Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 19 Sharks and Beaches

Just then, Deathstroke suddenly shuddered and quickly turned to look at Jiang Jin!
"Deathstroke, you..."

Jiang Jin whispered in a voice only he could hear.

Just now, when he was trapped in the Lost Layer, Deathstroke was still in the Mysterious Layer.

Theoretically speaking, Jiang Jin and Deathstroke are usually on the same level, but if Jiang Jin enters another level due to a drop in SAN, Deathstroke can also enter the same level with him after mentally synchronizing with Jiang Jin.

The Skeleton Hound originates from the Ash Black Rune, an item that doesn't appear to be made from resentment crystals, so summoning Deathstroke doesn't reduce SAN. Jiang Jin and Deathstroke are telepathically connected, so he knows that Deathstroke can currently infiltrate as deep as the gap between the Lost Layer and the Annihilation Layer (corresponding to 30% SAN). However, there's a certain time lag involved in infiltrating the Lost Layer through mental synchronization.

"Woof woof!" At this moment, Deathstroke's bark was full of apology to its master, partly because it hadn't been able to help Jiang Jin in time, and partly because it hadn't noticed anything unusual about the blue fatty char siu.

Jiang Jin ate the char siu with blue fat because he believed that the shopkeeper, as an NPC guiding quests and teaching newbies, wouldn't harm him. Now, thinking back on it, he was leaning against the cutting board, almost vomiting.

This "contaminated" char siu seems to have exceeded Deathstroke's perception capabilities.

According to the message Deathstroke conveyed to Jiang Jin, this "contamination" seems to originate from a deeper curse within the Lost Layer, far exceeding the level of the Mysterious Layer. Of course, Jiang Jin cannot be completely certain, but this is likely the meaning Deathstroke conveyed.

Is the lost layer deeper?

Jiang Jin could hardly believe it.

Judging from the village rules, the blue-clad female ghost and the red-clad female ghost seem to be different states of the same female ghost. And according to the content of the village rules, the red-clad female ghost is even more terrifying! If this blue-fat char siu originates from the "contamination" curse of the blue-clad female ghost, then what about the red-clad female ghost? Surely she's not in the Annihilation Layer???
Are you kidding me? This is a newbie trial dungeon! The appearance of ghosts originating from the Lost Layer should be the limit, how could it possibly involve the Annihilation Layer? That's impossible!

That can't be... that can't be...

Jiang Jin still remembers the shiver he felt when he saw those two hands, a fear akin to an animal's instinctive dread of its predator. He swallowed hard and said, "I... I just saw... that corner counter..."

“You are safe for now,” the boss said. “Sharks are the embodiment of slaughter in the ocean, but on the beach, even a small child can easily dodge their attacks, and it is not difficult for an adult to subdue one.”

Clearly, he was using the metaphor of the "Lost Layer" as the deep sea and the "Mysterious Layer" as the beach.

Although the beach is close to the sea, sharks jumping onto the beach no longer pose much of a threat to you.

Although the corner kitchen counter is still in its original position, in this instance, he and the female ghost are on the beach and at sea, respectively.

Jiang Jin gritted his teeth. He remembered what the boss had just said: he bet he would die in the Lost Layer in 5 minutes!
He could hide on the beach for now, but the problem was... he had to complete the soul-suppressing ritual. This ritual was most likely related to the female ghost, so he would still have to dive into the deep sea and face the megalodon!

“Boss, I was too arrogant just now.” Jiang Jin bowed respectfully to the boss. “Please teach me the knife skills to butcher a shark! Also… that premium char siu pork from earlier… I’d like to know, could you sell it to me? Or, is there any other task you need me to complete for you?”

Now that I think about it carefully, that so-called premium char siu pork was indeed much more delicious! And eating just one piece actually restored 6% of my SAN value! Isn't that a healing food?!
The boss nodded and said, "Come here, I'll tie an apron for you so you don't get covered in grease later. Whether it's knife skills or the premium char siu, you can learn by yourself later. I'll only teach you once."

Jiang Jin walked up respectfully. He was actually grateful to the boss for making him realize his current weakness. His previous achievements were almost entirely due to external aids; relying solely on himself was nothing, even in the Mysterious Layer!
After tying an apron on Jiang Jin, the boss picked up a perfectly good piece of char siu, placed it on the cutting board, and said, "Give me the knife first, and I'll demonstrate for you."

Jiang Jin respectfully handed the boning knife to the shop owner.

“Wait a minute, boss,” Jiang Jin suddenly said, “I have one last question.” “What?”

Jiang Jin looked at the pieces of char siu with blue veins: "Is that really... char siu? I mean, that..."

“I swear to Wong Tai Sin,” the owner said, a cigarette dangling from his lips, “that’s 100% pork. And normally, there shouldn’t be this kind of fat. But when I cut the meat, sometimes I don’t cut it perfectly, and that’s how you get char siu with blue stripes.”

"You said this was 'contaminated'..." Jiang Jin still couldn't forget what these blue-veined char siu looked like to him in the Lost Layer...

“Pollution is everywhere in this village. Okay, I told you, I don’t offer consulting services.”

The boss took the knife, made a light cut on the meat on the cutting board, and the char siu meat separated like silk, with the tendons inside clearly visible.

"Look carefully, when cutting meat, you can't think about 'chopping', but rather how to 'separate' it."

With a slight turn of his wrist, the blade traced the texture of the flesh, each cut precisely avoiding the fascia. The chunks of meat beneath his blade... were like pieces of a disassembled jigsaw puzzle.

The meat was cut perfectly, with extremely clean cuts, clearly demonstrating the skill of a master knife worker.

Obviously, this is not something that can be learned overnight.

Jiang Jin took the knife and tried to imitate the boss's technique.

With the first cut, the meat was slashed crookedly, the tendons broke, and the meat became loose.

"You used too much force." The shopkeeper shook his head. "I told you, don't think about chopping, but about cutting. This knife isn't an axe; you have to follow its 'qi' (energy/spirit)."

Jiang Jin took a deep breath and tried again.

At this moment, four or five people have gathered at the entrance of this alley.

Ah Hui pursed her lips and said to the men beside her, "Everyone saw him go to Chen's Roast Meat twice, and he still hasn't come out..."

"I heard from Uncle Jiang at the general store that he wants to buy a sharpened knife? What does he want to do?" A man in a black cloth shirt said, "Five years ago, Kowloon Walled City was demolished, and two years ago, those British devils packed up and ran away. Now, the gangs in Kowloon have either left or scattered. Are there still people coming to our village to play around?"

"Who knows? Enough with the nonsense." One of the men drew his pistol. "Who cares where he's from? The gun's got a silencer on. When he comes out of the alley, we'll kill this bastard and throw his body into the pond!"

“I said…” Ah Hui nervously advised, “Fourth Brother, why don’t we grab him first and ask him what’s going on? Maybe there’s someone behind him? This isn’t the era of the foreigners anymore. The officers aren’t called the Royal Police anymore. Should we keep a low profile?”

“Ah Hui has a point,” the man called Fourth Brother checked the gun’s magazine again. “If this bastard doesn’t talk, we can send him to meet the King of Hell later!”

"Fourth Brother," the man in the black shirt said, "if he were really thrown into the pool, do you think... he could still make it to the underworld smoothly? I'm afraid he'd haunt the place and live there forever, wouldn't he? This village is no different from the underworld or the gates of hell!"

(End of this chapter)