What's wrong with being a salted fish?

Zhou An was still immersed in his own world, but Sister An no longer had the patience to wait for him. She asked Zhou An in an impatient tone whether he wanted to leave or not.

Zhou An came back to his senses and nodded timidly.

In his impression, Sister An didn’t seem to have such a bad temper. Could it be because he was dreaming?

Zhou An still can't tell which of his experiences was a dream.

But Zhou An knew that he had to follow Sister An in order to survive.

Sister An brought Zhou An to the entrance where the villagers went up the mountain.

Looking at the man standing by the path and lighting a cigarette, Sister An left Zhou An and walked up to him skillfully to greet him, but it was unknown what she was saying.

Zhou An looked around and didn't see any other players. The man smoking was the Da Zhuang mentioned by Sister An. He was tall and strong, but there was an evil look on his face. Zhou An didn't want to have much contact with him.

While the two were talking, a few people came out from the path after a while. Zhou An remembered that they were all players.

At this time, Sister An didn't know what consensus she had reached with Da Zhuang, and she brought a few players towards Zhou An.

Zhou An felt something was wrong, but his body had no strength to escape.

Several players held down Zhou An's limbs and controlled him tightly to prevent him from escaping, while Sister An stood in front of Zhou An with an expressionless face, and then pulled out a dagger with a cold glow from her leg.

"Sister, Sister An...what are you going to do?" Zhou An's voice trembled slightly, but he still wanted to talk to the other party.

Sister An held the dagger and pointed it at Zhou An's body, saying nonchalantly, "Isn't it obvious? We are going to use you to lure the witch down the mountain."

Zhou An's body trembled even more after hearing this, but he still wanted to stop the other party with words: "Sister, players cannot kill each other in the dungeon! Have you forgotten?! You can't run away even if you kill me! Ah!——"

Before Zhou An could finish his words, Sister An stabbed him in the thigh with a knife.

"I know, of course I know. I won't kill you. I'll just cut your flesh to attract the witch." Sister An smiled with her lips curled, and the people around her remained silent, as if they agreed with Sister An's words.

The witch has been using the villagers to serve the evil god, and now she has to hide in the mountains to avoid the players.

It has been a while since she last offered sacrifices to the evil god, and at this moment, fresh human flesh is the most tempting to her.

"Ah! - You hurt players so casually! The game will punish you!" Zhou An struggled in pain, while still saying that he hoped Sister An could stop her behavior.

"But......"

Sister An suddenly stopped what she was doing, raised her head and moved close to Zhou An's face.

Zhou An was horrified to find that the other person's face seemed to be melting. No, it seemed not to be the face, but the other person's entire body was melting like a lit candle!

The opponent's facial features were twisted together. At the same time, she questioned Zhou An in a shrill and sad voice: "You know the rules of the game, why did you want to kill me!!"

"Why!!--"

The other party's sharp voice stung Zhou An's ears. He closed his eyes tightly and kept shaking his head to beg for mercy: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's my fault! It's my fault!"

"Why did you make me fall into the pit!!! I didn't do anything!!!"

......

Lin Zhuo leaned against the wall, looking at Zhou An lying on the bed, sweating profusely. He twitched from time to time and kept mumbling words like "I'm wrong" and "I'm sorry" as if he was talking in his sleep.

Lin Zhuo turned his head and looked at Qiuyue who was playing with the doll beside him: "What did you do to him?"

Qiuyue sat on a chair, holding the doll and said with a smile: "Nothing, just let him meet an old friend~"

Lin Zhuo was speechless. Who would see an old friend looking like he was about to die?

"How long will it take for him to wake up?" Lin Zhuo asked again.

"It depends on one's willpower~" Qiuyue said jokingly.

According to your statement, I would believe you if you said Zhou An would die in a dream due to his weak willpower the next second. Lin Zhuo complained in his heart.

At this time, Zhou An sat up from the bed and yelled: "I'm sorry!!"

"It's okay." Qiuyue took over his words.

When Zhou An opened his eyes and saw the two of them, he hadn't reacted yet. He was gasping and holding his chest, feeling as if he didn't know where he was.

Is it a dream? Or am I still dreaming? Zhou An was a little confused.

"Are you okay?" Lin Zhuo handed him a towel.

Zhou An took the towel stupidly and wiped the sweat off his forehead mechanically. It took him a while to react. He stiffened his neck and turned his head to look at the two of them: "What's wrong with you two?"

Compared to this, Zhou An actually wanted to ask how the two of them got in.

Looking at Zhou An's eyes, Qiuyue touched the hairpin on her head guiltily, then coughed twice: "The time is almost up, we came to find you to form a team. But you didn't seem to be awake at the time, and the two of us were anxious and worried that something happened to you, so we pried the door open and came in."

