Chapter 40 – Esophagus 12

Xu RenDong woke up inside the elevator.

The silver-white body of the elevator shone with cold metallic light. Two shadows, whose bodies have not yet shrunk, were reflected. They stood side by side and Xu RenDong heard the familiar voice speak.

“I want to eat aorta..”

Xu RenDong’s eyes were wet. He stared at Lian Qiao and his voice slightly dumb: “Okay.”

Lian Qiao who was reciting the names of all the dishes he wanted to eat was taken aback when he heard these words: “Brother RenDong, what’s wrong with your eyes? They’re so red.”

Xu RenDong shook his head: “It’s nothing, I just suddenly felt that I’m really a rookie.”

Lian Qiao suddenly panicked, “Ah? Why would you..”

Xu RenDong interrupted him: “Don’t call me ‘Big Boss’ again. I’m just an ordinary person.”

Lian Qiao said piously: “But you are a big boss who has cleared many instances..”

Xu RenDong did not hesitate: “I was just tricking you.”

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Lian Qiao opened his eyes wide and said, “Ah???”

Xu RenDong smiled and changed the subject: “How come your clothes got bigger?”

Lian Qiao looked down and began to yell as his body shrank.

It is the third time that Xu RenDong? has experienced that which Conan experienced. {Anime Detective Conan.}?There was no fluctuation inside his heart and he even wanted to eat hotpot aorta too. But he still put on a look of surprise to demonstrate that he was indeed an ordinary person and had no idea something like this would happen.

By the time the two were reduced to the size of children, Lian Qiao still couldn’t accept the reality that Xu RenDong wasn’t a bigwig. But this didn’t prevent him from following Xu RenDong.

On the way to the monastery, Xu RenDong compiled the information he had so far in his heart.

First of all, the hint of the word “esophagus” refers to the tragic woman Lamia from Greek mythology. She was cursed by Queen Hera because of her affair with Zeus into becoming a monster that eats children. And because of Zeus’s mercy, she could only fall asleep when she took off her eyes to enjoy a moment of peace.

Lamia is also the executor of the death condition. There were two conditions that triggered death. One was drinking milk powder. The milk flavor will attract Lamia but if the baby is killed, Lamia will go crazy and kill everyone present with sound waves. It can be speculated that the baby was not a player but a “prop” that existed in this world. As for how the baby prop should be used, he still had no clue.

The exit elevator to escape from this world of ghosts has been found. It was right in the cave where Lamia was hiding. But the critical elevator button still hadn’t dropped and this was the last puzzle left.

Including the secret cave, the entire monastery has been explored. So was there some? special task that needed to be completed first before the button would drop?

Xu RenDong recalled that in the previous world, the elevator button was obtained by? smashing the smallest doll with the hammer of Brother Sledgehammer. However, in this world, the NPC did not give them any task hints. It seems that there were other secrets hidden in this monastery.

As he sorted through his thoughts, Xu RenDong’s heart gradually became clearer. He already had an idea about the action plan this time.

They arrived at the monastery gate for the third time. As always, the old nun appeared and scolded them. Ye QingLiu was standing within the team with the baby in her arms. Her eyes were full of curiosity as if she was more curious about this ghost world than scared.

The little fat kid again asked to abandon the baby. This time Xu RenDong took the initiative to stand out and say: “This baby is not a teammate but a prop.”

The little fat kid glared at him in a displeased manner. “What evidence do you have for saying that?”

Xu RenDong: “No evidence, just my guess. You can believe it or not.”

The little fat kid: “..”

Xu RenDong stretched out his hands: “If you don’t want it, just give it to me.”

The little fat kid looked at Xu RenDong. The cogs in his brain turned and he immediately changed his tune. He said, “No, no. I was wrong brother, I was too impulsive. After all, I’ve never encountered any world that used living people as props.” His eyes looked at Xu RenDong with a little flattery. “Brother, can I ask how many times have you come in?”

Xu RenDong calmly lied: “This is my first time.”

The little fat kid is not stupid. He knew this was an obvious lie. His face suddenly changed and his fleshy skin twitched visibly. He noticed Xu RenDong’s hostility so he no longer took the initiative to woo him. He just hugged the baby tightly in his arms and said with a smile: “Okay. Then I will hold onto this baby. You are too small and I’m afraid if you hold it, you won’t be able to move.”

