not only the newcomers but even veteran Fu You found himself pondering the question from this angle for the first time.

Hei Bei, who played a lot of games, ventured a guess: "In games, when something like this happens, it usually means the Blood Transfusion Department is a treasure room, the kind that triggers special quests... Oh, oh, oh!"

As he spoke, he realized it himself: "From the very beginning, we wanted to go to the Blood Transfusion Department to find blood! That Satanic ritual might really have been the way to obtain blood!"

"The Blood Transfusion Department is a treasure room that triggers a 'challenge-reward' mode," Xie Yunzhu analyzed everything as if he were the dungeon designer, dissecting it step by step. "Even though I didn’t have time to complete the summoning ritual, I’m about 90% sure that was the method to obtain blood."

Looking back, many of his initial ideas were correct. When trapped in the ghostly maze, he had suggested searching the rooms. If they had done so, they might have quickly discovered the rooms were interconnected and found a way out.

In the Blood Transfusion Department, he had also proposed completing the Satanic ritual, but only Fu You was helping him at the time. The others each had their own hidden agenda and only wanted to escape.

In the end, he had even deciphered the symbolic meanings of the five ghosts and understood the biggest hint the hospital had given. Yet...

The real challenge was never the puzzles, but people.

Even if he had found a way out of the rooms, his terrified teammates might not have been willing to take the risk with him. Persuading everyone to participate in the terrifying Satanic ritual under those circumstances was nearly impossible.

He had never been a leader or particularly charismatic. Gaining his teammates’ trust and rallying them to action was out of the question—just avoiding being disliked was a blessing.

So, more often than not, he preferred to act alone to avoid being too influenced by his teammates. In the end, the most uncontrollable factor was always people.

Five minutes passed as everyone processed the information, realizing that the expert had been right from the start. If they had followed his lead from the beginning, they wouldn’t have encountered so many troubles.

With a mix of regret, shame, and admiration, they glanced sheepishly at him, only to see him lost in thought, chin in hand, absentmindedly playing with the silver earring on his ear.

Despite having gone through life-and-death situations together for days, he still seemed out of place.

At that moment, Fu You smiled and said, "I guess you’re thinking about the monkey’s paw."

Xie Yunzhu "嗯"ed, "I’m wondering how much reality was twisted by the wish Song Ziming made on the monkey’s paw."

"One thing is clear: the monkey’s paw at least helped us find the Blood Transfusion Department," Fu You said. "If we had searched room by room ourselves, who knows how long it would have taken."

"Hmm... Do you think Song Ziming grabbing the 'death' hand was arranged by the monkey’s paw?" Xie Yunzhu frowned. He couldn’t figure it out, but the question was extremely important.

Hei Bei grabbing the "life" hand had been completely unexpected. At the time, aside from him and Xiao Tu, the other three had been wandering around the room randomly.

Xie Yunzhu had reacted quickly, but Fu You and Song Ziming were also fast. Once they realized the escape route, they had all lunged for the remaining three hands almost simultaneously. In the chaotic scramble, anyone could have grabbed the "death" hand, yet it was Song Ziming who ended up with it...

Was it a coincidence of fate, or was it arranged by the monkey’s paw? If it was the latter, the power to manipulate fate was truly terrifying.

Moreover, this would overturn their earlier assumption—that cult rituals wouldn’t be punished.

Xie Yunzhu shared his doubts with Fu You, and indeed, Fu You was worried about the same thing. After discussing it for a while, they both agreed it was more likely the monkey’s paw’s doing. Perhaps the monkey’s paw operated on a "use now, pay later" system—where the consequences of the first two wishes were settled with the last one.

"Everything gained in the game must be paid for," Xie Yunzhu sighed softly. "Of all the theories, this is the only one that has never changed."

"That’s how everything in the world works," Fu You patted his shoulder. "You gain some, you lose some."

Xie Yunzhu was still distracted. He inexplicably thought of Furball—what price would this little guy demand for helping him so much? And when would he come to collect?

By now, Xiao Tu and Hei Bei were completely lost in the conversation and had moved aside to cuddle and whisper sweet nothings to each other.

It had to be said that after giving birth, Hei Bei’s straight-male aura had softened a bit. His gentle tone made him seem like a true friend to women.

Xie Yunzhu finished his self-heating hot pot but hadn’t reached any conclusions with Fu You. Glancing at the time—4:45—he noted that A Xi and the others still hadn’t returned.

With only four people in their group, including the newcomer Zhou Lan, even if the slaughterhouse was less dangerous than the hospital, the probability of misfortune was still high. Earlier, they had agreed to rest until 5:00. If the others hadn’t returned by then, they would head to the slaughterhouse—partly to retrieve their teammates’ bodies, and partly to see if they could loot their supplies and collect some blood...

