Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 112 Defeat is when you give up the fight.
The convenience store's automatic doors have opened again!

Jiang Jin's pupils suddenly contracted—two customers without masks were standing at the door.

The man was wearing a faded shirt, and the woman was wearing a floral dress; both of their skin appeared unnaturally pale.

Their steps were perfectly synchronized, their knees barely bending, like puppets controlled by invisible threads.

Even more bizarrely, the two people's facial muscles were completely still, with no rise and fall of breathing, no blinking, and not even a movement of their eyeballs.

Exactly the same as the previous weirdo in a suit!
The couple began moving around the store at the exact same pace, as if they were patrolling along a fixed route, completely ignoring the merchandise on the shelves, from dolls to lime juice.

Jiang Jin's heart was pounding, and he didn't know what to do. Cold sweat kept sliding down his temples.

Like the strange man in the suit, they kept going in circles. Unlike the strange man in the suit, after circling about five times, the two of them headed towards the convenience store entrance.

Just as the two were about to leave, an unexpected turn of events occurred.

The automatic door had just opened halfway when a disheveled old woman with white hair suddenly rushed out of the darkness!
Her withered fingers clenched into claws and lunged straight at the couple!

The man's movements were faster than anyone could comprehend.

His arm twisted 180 degrees backward at an ergonomically unnatural angle, precisely gripping the old woman's throat.

The old woman's feet were off the ground, dangling in the air, and one of her cloth shoes fell off during her struggle.

The whole process took no more than three seconds. The man maintained his grip on the neck, picked up the old woman like a shopping bag, and turned to leave. The woman raised her pale arm and firmly held the old woman's hands in place.

As they left, Jiang Jin clearly saw that the old woman's struggling movements became slower and slower until they finally stopped completely.

The automatic door slowly closed, leaving only one of the old lady's cloth shoes on the ground.

When the ten minutes were up and everyone came out to draw lots, Jiang Jin immediately told everyone what had just happened.

Customers who don't wear masks can easily subdue those ghosts!

Ghosts cannot be killed, but ghosts can fight ghosts!

The group communicated quickly using sign language:
Jiang Jin: [Those without masks = hunters, those with masks = prey?]

Murong Yan: [It should be called those ghosts whose faces look like masks!]

Wu Ge: [The roles of prey and hunter cannot be easily defined, nor can we simply assume that one side can help us.]

Qiu Feng: [Why wasn't that customer taken away by the strange man in the suit earlier?]

Jiang Jin forced himself to calmly analyze the situation:

1. Customers not wearing masks fall into two categories: native customers and those who are converting.

2. Masked hunters may strictly adhere to the rules of conduct: no hunting inside the store, but free hunting outside;

3. Convenience stores may be a kind of "safe zone," but their protective effect is waning.

"We need to reassess," Dr. Lin suddenly said, waving his finger. "Perhaps both camps of customers are our enemies."

Suddenly, the freezer door popped open automatically again!

Everyone was horrified when they saw this.

The lock of hair in front of the freezer was long gone.

Dr. Lin placed the lottery papers back on the cashier's counter.

The next ten-minute lottery will begin.

Everyone was trembling, but they could only reach out their hands. Only those who accepted the lottery system and took turns on duty were allowed to hide in the office area.

This time, Qiu Feng was the one who was chosen.

At this moment, Qiu Feng's face was even paler than that of the man and woman from before.

Regardless of his astonishment, everyone else rushed into the office area, leaving him alone at the cashier.

Qiu Feng gripped the paper with "Cashier" written on it tightly, and could only continue to frantically operate it.

At that moment, he looked behind him.

Some of the high-end cigarettes and alcohol are displayed behind the cashier.

He quickly picked up a bottle of wine and placed it in front of the cashier.

His eyes hardened, and he clenched his teeth.

Just grab the top of the bottle and smash it hard forward...

Then, he checked the burning incense to make sure it could burn for a while longer.

Everyone's gotten used to the pungent smell.

At the same time, he picked up a disposable cup from the cashier, filled it with water from the coffee machine, and then poured it in front of the freezer.

The large puddle of water in front of the freezer is enough to make customers uncomfortable and keep them away, right?

Finally, he ran to the dining area and piled all the chairs onto the tables! To prevent anyone from sitting there comfortably drinking lime juice!

In the cramped office space, four people hid inside the warehouse, blocking the door, and waited ten minutes before going out to draw lots.

Murong Yan leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to the ground, her fingers unconsciously stroking the hem of her clothes before she realized it wasn't the cheongsam she was wearing.

"My sister's name is Murong Xue."

She didn't care whether the people in front of her wanted to hear it or not, and just spoke up.

“My sister, Xue, loves tailoring, especially embroidering cheongsams,” her voice was as soft as a sigh. “She secretly measured all my measurements for the cheongsam I was wearing, even taking into account that my right shoulder was half a centimeter lower than my left shoulder.”

"She originally planned to surprise me on my birthday. But she died before that. In that instance, she was eaten to death by Gu worms. It was Lady Pustuca who wanted to experiment with whether Gu worms could be brought into the dream world while people were sleeping."

Dr. Lin suddenly looked up: "Dream World?"

"Yes, it's a replica based on the American movie A Nightmare on Elm Street. Old Chen also experienced that replica, so he recognized me before."

Jiang Jin immediately remembered that Old Chen had indeed mentioned seeing Murong Yan in a past instance.

Murong Yan's nails dug into her palm: "Madam Pustules, she's in Freddy's boiler room, watching my sister slowly..."

