Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 14 Chen's Roast Meat
Holding the key and a fruit knife, Jiang Jin went to the room on the second floor.

When he opened the door, he first let Deathstroke sniff around inside to make sure it was safe before he went in.

The room was cleaner than I had imagined. Upon entering, I could see a bronze mirror hanging at the head of the bed, and a red lantern and matches on the bedside table. On the table next to it, several pieces of red cloth were neatly arranged.

For some reason, when Jiang Jin saw those pieces of red cloth, he always felt that there was a faint fishy smell in the air.

Jiang Jin closed the door and took out a rusty animal trap from his watch. The rust looked eerily dark red in the dim light, like dried blood.

He took out a bottle of rubbing alcohol with a built-in dropper from his pocket and applied it to the fruit knife to disinfect it.

He had bought iodine, alcohol, and bandages on his way to meet Lu Zhao. Fortunately, the mirror shards quickly fused into a black liquid, so the wounds weren't too large, and he disinfected them with iodine and then applied bandages. But now, he had to bleed again.

After disinfecting, he gently cut his finger with a fruit knife. Then, he dripped the blood onto the gears of the animal trap.

The moment the blood touched the metal, the rust seemed to come alive, greedily absorbing every drop of liquid. As the last drop of blood seeped into the rust, the animal trap made a soft "click," and a flash of blue light appeared at the mechanism.

"Okay," Jiang Jin said softly, placing the animal trap near the door. This thing only works on spirits and won't harm humans.

Jiang Jin looked at Deathstroke beside him, stroked its head, and said, "Deathstroke, remember, never go near this bear trap. If you get caught, I'll be in real trouble."

The hunter and the skeletal hound were perfectly in sync, and Deathstroke immediately nodded to Jiang Jin, indicating that he understood.

He looked at the animal trap in front of him, hoping it would work.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Jin took out the bone whistle of the deceased and held it tightly in his hand.

“Five meters,” he muttered to himself, recalling the range of the dead man’s bone whistle, and then hung it around his neck.

The description of the Bone Whistle in the new player gift pack is the shortest, only stating that blowing it can dispel spirits within a five-meter radius. However, how long does it last? This is not specified.

"While the SAN value remains stable, I'll go out for a walk and find a suitable blade! But before that..."

He took out the tube of resentful moss ointment, opened the cap, and smelled it. The ointment emitted a rotten herbal smell that made him unwilling to smell it a second time.

He first applied a little moss ointment to the fruit knife. This fruit knife was certainly not his ideal weapon, but he didn't know what would happen next, so he'd make do with it for now.

Jiang Jin hung a whistle made of the dead, held a knife, and placed a bear trap at the door, ordering Deathstroke to bark and bite immediately upon spotting any ghosts. After arranging all this, he lay down on the bed, set an alarm on his phone, and decided to take a nap while SAN was stable.

About an hour later, Jiang Jin woke up. He hadn't slept very well, but at least he had regained some of his energy.

He walked to the window and looked at the tranquil village before him.

The bluestone path gleamed with a damp, cold light, and occasionally a few villagers could be seen hurrying by carrying buckets of water.

"Okay, let's go."

Afterwards, Jiang Jin put away the animal trap, opened the door and went downstairs to the guesthouse. He saw Ah Hui hanging clothes to dry in the yard.

The blue cloth shirt in her hand swayed gently in the wind, and the color made Jiang Jin frown.

When Ah Hui saw Jiang Jin, she quickly said, "Oh, handsome, you...you're going out?"

"Yeah, let's go for a walk."

Ah Hui stared at Jiang Jin and suddenly said, "Handsome boy, why don't you tell me the truth... do you know that guy who came before... that outsider named Xiao Ming?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jin immediately stopped in his tracks.

“No.” Jiang Jin shook his head. “What happened to the outsiders who came before?”

He didn't know Xiaoming's situation after all, and lying might cause even more trouble.

"Well... since you don't know each other, then don't ask."

Before Jiang Jin could speak, Ah Hui continued, "Handsome boy, I... advise you not to come out to watch the show tonight. Watching this show won't be good for you. Don't ask about anything else either."

"Well..." Jiang Jin had gotten used to the village's riddle-solving people by now, so he changed the subject, "Are there any places in the village worth visiting?"

Ahui paused for a moment before replying, "The ancestral hall, the stage, and the old banyan tree are all quite old. However, the ancestral hall is not open to outsiders."

"There's a stage? Is it related to the night patrol performance?"

"Yes, that stage... it probably existed around the Guangxu era."

"Speaking of which..." Jiang Jin looked at the blue shirt on the clothesline, "You don't allow people to wear blue clothes near the pond?"

