abnabooks Chapter 57 Dirty Butcher, what do you do for a living?
Chapter 57 Dirty Butcher, what do you do for a living?
"You're strolling around the wedding and funeral parlor when you notice it's decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, as if a happy occasion is happening. You realize that this is a ghost bride busy preparing for her wedding."
A resident of the wedding and funeral city walks towards you, extends his hand, and asks for a "lucky money" gift. He says it's a tradition in the wedding and funeral city that you have to give money to everyone you meet.
"How do you plan to respond? Will you open your pocket and show him that you don't have a penny? Or will you pretend to take out money and quickly turn and run away? Or will you take out a frying pan and hit him on the head, scolding him for such unethical behavior? Or will you try to get some clues out of him?"
After entering the game, Chen Fu was directly teleported to the Wedding City. The one who tied the knot must untie it; to solve the problem of the ghost bride, he had to start here.
But to his surprise, he encountered people asking for money as soon as he arrived.
After upgrading his skills, Chen Fu didn't have much money left for amulets and didn't know how much to give. But thanks to the power of the Three Realms Coroner, he saw many options.
After thinking for a moment, Chen Fu chose the fourth option, hoping to obtain some clues.
"The citizens of the City of Weddings and Funerals tell you that the City Lord is preparing for a wedding ceremony. In addition to the local demons and monsters, he has also invited various great gods and deities from the Hu'e region to participate. Furthermore, unmarried young men and women in the City of Weddings and Funerals can also participate and share in this grand event."
"Furthermore, due to the customs of the wedding and funeral city, every wedding will inevitably lead to a funeral. So many people have died these past few days, and General Sedan is almost overwhelmed with work. He's running himself ragged trying to transport all the bodies."
After the city resident finished speaking about weddings and funerals, he held out his hand to you, asking you to give him a tip.
Chen Fu still had 350 amulet coins on him, and he took out 50 and handed them over.
The city resident happily accepted the reward money, saying that you were a really good person and that he had never seen so much money before. He added that if there was anything else he wanted to know, he could ask you.
"Chosen One, what do you intend to do? Are you going to inquire about the specific steps of the wedding ceremony from the citizens, or simply turn around and wander around elsewhere?"
"Of course, this is a matter to inquire about," Chen Fu immediately chose the first option.
"The marriage ceremony was set by the ghost bride herself. Not only did each wedding party have to offer hastily made wedding dresses and red candles, but the funeral parties also had to provide enough coffins and white banners. For both a wedding and a funeral, there could be no deviation."
"As the Ghost Bride's most capable assistant, the Crying and Laughing Spirit Officer will remember the offerings of every household clearly. Those who make sufficient offerings will receive an auspicious marriage certificate on the day they marry the Ghost Bride, and will be free from illness and disaster for three years after the marriage. Those who make meager offerings will not only fail to receive an auspicious certificate, but will also have to give way to others when their wedding sedan chair crosses a bridge, and will be plagued by bad luck for three years."
"The city's residents say that these are all things that the Laughing and Crying Spirits did on their own initiative. As for whether the ghost bride knows about it, he is not sure. But if this trend continues, the entire city will have to give up everything they have."
"The wedding party took out the dowry money from the bottom of the chest and exchanged it for red cloth, while the funeral party offered the coffin wood they had prepared for themselves. The people of both parties were afraid that if they were slow in offering their sacrifices, the ghost bride would be unhappy. Afterwards, they betrothed their unmarried children to the bones that had been soaking in the river for who knows how many years."
"Didn't you see how many more people are lining up to redeem their pawned items at the Yin-Yang Sedan Chair Inn today? Those personal jewelry pieces that have been pawned for years are now being redeemed with gritted teeth, so they can exchange them for a few feet of redder silk and a few sticks of whiter candles to offer at the grand ceremony."
"Thanks to these families who sincerely made offerings, the ghost bride was able to marry in style on the day of her marriage, wearing a phoenix coronet and embroidered robe. After she was married and the debts were collected, the people of the two neighborhoods could finally rest easy. After all, on that day, the double happiness characters pasted on their windows and the white banners hanging under their eaves had to be of the full weight, and no one dared to be short even a penny."
When Chen Fu was reading the beginning, he thought the ghost bride was focused on preparing for the wedding, but the more he read, the more he felt something was wrong.
How come the ghost bride only said one sentence, and everyone below looked like they were about to be skinned alive?
Especially that crying and laughing spirit official, who seemed like a landlord who used this incident to exploit the poor.
Did the ghost bride intend these things, or did the Laughing and Crying Spirit Master do them on his own initiative?
Chen Fu decided to investigate in this direction, hoping it might solve the problem of the ghost bride wanting to marry him.
We're not saying you can't have a grand wedding, but if it's done under the guise of extortion, that would be really bad.
