Chapter 42: The End

See that? That’s what happens when you make enemies everywhere.

Which is exactly why I’ve always been committed to getting along with people.

Zhou You glanced at the sea of blood that had been blocked, silently withdrew the leg he had been about to kick out, and continued his grand escape.

Behind him, countless faces surged in from every direction.

They spread across the entire sea of blood, densely packed like locusts, constantly biting and tearing at it.

Every bite tore away a massive charred patch.

Inside their mouths were not tongues or throats, but blazing, roaring flames.

Liu Shang’s face howled and screamed.

The sea of blood seemed to be his body itself, frantically lashing out at its opponents.

Bricks and stones flew everywhere.

Although countless new faces continuously joined the attack, they still could not keep pace with the speed at which the sea of blood swept them away.

Several minutes later, accompanied by a tremendous crash, the alley collapsed.

By then, Zhou You had already reached the food stall.

Looking at the extinguished lights, he immediately produced the shop sign he had obtained at the very beginning.

The old incandescent bulb flickered several times before lighting up again.

The hunchbacked shopkeeper lifted the curtain.

First, he smiled warmly and nodded at Zhou You.

Then, looking at the approaching sea of blood, he suddenly said,

“Brother, there seem to be quite a few customers today. Is there enough soup left in that pot?”

A human head rose from the soup cauldron.

Its swollen lips opened, silently forming a sentence.

“There probably isn’t enough for stewing people.”

“But for stewing those things... there’s more than enough.”

The owner picked up a soup ladle and bowed with a friendly smile.

“Guests, welcome to my humble establishment. May I ask... what exactly would you like to order?”

While the owner was speaking, Zhou You had already reached the final location.

The place where this scenario had begun.

The security office.

The clues from before connected together one by one.

No matter how many days and nights passed, the security office was always the starting point.

The Security Captain who came here every single day despite being terrified out of his wits.

And finally, the crime scene that had been completely ransacked during the daytime, as though someone had been desperately searching for something.

“Which means there has to be something here they absolutely needed to find.”

As he spoke, Zhou You kicked the door open.

The Security Captain who had once been tied to the chair had long since disappeared.

Only a pile of clothes remained, soaked through with blood.

The room was littered with scraps of flesh and fragments of bone.

The moment a living person entered, every strange creature inside the room turned its head simultaneously and fixed its gaze upon Zhou You.

Under such circumstances, there was no possibility of conducting a careful search.

Yet Zhou You did not even blink.

Instead, he directly used the consumable item he had obtained earlier.

The only purple-rank item he had acquired so far.

The Bloodstained Document.

A black hole suddenly tore open in the air before him.

A withered skeletal claw reached out from within.

After fumbling around for a moment, it seized the contract.

A faint voice, neither male nor female, drifted out from the darkness.

“Yellow Springs Service Agency, we’re happy to... damn it, another one trying to skip payment.”

“Whatever. There’s collateral on the account anyway. The rest isn’t our problem.”

“We’ve received the item. As for you...”

A chilling coldness suddenly crawled into Zhou You’s bones.

When he looked at his skin, it had become pale as ash.

At the same time, however, every strange creature in the room instantly lost interest in him and quieted down.

Behind him, the stall owner’s voice was gradually weakening.

Zhou You could not afford any delay.

He immediately began searching the entire room.

Flowerpots.

Tables and chairs.

The clock.

Behind the walls.

The corners.

Yet after searching every inch of the place, he still found nothing suspicious.

“Could it be... that I guessed wrong? Maybe the Black Pottery Sacrificial Idol isn’t in the security office at all, but somewhere I’ve never explored?”

Zhou You’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

Not far away, the sea of blood seemed to be stirring once again.

He took a deep breath and swept his gaze around the room one more time.

Then his eyes stopped on a single point.

There was no longer any room for regret.

Striding forward, Zhou You headed straight toward the only suspicious object.

The broken television.

“The scene I smashed apart during the daytime misled me. It made me instinctively assume there was nothing inside.”

“But the problem is that daytime and nighttime aren’t synchronized.”

“And according to the story, the nighttime is when the primary sacrifices take place.”

Looking at the distorted figure flickering on the screen, Zhou You grabbed the television and hurled it onto the floor.

The screen shattered instantly.

A pitch-black bodhisattva statue rolled out from inside.

Although he had never seen it before, Zhou You understood immediately.

This was the bodhisattva’s sacrificial vessel.

Without hesitation, Zhou You picked it up.

At the same moment, an ear-piercing scream erupted from outside.

“No!!!!!”

The mountain of corpses and sea of blood surged into the room.

Yet Liu Shang’s face no longer held any ferocity.

The only thing visible in his remaining eye was desperate pleading.

“Put that down! Please put that down! We can talk about this! Whatever you want, I can give it to you! The bodhisattva can give it to you too! Just don’t smash that thing!!!”

As those words fell, the System’s notification sounded as well.

“Dear player, you have reached the final branching point of the story.”

“You may choose to return this sacrificial vessel to the Auspicious Tranquil Ghost Mother Bodhisattva and receive Its blessing.”

“Please note that this opportunity is extremely rare. Players are advised to treasure...”

Zhou You directly closed the System notification.

Then, smiling pleasantly, he said to Liu Shang,

“You want this?”

The man nodded frantically.

“Judging by how desperate you are, I’d guess something very bad will happen to you if this thing disappears, right?”

“...This is the bodhisattva’s final chance for me. If I ruin it, He will condemn me to howl forever within the sea of blood. So please, I’m begging you. Give it to me. All the property I’ve left behind can be yours. You can even ask the bodhisattva for anything you want. As long as...”

“I see.”

Zhou You nodded in understanding.

Then he took a step forward, seemingly intending to hand the object back to Liu Shang.

Hope appeared in the man’s eyes.

At that very moment, however, Zhou You suddenly loosened his grip.

Smack.

Only three or four seconds later did Liu Shang realize what that sound meant.

His pupils instantly turned blood-red.

“You bastard! I’ll kill you! I’ll definitely kill you! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

That final string of screams was all he had left.

Zhou You looked up.

The endless night that had seemed eternal was finally fading.

Dawn was breaking.

A faint light had already appeared beyond the horizon.

The flesh and blood composing the Ghost Mother Bodhisattva melted rapidly beneath the morning sun like ice and snow.

At the same time, the sea of blood and countless faces before him also dissolved away.

“Congratulations, player. You have achieved this scenario’s special ending: Sealed Once More.”

“The player will return in ten seconds.”

“10, 9, 8, 7...”