"..." Just pry the door open and don't make excuses for yourself, okay?

Zhou An didn't know what words to use to describe his feelings for a moment.

"Okay, to make a long story short, we are going to look for rabbits. Do you want to come with us?" Lin Zhuo didn't want to waste time, so he asked Zhou An with his arms folded across his chest.

Zhou An was very skeptical: Could Lin Zhuo be so kind as to invite him to find props to pass a level?

But now, I have to follow them, otherwise I won’t have time to look for clues about the rabbit’s location.

Thinking of this, Zhou An couldn't help feeling disappointed.

Because in the past, he didn't need to do anything, Xiao Yuan would arrange everything for him.

He didn't need to worry about either clues or props.

At that time, all he needed to do every day was eat, drink, travel around, and wait for Xiao Yuan to take him through the levels. It was not like now, when he had to do it all by himself.

There was no way, since it was me who forced Xiao Yuan away.

Zhou An also knew that Xiao Yuan probably liked him, so he was willing to give so much for him.

Zhou An convinced himself in his heart that he also liked Xiao Yuan a little, so that he could accept everything Xiao Yuan did for him with peace of mind.

Now that I think about it, I was too hasty. I should have waited until Xiao Yuan took me out of the dungeon before turning against him. By then, I would have left the game and Xiao Yuan would have been unable to do anything to me.

Alas, Zhou An couldn't help but sigh in his heart, but Xiao Yuan's face in the illusion was so terrifying that he really couldn't overcome the fear in his heart.

But now no one knew where Xiao Yuan had gone, and Zhou An couldn't find him even if he wanted to humble himself and surrender to him.

"I'm asking you, are you going or not?" Qiuyue put the doll down and walked over.

"Go! Of course I'll go!" Zhou An was afraid that the two would abandon him, so he nodded and agreed quickly.

Then, Zhou An quickly packed himself up and followed the two out of the room.

"Where are we going now?" Zhou An was a little puzzled as he watched the two of them heading straight to the restaurant. Didn't they say they were going to look for rabbits? Why were they so slow?

"Don't be in a hurry. If you're hungry, eat something first. Aren't you hungry?" Qiuyue turned her head to look at Zhou An with some confusion on her face. This man hasn't eaten for almost a day. Is he really not hungry?

Zhou An touched his hungry stomach and swallowed back the words of refusal.

He had basically not had a full meal in the past few days, so it would be a lie to say that he was not hungry, but he was more afraid of being poisoned to death.

However, since the two of them invited me to form a team, they wouldn't let me die, right? Zhou An thought so and sat down behind the two of them.

Facts have proved that what Zhou An thought was right. Qiuyue took the food with extra ingredients consciously and ate it all up.

Zhou An, who was standing by, finally ate his first full meal in the past few days with peace of mind. In addition, Qiuyue had taken him to look for clues before, so Zhou An felt even more grateful to Qiuyue.

After dinner, Zhou An thought that the two would rush to look for the bloody rabbit, but unexpectedly, the two took him around in circles leisurely in the castle.

Zhou An asked what they were doing, Qiuyue told him not to worry, and Zhou An stopped talking and followed the two quietly.

During this time they found many things, such as patrolmen who were specimens during the day, various small mechanisms and illusions, unrecognizable monsters, and pure white rabbits with fur like snow. Unfortunately, none of them were what they wanted.

After turning around countless times, Zhou An leaned against the wall, panting.

Zhou An looked at the two people standing there waiting for him, wondering: How long has it been? Aren't they tired? Am I too weak?

"Are you okay? You'll be fine soon." Qiuyue walked forward and held Zhou An's hand to give him support, and led him to continue moving forward.

Lin Zhuo and Qiuyue’s purpose was simple. Before reaching their ultimate goal, they took Zhou An around to attract Xiao Yuan’s attention.

After all, how can the final curtain call be without the most important protagonist?

Their goal was indeed achieved. Xiao Yuan, who was recuperating in the small space, had just regained a little strength when he discovered that Zhou An had actually teamed up with Lin Zhuo and the others.

This made Xiao Yuan dare not rest at all, for fear that if he failed to keep an eye on Zhou An, he would die.

But Xiao Yuan did not dare to show up in front of Zhou An, fearing that he would irritate the other party again. He could only endure the pain that kept rising in his body, and cheer himself up to observe silently in the small space.

Xiao Yuan stared at the situation outside intently. As long as one of Lin Zhuo and Qiu Yue wanted to attack Zhou An, even if he was retaliated against, he would take action first to finish off the other party.

At this time, Lin Zhuo walked to the window and lifted a corner of the curtain. The red moon outside was hanging high in the sky. It was no longer the crescent moon as before, but round like a ball.

Time is up.

"Let's go." Lin Zhuo greeted the two.

