New concept of the mysterious way to ascend to immortality

Chapter 297 [Cat House] Transaction

As night falls, the air grows slightly cool, and a thin mist rises from the streetlights.

After a hard day's work, Master Yuan stretched and strolled to a fairly lively street, where he began to enjoy the long-awaited nightlife.

It's 10:18 PM, not too late. There are still cars coming and going on the road, though not as many as during the day. Occasionally, you can see small groups of pedestrians hurrying along the streets, as well as local loiterers who seem to roam at night.

They were dressed fashionably, sporting trendy hairstyles and dyeing their hair in various colors. They had steel nails or silver rings on their faces and bodies, and their eyes would dart around with either provocation or ill intent. Every now and then, they would kick a toad that was hopping around in the street.

His teammate, Lü Rang, was once a member of this type of group. Back in Earth's home world, they were called: "Spirited Young Men."

This group of people, arm in arm, holding beer bottles, howling and shouting like ghosts, collided head-on with Yuan Zhu, who was alone and calm.

Is it that they sensed the other person's overly calm demeanor, implying a deliberate attempt to extort money; or that they felt pressured from the top of the food chain?
In the end, this group failed to become arrogant. They smoothly made a small turn, deliberately avoiding Yuan Zhu. After a brief brush past each other, their almost extinguished arrogance reignited, and they once again dominated the road with unrestrained expressions, continuing to swagger through the city.

Hearing the arrogant laughter behind him, Yuan Zhu couldn't help but sigh how wonderful it is to be young.

"Huh? This seems to be the first time I've enjoyed a night in Running since I transmigrated, right?"

Yuan Zhu recalled carefully that although he had been active at night many times in the past few months, he had always been rushing around and had not had the chance to calm down and appreciate the night view of Runing. On the contrary, he had spent two nights wandering around the neighboring city of Taixi, experiencing the charm of the metropolis.

Snake consulted his boss's "Daily Records" and replied, "You do not have a nightlife in Running, largely because of the influence of your past experiences, which has led you to maintain the habit of going out as little as possible at night."

For ordinary residents, the nights in Running City are not safe, not only because the Security Bureau is understaffed, but also because the night is a frequent occurrence of various supernatural phenomena. Dangerous beasts from the Misty Mountains roam, illegal trades are often conducted under the cover of darkness, and wildlife and goblins in the sewer system become more active. In addition, there are the increasingly frequent and gradually accepted 'space-time connection anomalies'.

Because of the soaring crime rate at night, Yuan Zhu, who was once just an ordinary person, rarely went out at night. After 11 p.m., no matter what emergency situation he encountered, he would resolutely lock the door and go to sleep, waiting until dawn to deal with everything.

Tonight, he truly let go of all burdens, embraced the darkness, and wandered aimlessly on the main street. From afar, he could see many shops open and several mobile stalls under the streetlights.

“Running’s nights don’t seem so deserted; every house is closed, and the place is deathly quiet and empty.”

Snake: "Because our area is close to the city center, it's relatively safer, and there are more residents there."

Instead of heading towards the stalls, Yuan Zhu went to a bus stop and waited for a long time before successfully hailing a taxi that was traveling at night.

The driver was a burly man with a stubble beard and a fierce look, resembling a serial killer. A large machete, wrapped in bandages and stained with blackened blood, was clearly visible lying upside down near the handbrake. Perhaps it was used for haggling?

The driver glanced at Zhu Zi and asked with practiced ease, "Where to?"

Cat Street!

The driver said coldly, "3 yuan, pay first. If you want to haggle, please get off the bus."

"Forehead……"

I was about to complain about how expensive the candles were, but I had to shut up and hand over three yuan. My heart bleeds; the fare is so expensive at night?! Back home, it would cost almost a hundred yuan.

At this moment, he desperately hoped that his senior could help him and make up for the sports car she owed him.