As a model socialist youth, Chen Fu didn't want things to turn out this way. Besides, he also felt there was something fishy going on.
"The ability of a coroner in the Three Realms has been triggered."
"After you finished talking to this city resident, you watched him walk into a small alley. Not long after, you heard arguing coming from inside."
"When you went inside to investigate, you only found a few figures hurriedly leaving, and a corpse lying on the ground. The corpse was now unrecognizable, and its soul was floating beside it, staring at its body with a look of grief and indignation. When it saw you coming, it explained the situation to you."
"This man is the same citizen you were talking to earlier. He said that after parting ways with you, he encountered the servants of the Laughing-Crying Spirit. This group demanded offerings from him, and after the citizen gave them, they were still not satisfied and ordered him to give something else. The citizen argued back, and as a result, he was beaten to death by the servants of the Laughing-Crying Spirit."
"He also said that you should find a booklet on his body that records in detail the offerings made to the Laughing and Crying Spirit. This might be useful to you."
"You have obtained the offering ledger."
"You discovered in the ledger that, in addition to demanding wedding gifts from the entire city for the ghost bride, the Laughing and Crying Spirit Official also possessed many other items such as gunpowder, fuses, armor, and controlled knives..."
"This is not something that can be used for a wedding. Perhaps the Laughing and Crying Spirit Officer wants to use the ghost bride's wedding to do something else for personal gain."
"Chosen One, what are you going to do? Will you wait patiently for the wedding in three days and marry the ghost bride? Or will you follow the clues to see what the Laughing and Crying Spirit is up to? Or perhaps you should pretend you know nothing and wait for things to develop?"
There's definitely something going on here.
Chen Fu thought to himself, "The servant of the Crying and Laughing Official is too domineering. They clearly gave him money, but he was still not satisfied. He only argued a few times before killing him."
What kind of gangster behavior is this?
Chen Fu did not stand idly by. Although he had no connection with this citizen and had no feelings for him, he obtained the account book through the citizen and learned that the Crying and Laughing Spirit was not right. This was likely a clue, and perhaps he could use it to change the ending of marrying the ghost bride.
If it doesn't have a significant impact, Chen Fu certainly wouldn't mind having another wife, but if it requires him to give up his status as a chosen one, then that's absolutely impossible.
To be able to play "Black Myth: The Book of Past Events," the status of a Chosen One is the most basic guarantee. Losing that status might result in being disqualified from the game, which would be a real loss.
"Let's see what kind of plot developments will occur before deciding whether to continue..." Chen Fu thought silently, choosing to follow the clues and investigate further.
"You found the home of this city dweller who was involved in the wedding and funeral by following the offering ledger. It was a bungalow next to the Yin-Yang knife and chopping board shop. When the city dweller's wife and children saw you, they all realized something and burst into tears."
"After a moment, they calmed down and told you that death is a very common thing in the City of Wedding Burial, but it is not acceptable to just die like this. They are preparing to take revenge. If you are willing to provide help, they will give you some clues about the relationship between the Laughing and Crying Spirits so that you can get what you want from them."
This triggered a quest, and Chen Fu immediately chose to offer his help.
"The citizen's wife tells you that if you want to help them, you must obtain the ancestral Yin-Yang knife from the dirty butcher at the Yin-Yang knife shop. Only this knife can cut through the flesh of the servants of the Laughing and Crying Spirits. Bring the knife to them, and they will give you clues."
It's simple. To put it bluntly, it's just about finding the props. No matter what method you use, just get the items.
Chen Fu immediately chose to go to the Yin-Yang Knife Shop to try and bring the knife out.
"Yin-Yang Knife Shop, a pig slaughtering stall run by a dirty butcher to supply red and white meat."
"The dirty butcher warmly welcomed you, asking if it was a wedding or a funeral. You didn't know how to answer for a moment, but the dirty butcher didn't find it suspicious and invited you to sit inside. He said it didn't matter whether it was a wedding or a funeral, you'd have meat soon, and then he turned around to sharpen his knife."
"You try to take this opportunity to find the Yin-Yang Blade, but you discover that it is being sharpened by a dirty butcher. Suddenly, you feel a chill on your neck, and your vision drops."
"The power of your vows within the patchwork robe was quickly depleted, and you were beheaded."
"You are dead."
Chen Fu thought to himself, "You're treating me like meat! So you're not selling things, but processing them? You're buying myself, aren't you?"
It's not a big deal. He still has many skills he hasn't used yet, so dying once won't have much of an impact.
I'll overturn your stall in a minute. Selling pork? You'd better eat shit!
"The mountains are silent, activate."
"You came back to life, which surprised and delighted the dirty butcher. He said he had never seen anyone like you before. He said that delivering meat once was not enough, and he was thinking of delivering it a second time. He praised you as a very good person."
The game text remained sarcastic and mocking, finding various ways to taunt him. Chen Fu pretended not to see it, changed his sitting posture, and waited for the subsequent text to be generated.
