After drawing cards, the evil god became my source of吐槽 (tu cao, a form of humorous commentary/criti

Chapter 53 Catfish Boss Hot Pot Restaurant (1)

Xu Xiaoyi looked just like her name suggested, always smiling and not shy at all.

She sat down on An Jing's bed, a bag of potato chips in her hand, and said while chewing, "I originally thought our major would be deserted, but I didn't expect quite a few people to apply. It's quite lively! Did you choose this major because you're interested in it?"

"Mm," An Jing responded, her tone gentle but not saying much.

“Me too!” Xu Xiaoyi’s eyes lit up. “My brother is the Lamplighter! I often hear him tell a lot of outrageous stories. Although some of them are scary, they are really interesting.”

As An Jing listened to her chattering away, for some reason, her mind calmed down.

Then he asked, "Do you know your brother's lamplighter number?"

"I know, my brother is amazing, his number is 003! And he doesn't know I applied for this major, I kept it a secret from him."

An Jing: "?"

Not long after, the dormitory door was pushed open again.

The girl who walked in was tall with a high ponytail, dressed in dark clothes, and had a cold expression. She glanced at the group of people as soon as she entered, paused for a moment on An Jing, and then walked to the empty bed and put down her luggage without saying anything.

"Wow, you're finally here!" Xu Xiaoyi quickly stepped forward to greet them. "There are three of us here now. My name is Xu Xiaoyi, and these are Shao Ling and An Jing."

Unexpectedly, the other party merely glanced at her coldly and said in a stiff tone, "Bai Tianjiao."

"Uh...she has such a strong presence." Xu Xiaoyi chuckled awkwardly and stepped back, muttering under her breath, "Did I do something to offend her?"

An Jing glanced at Bai Tianjiao but didn't say anything. Shao Ling, however, gently shook her head and calmly said, "Perhaps it's just that she's not very outgoing."

The group fell silent. Xu Xiaoyi, of course, didn't want the dorm atmosphere to remain like this, so at 3 PM, she scrolled through her phone's group-buying app: "Let's have hot pot together tonight! I checked, and there's a place that's pretty close by, with a special price for freshmen!"

She looked at the other three with anticipation.

An Jing hesitated for a moment, then, remembering that they would be spending four years together, nodded: "I can."

Shao Ling: "Okay."

Just when Xu Xiaoyi thought Bai Tianjiao would refuse, the other party surprisingly said, "Okay."

"Really? That's great!" Xu smiled happily and immediately placed the order, her eyes full of joy.

Around 6 p.m., the four of them walked together to the hot pot restaurant.

The shop wasn't big, but it was very clean, and there were quite a few people. The staff warmly arranged seats for us.

While ordering food, preparing the broth, and condiments, and waiting for the dishes, Xu Xiaoyi couldn't help but gossip again: "Hey, why did you choose the field of mysterious studies? Aren't you afraid?"

An Jinggang picked up his teacup and took a sip. Hearing this, he smiled gently and said, "Don't be afraid. Since you've already made your choice, there's nothing to be afraid of."

These words elicited a hint of agreement in Shao Ling's eyes: "Moreover, this is the future trend, and work related to the mysterious will be one of the emerging positions."

"You guys are all so mature..." Xu Xiaoyi muttered, resting her chin on her hand.

She only chose it because she admires her brother.

Just then, An Jing suddenly stopped moving.

Her fingertips trembled slightly, and her hand holding the teacup suddenly turned icy cold.

That familiar yet chilling feeling.

A mysterious magnetic field is being generated.

She stood up instinctively, her quick movement startling everyone.

"What's wrong?" Xu asked with a smile.

An Jing didn't answer; her first reaction was to take out her phone and check.

Snowflake screen.

Her face darkened instantly: "It's over." As soon as she finished speaking, she turned her hand, pulled out the locator, and skillfully pressed the command button. The moment the signal was sent, she seemed to hear a buzzing sound in her ears.

Almost simultaneously, the air in the hot pot restaurant became stuffy, as if it had been sucked out.

The guests were still eating when someone suddenly looked up and asked, "Can you smell... a fishy smell?"

"Is the air conditioning on too high? Why is it so cold?"

"Wait a minute, wasn't the pot just bubbling away? Why is it so quiet now..."

And the next second,
"Ahhhhh!!"

A scream pierced the air, and everyone looked up in horror to find the ceiling lights flickering eerily, and instead of white steam rising from the hot pot, sticky black shadows were emerging.

The black images rose like steam, intertwining and twisting in mid-air, condensing into a blurry human figure.

The figure was dressed in Qing Dynasty attire and wore a worn-out black hat, but its face was not human.

It was a distorted catfish face.

Its face was expressionless, its mouth was wide open, its eyes were bulging, its cheeks were puffed out, and a foul stench spread inch by inch as it moved.

"Ah!" Xu Xiaoyi jumped up immediately. "What is that thing?!"

An Jing quickly made a "shh" gesture to her, his expression serious and his brows furrowed: "Don't make a sound. A strange magnetic field has been generated here. We are trapped in here."

“A mysterious magnetic field?” Xu Xiaoyi stammered. “Is this real? I must be dreaming.”

“It’s definitely a magnetic field.” Shao Ling’s expression tightened, and she added in a deep voice, “We’re really lucky.”

Bai Tianjiao's expression was solemn, but he didn't speak. He just stared at the catfish-shaped figure, his expression growing increasingly grim.

An Jing quickly surveyed his surroundings and noticed a clear "alienation" in the space of the hot pot restaurant.

The walls rippled and twisted like water, and the tables and chairs began to slowly sink into the floor, as if being swallowed by something.

The catfish-like humanoid eerie creature seemed to sense something, and slowly turned its head to look in their direction.

Its gaze had no whites, only a lifeless, fish-like eye that swayed stickily.

"Don't move," An Jing said softly.

She tilted her head slightly, then locked her gaze on the other person, her voice barely audible: "It's still observing. Let's hold our ground and wait for the intelligence agency to arrive."

Xu Xiaoyi's lips were turning white: "Then, what if it does something to us?"

"Stop talking." An Jing suddenly looked up, her voice low. "It's coming."

The mysterious catfish has begun to move.

Black ripples spread along its path, crashing against the spatial structure like a tide.

It was obvious that the primordial energy within An Jing had attracted it.

Just as An Jing was about to take out the card, the catfish seemed to be half-trapped by something, unable to take another step forward. Then, its body began to twitch and deform like jelly. Five seconds later, it became more like a human.

At that moment, he smiled at An Jing and began to greet all the terrified people in the hot pot restaurant.

"Welcome to my hot pot restaurant."

"Let's serve the food now."

As it made its sound, countless black shadows appeared within the magnetic field.

These shadows were carrying all sorts of things: tableware, ingredients, and menus.

One of the figures handed the menu to An Jing.

(End of this chapter)