The blue shirt was suddenly blown off by the wind, and Ah Hui bent down to pick it up, her movements stiff as a marionette.

“That pool of water isn’t clean,” she said in a low voice. “Even if you’re not wearing blue clothes, you’d better not go there.”

At this moment, Jiang Jin had Deathstroke run to the blue cloth shirt and sniff it.

However, Deathstroke did not detect anything unusual.

Incidentally, no one in the village could see the death knell. This indicates that most of them had a SAN value above the critical threshold of 60%.

“Remember this, never go near that pool of water, and definitely don’t drink from it,” Ah Hui continued. “Drinking from it will cause trouble. Alright, you have to go out now, right? Go ahead.”

Jiang Jin nodded.

“I understand.” He continued walking along the stone path toward the center of the village, passing a general store.

The grocer was a hunched old man, trimming candle wicks with a pair of rusty scissors.

Jiang Jin asked, "Boss, do you have any sharpened knives?"

The old man glanced at him, then snipped the candle wick with the scissors.

"No."

"Oh, then get a bottle of water."

Jiang Jin couldn't find the knife he wanted at the general store, so he bought a bottle of mineral water instead.

After paying, he asked, "Where in that village can I buy good knives?"

“If you really want to buy a good knife, walk about 500 meters west. There’s a Chen’s Roast Meat shop there.” The shop owner pointed in a direction and then added, “Remember to go during the day. Once the night patrol performance starts, don’t go out.”

Chen's Roast Meat?

Jiang Jin suddenly remembered something the old lady had said before.

"Old Chen's char siu is the best."

"Okay, let me see."

Jiang Jin continued along the bluestone path, following the direction pointed out by the general store owner.

Before long, he came to the entrance of a narrow alley, where a smell of grease wafted from ahead.

He walked into the alley, and soon saw a rickety signboard in front of him.

Jiang Jin walked into the butcher shop in front of him – “Chen’s Roast Meat”.

The shop was filled with the rich aroma of spices, and dried cured meat hung on iron hooks on the counter, its surface gleaming with an eerie dark red color.

The boss was a burly man with a face full of scars, a cigarette dangling from his lips, chopping meat with a cleaver. The bloodstains on the cutting board had turned black, like years of accumulated grime.

"What would you like to order?" The owner asked without looking up. "There's a price list over there. We have char siu, roast duck, and roast goose."

Jiang Jin's gaze fell on a boning knife hanging on the wall—the blade was long and narrow, the edge gleaming coldly, and the handle was wrapped in faded red cloth.

It looks perfect for me!

However, instead of buying a knife directly, he said, "Boss, please cut me a pound of char siu first."

The boss looked at Jiang Jin and said, "Alright!"

Then, he skillfully began slicing the char siu.

Then, Jiang Jin pretended to be nonchalant and glanced at the boning knife.

"This knife... looks pretty good, the craftsmanship is exquisite. Boss, are you selling this knife?"

The boss's cleaver stopped in mid-air, and he slowly raised his head: "What do you need it for?"

“I like collecting blades,” Jiang Jin said without changing his expression. “And they look like antiques.”

The boss stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly grinned, revealing uneven, yellow teeth: "Sure, five hundred Hong Kong dollars."

Jiang Jin knew that if he agreed without hesitation at this point, the other party would likely raise the price. Moreover, this could very well be a test. He guessed that the arrival of that outsider had aroused widespread vigilance among the villagers.

"So expensive? Five hundred Hong Kong dollars?" Jiang Jin immediately shook his head: "Boss, you can't be ripping me off like this, can you? Two hundred Hong Kong dollars at most."

The owner continued slicing the char siu, saying, "Young man, if you really want to buy, then it's five hundred. Don't think it's expensive; if you still haven't decided in two minutes, this will cost a thousand Hong Kong dollars."

Jiang Jin looked at the boning knife and hesitated for a moment.

He wasn't short of money, but he was afraid that buying a knife at an high price would arouse suspicion from the villagers. He didn't want to deal with both humans and ghosts at the same time.

"Boss, that's not fair of you, is it?"

At this moment, the boss glanced at Jiang Jin and said, "I think you... are a hunter, right?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jin was immediately taken aback!
what?
The shopkeeper glanced at Jiang Jin and said, "How about this? If you can help me find my wine flask... not only will I give you the knife, but I can also teach you some knife skills."

At the same time, Jiang Jin received a notification:

"Reincarnator Jiang Jin has triggered a side quest: Find Boss Chen's wine jug. Do you want to accept the quest?"

Note: This task is dangerous; please choose carefully.

whether"

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(End of this chapter)