Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 612 Failure
The complaint made the newcomer freeze. Just as he was wondering why someone else was in his seat, he saw several people around him winking and shaking their heads at him.

Seeing this, he became even more puzzled and slowly turned his head to look behind him.

The man sitting in his seat wore a black robe, a tall hat, and held a mourning staff in his hand.

A pale gray face gleamed coldly in the eerie blue phosphorescent light. The flickering firefly eyes glanced at him, and the novice felt a chill run through his body, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, and his blood had turned almost entirely cold in an instant.

"oops!"

Seeing this, he was startled and his body involuntarily jumped up and backed away. However, after he had retreated several meters away, he took a closer look.

The previously empty seats are now filled with a mix of black and white people sitting in alternating groups.

"Black... black and white..."

His fingers trembled, and his face looked more terrifying than if he had seen a ghost.

Let alone a novice like him, even Pumpkin and the others felt a chill run down their spines when they saw dozens of ghost messengers.

Pumpkin, in particular, felt as if the spirits within her body were beginning to escape uncontrollably.

"This guy... he can actually use supernatural powers??"

In an instant, Pumpkin's gaze toward Xiao Ran changed from initial apprehension to terror.

If spirit masters are the nemesis of corpse sculptors, then Xiao Ran's ability to summon ghost messengers has already completely restrained her.

"Who exactly is he? Is this the same guy I met before?"

Pumpkin unconsciously recalled her first impression of Xiao Ran when she met him at the Seventh Middle School. At that time, Xiao Ran was incredibly weak and frail.

An E-level beginner can crush an ant with a flick of their finger.

But now, the young man in front of him had learned a set of unpredictable abilities in such a short time, which truly made Pumpkin feel incredulous and even unbelievable.

What surprised them even more was that the ghost messenger sitting at the table actually bowed to Xiao Ran and said, "Qiu Long from the Underworld pays his respects to Your Excellency."

"My lord??" Pumpkin's head was buzzing. If she encountered this ghost messenger, she would respectfully call him "Big Brother Ghost Messenger."

Even his master had to pay a huge price to enter the underworld, so why was he calling Xiao Ran "Lord Xiao Ran" here?

Pumpkin looked at Xiao Ran with increasing surprise.

"Brother Qiu, I don't mean anything by this today, I just want to treat everyone to a meal. Please don't be shy, brothers."

Xiao Ran spoke to Qiu Ye, who was sitting in front of her.

He then took out the good wine he had previously scavenged from Beast Master's room from his spatial storage and handed it to the newcomer who was still standing there dumbfounded: "Brother, please help me greet the brothers over there."

The newcomer, who had just stood up from his chair, was taken aback by what he heard. He immediately realized that Xiao Ran was giving him a task so that he wouldn't be standing there unsure of what to do.

Coming to his senses, he immediately ran up to Xiao Ran and took the wine from her hand: "Boss, my name is Zhao Hongzhong, you can just call me Xiao Zhao. Don't worry, I promise I won't let you down."

Although Zhao Hongzhong was young, he was very insightful and realized that this was an excellent opportunity for him. If he could get to know a few ghost messengers, wouldn't he be able to take off from here?

The others looked on with envy when they saw that Zhao Hongzhong had actually received such a benefit. However, if they were asked to get up now and serve tea and wine to these ghost messengers, they probably wouldn't have the courage.

"You're too kind, sir. Please feel free to ask for anything. As long as it doesn't violate our principles, we brothers will never refuse."

Master Qiu said with a smile, his meaning was quite clear: as long as Xiao Ran nodded, they could help Xiao Ran break the dream in front of them.

"No, let's keep things professional and personal. You've already done me a huge favor by coming here today just to treat the brothers to a meal."

Qiu Ye and the others meant well, but Xiao Ran didn't dare to agree.

Hearing this, Pumpkin and the others could only anxiously stare at Xiao Ran.

But Xiao Ran ignored it.

Although he has the right to call on ghost messengers for help, that is only in specific circumstances, such as helping him guide the souls of the dead, or when someone disrupts the order of the yin and yang. If he were to order ghost messengers to act as his henchmen, it would be an overstepping of his bounds. If this matter is not handled properly, he will be dragged into trouble, and Master Qiu will probably have to take responsibility.

So Xiao Ran really didn't intend for them to get involved, but even if they didn't interfere, they could still help out.

"I need some parts for my eighteen dishes. Could you brothers help me gather them together?"

"Components?"

Xiao Ran pointed to the price tags on the food on the table.

Upon hearing this, Qiu Ye squinted and immediately understood. He then gave Xiao Ran a mischievous smile and said, "So that's how it is. I get it now."

"Brothers, we can't let this dish go to waste; let's leave him something to remember the day."

After saying that, Qiu Ye casually twisted off five of his fingers, waved to the pumpkin beside him, and then handed the five fingers to the pumpkin.

Pumpkin looked at the finger, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out and took it.