After receiving the money, the driver stepped on the gas pedal without saying a word. He sped along the sparsely populated but equally foggy, dimly lit, and poorly visible midnight road, while frequently glancing at Yuan Zhu's every move through the rearview mirror.

This behavior of multitasking, focusing only a small portion of his energy on racing, made Zhu Zi feel very insecure: "Hey buddy, why are you looking at me so often?"

The driver was an honest man. After thinking for a moment, he replied directly, "I'm worried that you might harm me. Recently, there have been frequent robberies where people pretend to be passengers."

Yuan Zhu: "..."

Fortunately, Cat Street wasn't far, only a 15-minute drive away. After waving goodbye to the wary-looking driver, he stopped at the entrance of a bustling, neon-lit street that never sleeps.

Although the scale is a bit small, the numerous externally hung neon signs on this "Cat Street" have a bit of a "sigh" feel to them.

When he last visited, he heard that the entire street was influenced by the style of "Cat House." And "Cat House" was naturally a style that mirrored Taixi's. Now, the entire Cat Street is considered a popular nighttime consumption area in Running.

It only comes alive at night, a stark contrast to the gloomy and dark neighborhoods of Runing.

He casually glanced around and saw that, in addition to Ah Miao's "Cat House," the street also had numerous bathhouses, bars, foot massage parlors, nightclubs, gambling dens, restaurants, hotels, massage parlors, fighting arenas, shooting ranges... everything you could want for eating, drinking, and having fun.

Yuan Zhu: "It's so lively!" He entered the bustling [Cat House Bar] with practiced ease, went straight to the counter, called out to a cat-eared bartender, and took out A-Miao's personal card, waving it at him: "I need to see A-Miao, I have business, inspect the goods."

The young woman remembered Yuan Zhu and had heard the boss mention her before, so she immediately nodded and said, "Sister Miaomiao is back and resting on the second floor. I'll take you to see her."

Soon, amidst the envious and jealous gazes of the many guests nearby, Yuan Zhu went up to the second floor. After turning twice, he found Miao Miao leisurely admiring a fashion magazine in a luxurious 'living room + bedroom + office' room where the walls were covered with forced weapons.

Then, he couldn't help but shout, "Miao Miao!"

The girl with the gray-brown ponytail looked up and squinted at him, drawing out her words: "Oh... it's been a long time. 'Yuan-Zhu,' right?"

Upon seeing the girl he had longed for, Yuan Zhu suddenly calmed down. He felt that she was still as beautiful and attractive as ever, meeting his aesthetic standards and pleasing his heart; yet he also felt that he hadn't been so obsessed with her. His initial passion quickly cooled, leaving only admiration and a desire to touch her legs to satisfy his curiosity.

"Yes, it's me. Do you remember our agreement? I'm here to deliver mushrooms to you. Do you need me to check them?"

Ah Miao tossed aside the magazine in her hand, bounced up energetically, stretched, and nodded, saying, "Of course! I invested a lot in your weapons and only charged cost price. The extra premium is in this batch of goods. Let me take a look! If the quality is up to standard, we can continue to cooperate. By the way, how's the user feedback on the batch I gave you?"

Yuan Zhu: "Uh... I don't know. The goods you gave me were all taken by Meng Xiyue and sold. Do you remember that guy?"

A Miao glanced at him disdainfully: "Of course, it hasn't been that long, I'm not senile. Meng Xiyue, a student of the [Knowledge School], is quite ambitious; as for you, you're a 'Sanctuary Scoundrel' with no faith, and you also work part-time for other miscellaneous systems."

The other party was also very familiar with the [shadow] aura emanating from Yuan Zhu.

Candle quickly interrupted, taking out a prepared wooden box from the [Soul Space] and opening it wide to receive it, saying, "Ahem, these are the mushrooms I collected for you. See if they meet the requirements?"

Inside the wooden box were various medicinal herbs and mushrooms he had collected from [Cicada City], as well as contaminated mushrooms that had grown naturally due to the erosion of [Dream Hole].

