Chapter 42 Who Am I? 41

It was 12:30 PM. There were four and a half hours left until the woman got off work, which was enough time for Lin Xiangjun to go to the basement, get the two body parts, and return to give back the key.

"I know, thank you, Sister." Lin Xiangjun picked up the key with a smile.

The woman couldn't be bothered with her; she was greedily staring at the underworld currency in her hand, calculating how to spend it.

She had already decided to buy a human calf, but what should she do with the remaining change? Should she buy a few human fingers to gnaw on, or just eat the underworld currency as a side dish?

Both were good, both were delicious; she really couldn't decide for a moment.

...

Lin Xiangjun left Unit 8. She didn't rush to find the Cleaner immediately; instead, she found an empty corner and ordered a combo of fried noodles and fried rice for herself, making sure to fill herself up first.

Ever since entering the instance, Lin Xiangjun had been getting hungry very quickly.

This seemed to be a common ailment among humans? All humans who left the instance would regain their normal appetite and food intake, but as long as they were inside an instance, a player's appetite would increase by two or three times.

And the food provided in the instance was either very limited or heavily contaminated; one would leave you hungry, and the other would leave you stuck in the instance as a ghost if you ate too much—either way, it never ended well.

This time, Lin Xiangjun ate two portions of food and drank a bottle of cola before finally feeling satisfied.

She let out a burp, wiped her mouth, threw the kitchen waste into her pouch, and officially began her afternoon work.

Entering the unit door, she had just taken two steps down when she suddenly stopped, looking at the dim, yellowish light as if she sensed something.

Lin Xiangjun put her feet together and suddenly jumped down one step.

【1. The stairwell is old; please do not run or jump in the stairwell.】

Seeming to think that wasn't enough, Lin Xiangjun jumped down several more steps in a row, then accelerated and ran to the landing between the floors.

The light in the stairwell flickered violently like it was having a seizure, emitting a "buzzing" sound, as if it were trembling with rage.

Lin Xiangjun silently took out her sharp knife.

She could take down the Stair Ghost with just a little more effort.

Originally, with the rules binding it, it didn't matter if she left this ghost on the stairs for now.

But now, Lin Xiangjun had to take a risk and go to the basement. Who knew what kind of things or dangers were in the basement? If something happened and she got hurt, what would she do if that ghost suddenly jumped out to interfere?

It would be better to eliminate this threat in advance.

However, the light flickered a few times like a seizure, then abruptly returned to calm. No matter how much Lin Xiangjun ran, jumped, or shouted, there was no movement.

Lin Xiangjun tried, Lin Xiangjun fell silent, Lin Xiangjun gave up.

Probably knowing that it would be done for the moment it showed itself, the ghost had made up its mind not to appear, and no matter how crazy she acted, it was useless.

Lin Xiangjun gave up with some regret and turned to leave the stairwell.

This feeling of being so close to completing a task yet being left hanging was truly terrible. She desperately wanted to kill the Stair Ghost in one blow—if only it hadn't been hiding from her the whole time.

The ghost hiding in the shadows saw that she had finally left, and its body quietly relaxed.

It stared venomously at Lin Xiangjun's retreating back.

If it weren't for this woman stabbing him twice in a row, how could he have fallen to this point, watching helplessly as players violated the rules while he could only hide in the shadows like a coward?!

He wished he could tear Lin Xiangjun apart, chop her up, and swallow her, turning her into his nourishment!

But...

The Stair Ghost touched the two wounds on its body; they were left after being stabbed by the sharp knife twice. Even though it had quietly wandered out and devoured two low-level ghosts in places where the Instance Master didn't notice, these wounds were only barely keeping the ghost energy from leaking out, and they were still far from fully healing.

The ghost's expression darkened.

His eyes rolled, and he revealed a cunning smile. His body slowly turned back into a state of quicksand, clinging to the wall and slowly moving through the stairwell.

This woman had some skills; he couldn't do anything about her for the time being...

But weren't there three other players in the instance?

Surely not everyone was like this perverted woman, holding so many items in their hands, right?

Once he devoured two more players and his wounds were mostly recovered, he would definitely take revenge on this woman!

Just as the Stair Ghost was thinking this, a faint murmuring sound suddenly came from the 4th floor.

"I will definitely be able to get out of here, I will definitely be able to get out. I already know many clues; as long as I combine them, I will definitely be able to find a way out..."

The Stair Ghost slowly crawled toward that location.

...

At the door of 001.

Lin Xiangjun was completely unaware that the ghost in the stairwell had shifted its target. She looked at the key in her hand, took a deep breath, and slowly inserted the key into the keyhole.

Although the booklet said that Fang Ping usually wouldn't return, it never hurts to be careful.

The door was carefully pushed open a crack, and a smell of moldy, lightless, musty air mixed with some indescribable odor surged out. Lin Xiangjun was choked so badly she almost sneezed, but fortunately, she reacted quickly and covered her nose and mouth, so she didn't make a sound.

She paused for a moment while keeping her mouth covered, and after confirming there was no one inside, she opened the door completely.

The area of the basement was about the same size as the floor above, but there was no clear room planning here; it was just a square layout, not even having a bathroom.

Looking inside from the door, the entire layout of the room was clear at a glance.

Lin Xiangjun frowned.

This basement didn't look like the residence of a working woman at all; it was extremely dirty and messy, more like a cluttered storage room than a place for people to live.

At the entrance, there were two stacked shoe cabinets, and a pile of shoes was stacked around them, including ladies' boots and sneakers, as well as men's leather shoes and sneakers. They all looked very old; some of the leather on the boots was starting to peel, and the soles were agape, obviously no longer wearable, only fit to be placed in this pile of shoes to contribute to polluting the air.

Taking a step inside, there were several bulging woven bags. Perhaps because they had been left for too long, the bags had become brittle and torn, revealing the colorful clothes inside.

Judging by the patterns and styles, there was absolutely no need to keep them; they could be thrown directly into the trash can.

It was the same inside: cardboard boxes, plastic bags, tables and chairs with broken legs, a peeling sofa, some twisted woks... all sorts of miscellaneous things were scattered in a pile.

Lin Xiangjun covered her nose with slight disgust.

She didn't really understand this behavior. If something could be repaired and used, then repair it and keep using it; if it wasn't worth repairing and couldn't be used, then just throw it away and buy a new one.

Like this, where it couldn't be used but they were unwilling to throw it away, piling up a huge mess—what was the point, other than taking up space?

Polluting the air?

Leaving an iron pot here to rust, increasing its weight to earn a few extra cents from the scrap dealer?

It couldn't be that they had developed an attachment to it after using it for so long, right? What kind of attachment could one have to these few pairs of broken shoes?

Lin Xiangjun thought that the only possibility for not throwing away such broken shoes was that their owner had worn them while disposing of a corpse, and was afraid that if they threw them away, their footprints would be discovered.