"Faced with a menacing butcher, what do you plan to do? Will you pull out a frying pan or other tools and fight him for three hundred rounds? Or will you kneel down and beg for mercy? Or will you reveal your purpose, saying you'll borrow his knife and return it someday? Or will you turn around and run away, looking for a suitable opportunity to come back again?"
With four options in front of him, Chen Fu chose option one, following his previous thought.
He could handle even Maitreya's pursuit with ease, so there's no reason he couldn't beat a pig butcher.
"You pulled out a frying pan and slammed it against the dirty butcher, whose fat jiggled three times."
"You put on the Yin-Yang mask and observed that the filthy butcher was emanating black energy, a sign that he was doomed to die. Your confidence immediately soared."
Chen Fu's eyes lit up after reading it.
Since obtaining the Yin-Yang Mask, he had only tried it once in the initial stage. It wasn't very useful in actual combat, so he had never used it before.
I never imagined that I could now judge an opponent's condition by observing their aura, similar to seeing a "health bar" and knowing how many more hits it would take to finish them off.
This is a really good thing.
"You took out the human seed bag, intending to put the filthy butcher into it, but at the critical moment, the filthy butcher, despite being dizzy, swung his knife at you."
"In your dying moments, the butcher unleashed unprecedented power, his blade flashing as he slashed toward your face. Fearing injury, you instinctively dodged, causing the direction of your sac to shift, and the butcher avoided the suction."
"You knew that it was unwise to force a fight with the other party inside the store, so you seized the opportunity to run towards the door, hoping to find another opportunity in an open area."
"The dirty butcher quickly gave chase, but instead of fighting you again, he shouted for help from the neighbors."
"The Red and White Maidens came upon hearing the commotion, the funeral parlor's matron brought out her ancestral candle beads, the storyteller craned his neck to look in this direction, and the owner of the Soul-Returning Wine Shop put down his wine cup."
"Chosen One, do you realize that if you continue attacking the Butcher, it could very well provoke a joint attack from others? Would you like to leave now and come back later?"
Chen Fu clicked his tongue, thinking to himself, "Where did you learn this habit of calling for help when you can't win?"
As can be seen from the game text, after becoming a coroner in the Three Realms and raising his level to 4, Chen Fu would be able to fight against anyone in the mortal world, unless he was ambushed, such as the current Butcher.
But the other side isn't stupid; even when they can't beat them, they know to call for backup, which makes things a bit tricky.
Chen Fu was confident he could handle one dirty butcher, but he was still a little apprehensive about the others.
As the saying goes, two fists can't beat four hands; if surrounded, he would surely die again.
He thought for a moment and prepared to leave as suggested, but before he could make a choice, he saw the game text begin to be generated automatically.
"Chosen One, you don't seem to understand that there can be no hesitation in the midst of a battle. Your hesitation gave the dirty butcher an opportunity, and he swung his knife at you repeatedly."
"You are dead."
"Ah~ This death should teach you something, but who can you blame?"
"You have arrived at the Earth God Temple in the City of Weddings and Funerals."
Chen Fu's eyes widened, inwardly cursing the game as trash. "I haven't even thought it through, and you've already made the decision for me? You damn lackey!"
Unconvinced, he took out the Spiritual Essence Treasure Cicada and touched it. The physical punishment immediately disappeared, and he went to the Yin-Yang Knife Shop again.
Come on, I'm not only got several lives, but I'm also very strong. Let's see what tricks you have up your sleeve this time.
"Your reappearance instilled some fear in the dirty butcher. This time, he didn't try to be brave; instead, he immediately called for help."
"The girl in red and white draped the dyed cloth over your head, immediately affecting your vision. The funeral matron placed a candle in front of you, and your three souls and seven spirits began to become confused. The storyteller kept chanting sentences to you, and you felt extremely tired. The owner of the Soul-Returning Wine Shop did not do anything, but simply gently handed you a cup of wine."
"Through the Yin-Yang mask, you used the different colored auras to vaguely see the situation, took out the Human Race Bag, and aimed it at the auras of different colors."
"After a series of howls and wails, your condition improved. When your vision cleared again, you found that there was no one in front of you. All the targets you had attacked had vanished without a trace."
"Especially that dirty butcher, who had already run away when his accomplices launched the attack, leaving only the pork in front of the stall laughing and crying, not knowing who he was mocking."
"Chosen One, you realize that forcibly taking the Yin-Yang Blade might not work, but that's alright! You still have time, why not try other methods?"
Hey, these guys are really cunning. They know how to run away when they can't win. They have no heroic spirit at all!
Chen Fu was helpless, but he could accept the result. Anyway, he could continue playing the game and come back again in a while.
Since we can't take it by force, let's use our wits. Can't someone with an IQ of 180 outsmart a pig butcher?