Then, her eyes filled with tears.

“After she died, I found that cheongsam in her locked closet. You’ve all seen my cheongsam; the workmanship is really good, isn’t it?” Murong Yan was talking to herself at this point: “I can die. But if I die, I won’t be able to avenge my sister.”

Dr. Lin shook his head. "Lady Pustules is a Level 4 Gu Mother. Even a Level 5 Reincarnator would have to give way to her. But any Reincarnator in the Horror Dungeon will eventually succumb to the Abyss Layer little by little."

Wu Ge leaned closer to Murong Yan and whispered to her, "My father was once a death row inmate."

His voice was eerily calm: "The imperial court once conducted a 'contamination experiment,' promising thirty death row inmates that if they deliberately violated the monthly rules and survived the terrifying dungeon, they could be granted a pardon. The prerequisite was that they would be notarized through the reincarnation system and then serve the imperial court as its henchmen."

“My father was the only one among that batch of death row inmates to survive. He eventually joined a small team of reincarnators and fought together. But one time his meme contamination relapsed, and he even accidentally infected me. I was also contaminated by the meme and became a reincarnator.”

"Let me clarify first: Although my father is a death row inmate, he was wrongly convicted. He was a teacher who specialized in teaching meme pollution courses. He was arrested because the deceased was one of his female students, and the two had a conflict. At that time, the female student cheated on an exam, and my father reported her to the academic affairs office, which resulted in her being disciplined. The female student said she would make things difficult for my father and subsequently had people harass him multiple times. Then, her body was discovered. Ironically, I was the only person who could provide him with an alibi, but my testimony has no legal validity."

"There's only a motive, but no other evidence?"

"Yes, I have."

Murong Yan asked, puzzled, "Didn't you say your father was innocent? Then..."

Then, Wu Ge looked at Murong Yan.

"you guess?"

Murong Yan raised her tearful eyes: "So that's why you..."

“When you encounter injustice, tolerance is painful, and so is resistance.” Wu Ge stared at Murong Yan in front of him. “Since that’s the case, then resist. A person is only defeated when he gives up the fight.”

Murong Yan was stunned: "Attack on Titan? A line from Commander Erwin?"

"No, it's a line spoken by Survey Corps Squad Leader Mick."

Murong Yan rarely smiled, "You're one to talk about Azi, aren't you a shut-in too?"

Wu Ge smiled at this moment.

"Why would I become a Conan x Ai shipper if I'm not a homebody?"

"Let me tell you a secret, I'm actually a Conan x Ai shipper too."

Jiang Jin didn't know what Wu Ge said to Murong Yan, but Murong Yan, who had been lost and dejected, actually started chatting and laughing with Wu Ge.

This child is so young, I didn't expect him to know about psychological counseling!
Then, Jiang Jin approached Wu Ge and asked in a low voice, "Do you... have a team now? Are you interested in joining one?"

Jiang Jin felt that Wu Ge's precocity and mental fortitude were enough to surpass many other reincarnators.

He wants to recruit one more member for the Nirvana team.

“I have a team,” Wu Ge replied. “I’m currently in the team of a close friend of my father.”

Murong Yan suddenly stood up, her eyes flashing with cold light: "I want to get out of here alive."

Her eyes were clearer than ever before: "For Xue."

Wu Ge suddenly lowered his voice and said to Jiang Jin, "I've made up my mind. If Murong Yan dies here, then one day, when I can take revenge... I will help her kill Lady Pustules."

Jiang Jin was taken aback.

"Are you serious?"

What's your relationship with her? You helped her kill Lady Pustuca? The leader of the Insect Nest team? A Level 4 Gu Mother? What level are you?

“I’m serious. Anyway, my enemy is most likely in cahoots with Lady Pustules. By the way, don’t tell her what I just said.”

"Then why did you tell me that?" Jiang Jin asked, puzzled.

"You're a good policeman, Officer Jiang."

"You know I'm a real police officer?"

“I can tell from the way you walk.” Wu Ge looked at Jiang Jin with a very serious gaze. “Officer Jiang, please remember to always be a good policeman.”

Jiang Jin still didn't understand.

How exactly do you know I'm a good cop?

"Just because when Azi screamed, your first reaction was to save her."

Jiang Jin hadn't heard Wu Ge and Murong Yan's conversation and didn't understand why he suddenly gave him the "friend card."

at the same time.

Qiu Feng carefully placed the newly lit incense sticks in the burner.

Only after that pungent smell wafted out did Qiu Feng feel safe.

He glanced again at the bottles of wine on the cashier's counter.

Come on! Come on!
In the Reincarnator's Watch, the SAN value is approaching 50%.

He is slowly sinking deeper into the Lost Layer.

The automatic door opens.

Customers wearing "masks" walked in.

Qiu Feng's eyes were fixed on him as he watched the customer walk to the food shelf, in front of the doll!
Then, the customer took a step closer and stared intently at the doll in front of him!
It was as if that doll had once been his possession!

Qiu Feng gripped the wine bottle tightly.

Then, the customer followed the doll's hand and looked towards the cashier!
Qiu Feng subconsciously swallowed.

then……

That customer...

He walked straight...towards the cashier!

Qiu Feng tensed up, then quickly used sign language: "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

The customer approached Qiu's cover and then did something unexpected.

He raised his hand... and...

They ripped off Qiu Feng's mask!

　All my drafts have been lost; from now on, I'll probably only be able to update in the afternoon...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)