As he chewed on his spoon, lost in thought, he suddenly heard Xiao Tu’s excited voice: "They’re back!"

The next second, her voice turned to shock: "Why are there only three of them?!"

Xie Yunzhu sat up straighter and looked into the distance. On the heat-hazed horizon, three figures appeared, dragging their feet heavily toward the altar.

As they drew closer, Xie Yunzhu recognized them as A Xi, Xin Lei, and an old-timer named Hou Fei.

Zhou Lan was not with them.

For some reason, the three were splattered with bloodstains. Their faces, once covered in blood, had been hastily wiped, leaving behind an unnatural redness. On these blood-stained faces were expressions of terror, numbness, exhaustion, and grief—likely the same expressions they had worn when returning from the hospital.

Xin Lei, walking at the front, carried a large metal bucket filled with rank, hot blood.

"Sister Zhou is dead," he announced as he stepped onto the altar. The bucket landed heavily on the ground with a thud, the dark red blood sloshing slightly. The tall, sturdy man covered his face in anguish. "We only brought back her blood..."

Xie Yunzhu fell silent for a moment, recalling the night he had kept watch with Zhou Lan, when she had carefully cooked noodles for him. In her awkward, accented Mandarin, she had told him he was a good person.

Then the four returnees stared blankly at them. Fu You said bitterly, "Brother Song also sacrificed himself. We only brought back his blood."

"Ah, even Brother Song is gone..."

"Damn it," Hei Bei grabbed his own hair in distress. "Why do we have to go through all this?!"

"Let’s talk about our situation first. That slaughterhouse did have pigs..." A Xi let out a heavy breath, as if unable to bear the memory. "Pigs standing on two legs, holding cleavers... and hanging on the walls, chopped up on the cutting boards, were human corpses..."

Although those killed were all non-believers, A Xi and the others were still terrified out of their wits. After much hesitation, they were so tempted by the human blood in the slaughterhouse that they planned to sneak in.

"Pigs have a killer sense of smell, way better than dogs even—we didn't figure that out until later," A Xi covered her face. "We thought we were being careful and stealthy, but those cunning pigs had already noticed us. They even set a trap for us!"

"A Xi was the first to notice something was wrong. She saw the pigs sharpening their long-unused cleavers and immediately told us to retreat. If we had been even a step later, we would all have died inside," said the young man named Hou Fei. Though an experienced player, he had only been through two instances and was so frightened he became incoherent. "We ran for our lives. Xin Lei even went at the pig-men with a knife, but Zhou Lan was too slow. She was sick and couldn't run fast enough, so the pig-men caught her..."

The three who escaped stood outside the slaughterhouse, listening to the heavy sound of cleavers chopping inside... At that moment, the psychological scar it left was just as deep as what the hospital group experienced.

A suffocating atmosphere spread as they recounted the events. Only Xie Yunzhu's voice remained steady: "So how did you get this bucket of blood?"

The three turned even paler, exchanging glances before A Xi spoke: "The pig-men only want the meat. They throw the unused parts into the garbage dump. We... we found this bucket of blood while sifting through the garbage..."

Warm, bubbling blood.

As for the "garbage dump" she mentioned, it was likely where the pig-men discarded human remains. The hellish scene was so horrifying that Hei Bei felt like throwing up just thinking about it for a second.

The three had clearly already vomited and cried themselves out. They sat on the ground, listless and dazed.

Fu You took the bucket of blood, intending to pour it into the square *ding*, but the thick liquid sloshed, revealing something inside. Fighting back disgust, he stirred it with a stick, then looked up dazedly: "There's something in the blood... bone fragments and such... might need filtering..."

No one responded. No one wanted to do the job.

Finally, Xin Lei stood up. "I'll do it. I'm used to it anyway."

While the two of them handled the filtering, those who still had strength dug two deep pits with shovels.

In the end, Fu You brought over a bundle of blood-soaked cloth containing filtered bone fragments, minced flesh, and other debris, along with a decayed tooth and a somewhat old gold ring that Zhou Lan had always worn on her ring finger.

Xie Yunzhu suddenly noticed something and carefully sifted through the minced flesh, discovering a small, blood-stained note. On it was written the phone number he had left behind.

This small kindness of his had once been solemnly kept by Zhou Lan, like a faint spark igniting on dead ashes, only to quickly fade away.

Xie Yunzhu lowered his eyelashes, placed the note back, and carefully wrapped the bundle. Together, they buried it deep underground, covering it with a thick layer of soil.

This was the cemetery they had chosen, where the ashes of Huang Botao, Xu Ningnuo, and Liang Yue were also buried. To prevent corpse transformation, they had cremated Song Ziming's remains and buried the ashes in a small urn alongside the others.

A Xi erected a wooden grave marker for them, carving the words deeply with meticulous strokes:

Here lie our brave and unfortunate friends. May their souls return home and rest in eternal peace.