"Where are you going?" Zhou An asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Lin Zhuo didn't say anything, just told Zhou An to follow him, and then walked forward.

Seeing this, Qiuyue didn't wait for Zhou An and followed Lin Zhuo, skipping and jumping. Zhou An had no choice but to cheer up and follow the two of them.

In a few minutes, they arrived at their destination.

Zhou An also knew this room. This was the room where the owner of the castle, Clay, lived. What were they doing here?

Lin Zhuo opened the door and motioned for the two to go in.

"What are we doing here?" Although Clay looked very friendly, he was still the dungeon boss in name. Zhou An didn't want to contact him, so he stood at the door and didn't want to go in.

"Have you forgotten that you still have to pass the level? You don't want to leave?" Lin Zhuo asked him.

Zhou An replied, "Of course they did, but they didn't find the rabbit, did they? If they go in like this, they will be killed by Clay, right?"

"Don't worry, we've found it."

"Really? When?" Zhou An didn't believe it. They clearly didn't do anything today.

"Oh, don't worry, we really found it." Qiuyue took Zhou An's arm and pulled him into the house.

......

Clay in the room still looked weak, leaning listlessly on the bed, flipping through a book that was unknown what year it was written.

Hearing the noise, he looked up at the three people who entered the house: "Are they here?"

Lin Zhuo looked at Clay's bright red eyes and smiled, "That's right."

Clay's gaze shifted to Zhou An, and he looked him up and down, but in the end he said nothing.

Zhou An got goose bumps all over his body when he was stared at by Clay. He felt very uncomfortable and even wanted to escape.

"Please sit down." Clay retracted his gaze and motioned for the three of them to sit down.

Zhou An tugged at Qiuyue's sleeve. He trusted Qiuyue more than Lin Zhuo. "What are we doing here?"

"I'm here to finish the copy." Unexpectedly, Lin Zhuo answered his question.

Is it true? Taking him along? Zhou An was skeptical.

After the three of them sat down, Clay got up from the bed. He slowly walked to Zhou An, pinched Zhou An's chin with one hand and stroked Zhou An's face with the other hand.

"It's okay."

"?" Zhou An was so frightened that he froze in place. When he heard Clay's evaluation of him, he was even more frightened.

What does he mean?

"Isn't it great? How about using it for exchange?" Qiuyue asked Clay with a smile.

Clay nodded, "Yeah, sure."

Hearing this, Zhou An reacted. He looked at the two people beside him in disbelief. Were they making a deal between him and Clay?

Why? !

Zhou An didn't know where he got the strength from, he pushed Clay away and ran towards the door, but no matter how hard he tried, the door remained motionless.

!!!

Zhou An leaned against the door and looked at the two people and the boss in the room, and realized everything.

They came here well prepared, just to stay here!

How could this be possible! He was so close to leaving the dungeon! He couldn't die here!

"What are you waiting for? Get started," Lin Zhuo urged Clay.

"Don't worry, I'll see what other tricks this little mouse has." Clay picked up a silver knife from the table beside him and began to wipe it carefully.

"Aren't you afraid of being punished in the game for doing this?!" Zhou An yelled at the two of them while trying to open the door with his hands behind his back.

"It wasn't me who did it, why should I be afraid?" Lin Zhuo even drank his tea leisurely: "You were killed by the dungeon boss, what does it have to do with me?"

"We don't have any conflict of interest, right? Why do you have to kill me?!" I didn't ask them to help me pass the level, did I? They were the ones who came to me first, and they wanted to kill me in the end!

"Of course there is. Don't you know that only one person can leave this copy?" Lin Zhuo told Zhou An while holding his face.

After hearing this, Zhou An was shocked at first, because he really didn't know about this, and then he was terrified. He trembled and said, "Even if you kill me, isn't there another one?"

Zhou An pointed at Qiuyue. Isn't there another one? Why must he kill himself first?

"Ah? Who? Me?" Qiuyue turned her head and looked around, and finally followed Zhou An's finger towards herself. Then she tilted her head and grinned: "What a pity, I'm not a player~"

what? !

Zhou An didn't believe it. He wanted to continue to say something to delay time, but the two people on the opposite side were obviously impatient. Lin Zhuo urged Clay: "Hurry up!"

"You colluded with the boss, aren't you afraid of retribution?!" Zhou An closed his eyes tightly as he looked at Clay approaching him, and babbled, "You can't get out even if you kill me! You deserve to die! You all deserve to die!"

Then Zhou An cried out again, "I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Brother, save me! Brother Xiao!! Xiao Yuan!!"

Almost the next second after Zhou An finished shouting, there was a "pop" sound in the room.

That was the sound of the silver knife in Clay's hand being knocked to the ground.

And a figure appeared in front of Zhou An.

Lin Zhuo's eyes lit up. The person they were looking for had arrived!