Attracted by the 'nightmare aura' emanating from the box, A-Miao forgot her chat with Yuan Zhu and stepped forward, bending down and stretching out her slender fingers to start picking and choosing.

Her unguarded movements revealed a slender, shapely figure, both graceful and capable of striking. Her captivating curves made Yuan Zhu exclaim that she truly deserved the title of 'part-time underground idol.' Generous and magnanimous! Beautiful, I want to see more.

Feeling the intense gaze, A-Miao didn't look up. Instead, she raised her left arm and gave Yuan Zhu the middle finger, reminding him, "Watch your gaze. Don't lower my opinion of you. Also, the origins of this batch of goods are all over the place. I really don't know how to evaluate them."

Yuan Zhu's attention also shifted back to the wooden box, and she asked curiously, "Is there a problem? I put a lot of effort into collecting so many mushrooms."

"I can see you've put in the effort, but unfortunately you lack experience. My assessment of this batch is below average. Although it's mixed with quite a few precious 'polluting herbs,' no matter how precious they are, they don't meet the conditions for brewing. After removing the miscellaneous 'herbs,' there aren't many bacteria qualified to be used in the wine, and the impurities are very high."

The other party first eliminated the 'contaminated medicinal materials' from the [Insect City] system, only selecting about ten kinds of pure 'Nightmare Contaminated Wild Fungi'. Then, they selected those with high quality, stable properties, and mild effects.

"Here, these are the ones that meet the requirements."

According to A-Miao's explanation, her [brewing technique] is not effective against all contaminated mushrooms.

Conversely, if we consider all 'Nightmare-contaminated mushrooms' as a spectrum or a periodic table, then A-Miao's [brewing technique] can only affect a specific chromatographic band or a few types of elements.

Therefore, after careful selection, only 7 types of 'Cicada City Wild Mushrooms' were chosen.

"These ingredients are up to standard, but the resulting beverage is only of inferior quality. It still cannot be infused with the more precious and mysterious [Nightmare Murder Mystery]."

Yuan Zhu: "A murder mystery game?"

Ah Miao held up three fingers: "Nightmare-type drinks can be divided into three levels: the lowest level, after drinking it you will be drunk and dreaming, producing a wonderful and psychedelic illusion, relaxing your body and mind, and experiencing a brief period of blackout bliss. After waking up, you will have a splitting headache, and you will not remember what happened, but the pleasant feeling will remain, making you unable to stop."

"Mid-grade drinks have significantly reduced side effects and extended pleasure duration... In addition, specific [Dreamland] can be bound to the drinks, serving as a medium to log in to [Dreamland] and pursue higher levels of enjoyment. Therefore, the higher the quality of mid-grade drinks, the longer they stay in [Dreamland]."

"As for fine wines and premium wines, there's no need to go into 'dreamland' and incur debt. Each glass of wine contains an independent world: a story, an adventure, a beautiful or terrifying scene... seemingly the same bottle of wine, the same story. But the different choices you make in your dream after getting drunk will trigger different changes. One glass of wine, one story, an ever-changing, never-ending plot. These memories will remain after you wake up, clear and vivid."

Yuan Zhu thought: Could this be considered Du Ling's own 'single-player game'?
"The finest wines will incorporate a more expansive world view, like stuffing a book inside. With the same bottle of wine, as long as you get drunk, you can continue your previous save. You can freely adventure, cultivate, and explore in the same or different dreams. Invite your friends to drink the same bottle of the finest Nightmare Wine and build a dream adventure together."

Yuan Zhu continued, "Then if I share a drink with you, will we meet in our dreams?"

"...?"

Ah Miao raised an eyebrow: "Your eyes are malicious. If I drink with you, I'll beat you in my dreams! I'll bully you! Your nightmare has begun! Your good days are over! I'll repeatedly kill and whip your corpse! I won't hold back at all, so you'll never forget it!"

(End of this chapter)