However, after receiving the five fingers, Pumpkin was surprised to find that the negative stars did not continue to increase. Instead, it indicated that it had received the price.

Just as Pumpkin was wondering what was going on, the other ghost messengers also waved to Pumpkin with smiles on their faces.

After Pumpkin walked over, the ghost messengers began to disassemble various parts from their bodies one by one. You had a pair of eyes, I had a nose, he had a string of intestines, and all sorts of parts piled up in Pumpkin's hands.

To Pumpkin and his friends' great joy, although they had received the item with the price tag, not a single negative star had been added.

By the time Pumpkin returned carrying the parts, Qiu Ye had already devoured the entire table of food.

Qiu Ye opened his mouth and sucked up all the food on the table, including chicken, duck, fish and meat, leaving only the glass of wine that Zhao Hongzhong had poured.

Master Qiu raised his wine glass and said to Xiao Ran, "Thank you for the banquet, sir. We have other official business to attend to and cannot stay any longer. If you return to Fengdu another day, we will host a welcome dinner for you."

"Okay, take care on your journey."

Xiao Ran picked up his wine glass, and the two drank it down in one gulp. Then, Master Qiu hurriedly led his men away in a gust of cold wind.

Before leaving, Master Qiu glanced at Xiao Ran again. When he saw Jin Chanzi sitting next to Xiao Ran, Master Qiu seemed to think of something, his expression changed slightly, and his pace quickened considerably.

This made Zhao Hongzhong, who was pouring the drinks, feel a little disappointed: "No, you're leaving already? Won't you stay a little longer?"

Zhao Hongzhong never imagined in his life that one day he would suddenly feel such a strong sense of security from these ghost messengers. At the same time, he felt disappointed because he had just poured wine for the ghost messengers at these tables and hadn't even had a chance to say a word or get close to them.

Xiao Ran seemed to sense Zhao Hongzhong's thoughts and patted him on the shoulder: "Practice makes perfect. Everything is difficult at the beginning. You've poured drinks for everyone, so at least you're a familiar face. Next time you meet, you'll be able to strike up a conversation."

Hearing Xiao Ran's explanation, Zhao Hongzhong immediately felt relieved.

"Have we completed our mission?"

Di Jun held the jumbled parts in his hands, a look of bewilderment on his face.

I don't understand where the problem lies.

Pumpkin didn't care about any of that. Following the rules of the mission they had received, he immediately grabbed the parts and threw them into the coffin in the middle of the yard.

"Quick, throw them all in."

Pumpkin turned around and called out to Dijun and the others.

She didn't know what the problem was, but she had a vague feeling that these parts weren't good, and she wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible to avoid any further complications.

Seeing this, Di Jun and the others also threw all the odds and ends they had into the container.

Suddenly, a whooshing sound came from the coffin, and thick blood gushed out, bubbling and gurgling.

Everyone was startled by the commotion and quickly backed away.

"Why didn't those things add negative stars to our lives?"

Pumpkin took the opportunity to come to Xiao Ran's side and asked Xiao Ran a question using the Heart-Communicating Talisman.

Xiao Ran sneered, "As the saying goes, ghosts deceive people, even the dead. What do you think you can get out of a bunch of old ghosts?"

What could these ghost messengers possibly possess? It's nothing more than a smokescreen, but Zhang Jingmin probably can't recognize it.

Since it can't be identified, there's naturally no way to add negative stars to them.

"Are you sure this is okay?"

Pumpkin looked at Xiao Ran and asked.

"It's hard to say." Xiao Ran squinted at the coffin in front of her, thinking to herself, "There's a problem, it's definitely a big problem, but it's definitely not my problem."

Just as Xiao Ran said, Zhang Jingmin's face now showed a strange look of worry.

The coffin was clearly filled with various parts, but I couldn't sense their presence.

"Strange, why is the coffin so light?"

She felt suspicious, but she couldn't determine what was going on inside.

After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and said, "Never mind, as long as I can rebuild a physical body and draw out her soul, that's enough."

The girl on the hospital bed had something inside her body that Zhang Jingmin wanted to take out, but she didn't dare to. Right now, the girl's body was as fragile as a porcelain vase full of cracks. If the girl died suddenly, Zhang Jingmin would not only lose her power, but she would also suffer a backlash.

Therefore, she planned to use dream magic to first trap Xiao Ran and the others, then collect their physical bodies, along with a large number of negative stars, enough to transfer her daughter's soul into a new body.

At that time, I will be confident that I can reclaim all the abilities I have lost from this decaying body.

As Zhang Jingmin's hands continued to move, a blurry human-shaped wheelchair was about to take shape inside the coffin.

But the moment the figure took shape, Zhang Jingmin's expression changed drastically: "No, how could this be?" The instant her words fell, the blurry human figure in the coffin suddenly transformed into a tattered scarecrow, which shattered into pieces in the scalding blood...

(End of this chapter)