181: dormant

Lu Chuan looked at the suddenly enthusiastic Ding Xinyang, knowing that he must have thought of many plotlines, so he twitched his lips and nodded in thanks.

"Thank... thank you for your encouragement!"

Ding Xinyang patted his chest and smiled brightly.

"You're welcome. Oh, by the way, what are your shop's operating hours? I'll tell my colleagues later and bring them over for a meal. That way, your shop will accumulate popularity faster, and business will get better and better!"

Hearing this, Lu Chuan looked at Ding Xinyang in surprise, then told him the operating hours.

Ding Xinyang immediately nodded. Seeing that it was getting late, he stood up, patted his backside, and was about to leave.

But then he thought of something and turned back to ask.

"Oh, by the way, Boss, do you have a menu? I'll take a picture of it, so when my colleagues ask, I can tell them immediately!"

Lu Chuan shook his head and smiled:

"There's no menu. When customers come, they just tell me what they want to eat, and if the shop happens to have the ingredients, I can make it."

To avoid exposing the system or attracting attention, he didn't say things like "customers can order whatever they want."

Anyway, no matter what the customer ordered, he would just say that he happened to have the ingredients.

Ding Xinyang was first stunned, then nodded happily.

He waved to Lu Chuan and walked out of the shop. Soon after, he turned a corner of the alley and disappeared into the darkness.

Lu Chuan, with his hands behind his back, looked at the dark buildings around him, shook his head, and walked back into the shop.

But just as he turned around, a figure appeared silently, crouching on a low wall in a section of the alley.

The figure opened its eyes, and in them were vertical pupils that gleamed with an eerie, demonic light.

These demonic eyes were fixed on Lu Chuan's back.

"Hmm?"

At the same time, Lu Chuan, whose sixth sense was exceptionally sharp, felt as if something was staring at him.

He frowned, pretended not to notice, and continued walking into the shop.

But just as he was about to step inside, he suddenly turned sharply and looked in the direction he had anticipated.

However, he found nothing.

Lu Chuan's brows first furrowed, then he scratched his head, and finally walked into the shop and headed towards the kitchen.

After Lu Chuan's figure disappeared into the kitchen, the figure on the low wall reappeared.

At this moment, the demonic eyes no longer held their previous coldness; the emotions within them had become much more complex, including surprise, bewilderment, and even curiosity... After a while, the figure disappeared again.

And in the next moment, after the figure vanished, Lu Chuan in the kitchen suddenly let out a sigh of relief.

He touched his forehead and found it covered in cold sweat.

"What is the origin of the owner of that gaze?"

Lu Chuan couldn't quite figure it out, but recalling the dangerous feeling of being stared at from behind by that gaze, his heart still instinctively quickened.

At this moment, He Jingrui, who had already relaxed, heard Lu Chuan's heart rate quicken again, so he patted his shoulder and comforted him:

"A Chuan, it's alright, that guy has already left."

Hearing this, Lu Chuan relaxed again.

He looked at He Jingrui, thought for a moment, and asked:

"What do you think that thing was?"

He Jingrui scratched his head, looking bewildered.

"I'm not sure. The aura was very chaotic, not quite human. It might be some kind of exotic beast that snuck over from another world, just like that merman under the Nameless Lake before."

Lu Chuan listened to He Jingrui's answer, couldn't help but rub his chin, and a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.

After a while, he asked He Jingrui again.

"If you were to confront that thing, do you have confidence you could win?"

When it came to combat, He Jingrui clearly became much more energetic, and his mind also became sharper.

He carefully recalled the feeling the aura gave him. After a long pause, he finally said with some uncertainty:

"It's hard to say who would win, but if it were a fight to the death, it would probably be a three-to-seven split, with me getting three and it getting seven."

Hearing this, Lu Chuan couldn't help but widen his eyes.

He Jingrui's combat ability was beyond doubt; otherwise, he wouldn't have been selected for the special forces team.

Not to mention that he had now awakened his Gourmet Cells, and with continuous feeding of gourmet food, the combat power he could unleash was already inhuman!

Yet He Jingrui actually said that he only had a thirty percent chance of survival?!

The shock this brought Lu Chuan was no less than him boiling water until the pot dried up.

Or frying an egg until the pan was ruined.

Or roasting squid until the kitchen caught fire.

In short, it was too shocking!

"No, how can we encounter something like this just by going on a casual trip? Our luck is too good, isn't it?"

Lu Chuan was somewhat taken aback.

"Or is it that we've occupied that thing's home? Is that why it's targeting us?"

He couldn't figure it out, so he paced back and forth, his expression growing more and more solemn.

For a moment, he thought about giving up the mission.

But then he remembered the system's description of the mystic crystal kitchen knife reward for that mission, and he was a bit reluctant to let go.

After hesitating for a while, Lu Chuan finally gritted his teeth and said:

"Forget it, we'll take it one step at a time. If it really doesn't work out, we'll retreat immediately."

"Besides, from what the general store owner said, although this house is unlucky, no one seems to have died here. From this perspective, that thing probably doesn't want to attract too much attention either."

Having settled on a plan, Lu Chuan looked at He Jingrui and said seriously:

"These next few days, we need to stay alert and be constantly on guard against that ghostly thing suddenly making a move. After Friday, we'll pull out immediately."

He Jingrui heard this and was about to nod.

But soon, Lu Chuan waved his hand again and rephrased:

"Wait, let me think again."

He paced a few more steps before speaking.

"Right now, we are in the open, and the other party is hidden. This kind of stalemate is very disadvantageous to us. How about this: you stay on the second floor these few days and don't show yourself easily."

Seeing He Jingrui's puzzled look, he explained:

"If my guess is correct, that thing's goal is to drive away everyone occupying this house, but it doesn't want to attract attention, so it definitely won't make a move when there are many people around."

"Since that's the case, when business is good at the shop, you can recuperate on the second floor. If business is slow, you can hide. It's even better if it doesn't make a move, but if it can't hold back and shows its hand, you can take it by surprise and strike with all your might, overwhelming it and making it fearful."

"If all goes well, we should be able to hold out until Friday ends, and then we'll pack up and leave immediately."

After listening to Lu Chuan's analysis, He Jingrui nodded understandingly.

He also didn't ask Lu Chuan why he had to wait until Friday to retreat.

Since Lu Chuan had a request, he would fulfill it.

He was very clear about his role: he wasn't good at thinking, he was even worse at making gourmet food. The only thing he was good at was his fists.

If Lu Chuan needed him, then he would be Lu Chuan's fist, and of course, he could also become a shield.

As long as Lu Chuan needed him.

It was that simple.