Xu RenDong: “Oh, okay. Then you work hard.”

Little Fatty: “???” So easy?

How come he felt like he’d fallen into a trap?

Xu RenDong’s idea is also very simple. Anyway, as long as this baby is fed he won’t cry so whoever holds it is all the same. He can save a bit of energy by handing him over to the little fat kid. As for the others, they couldn’t figure him out. They thought that this beautiful and rude boy was too strange. You could say that he was mean but actually when he had discussions with you, he was very polite. But if you said that he was easy-going it didn’t seem right either, because he would sometimes speak and behave very arrogantly as if he is simply too lazy to talk nonsense with you.

Just when everyone was thinking about whether Xu RenDong was an enemy or a friend, Xu RenDong himself had walked into the monastery without looking back.

Even though Lian Qiao had doubts in his heart, he didn’t ask much but only obediently followed Xu RenDong. Everyone was silent for a while and then Ren GaoFei, the tallest boy in the team, said: “Everyone be careful. This person..”

He sighed and didn’t finish his sentence as if he didn’t quite know how to evaluate Xu RenDong. The little fat kid said: “This person is not simple.” He hugged the baby in his arms tightly.

The moon rose quickly and the children fell asleep in the room arranged by the old nun in the middle of the night.

This time, Xu RenDong did not leave the large group but also did not deliberately integrate with them. He didn’t bother to have a good relationship with Little Fatty and the others. He is already very tired and doesn’t want to bother about the messy interpersonal relationships. He just wanted to solve this puzzle quickly so he could leave this ghost world.

Then.. go have a barbecue with Lian Qiao.

Lying on the icy bed, Xu RenDong listened to the breathing of the children around him. He calculated the timing in his heart. When the children were all asleep, he tiptoed out of bed. Before leaving the room, he confirmed that the baby was also asleep. Then? he picked up the kerosene lamp he’d prepared in advance and quietly went to the first floor.

The cold of the night seeped into his skin. Xu RenDong touched his arm and found that he had goosebumps. At the same time, there was a turbulence inside his stomach and a feeling of anxiety surged to his throat.

So hungry.

Although the body has recovered to the best state when he first entered this world of ghosts, the hunger in the heart has not been alleviated. He must find something to eat. Besides, even if he could bear it, how about Lian Qiao and the baby? What about the little fat kid?

You can’t eat the milk powder. There is a lot of food hidden in Lamia’s cave but it is clear that stealing the food there will also alarm Lamia and cause her to launch a killing spree. So what should he do?

Xu RenDong recalled that Lian Qiao once tripped Lamia with a rope and used sand to make Lamia slide down the stairs. Although those tricks were not subtle, they were very effective.

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If it was Lian Qiao, what would he do?

Xu RenDong soon had a plan.

He first went to the kitchen on the first floor and made a small bottle of milk powder. The tempting aroma of milk quickly rose, almost filling the entire kitchen. He endured the twisting in his stomach and swallowing his saliva, quickly wrapped the bottle in his clothes and walked quickly toward the gate of the monastery.

This time he did not wait for the milk powder to cool because the milk powder was not for the baby. The milk powder brewed in boiling water was piping hot in his hands but was also particularly fragrant.

Xu RenDong went to the gate. Like the last time, a heavy giant lock hung on the rusty gate and it was chilling in the moonlight. Outside the monastery was still the thick fog. His field of vision was only one meter away and nothing could be seen beyond that.

Xu RenDong didn’t hesitate too much. He unscrewed the bottle cap and pierced the bottle using the iron gate railing. With a flick of his wrist, most of the bottle of milk powder was spilled onto the ground. He threw the baby bottle out and heard a crisp “ping” as the glass baby bottle fell to the ground. It rolled around a few times then came to a stop.

After dropping the baby bottle, he immediately ran back to the monastery and slid into the cupboard to hide himself. At this time, the whole body was still covered with cold dampness and night dew. Xu RenDong hugged himself in the dark cabinet, touched his stomach and prayed that it would not growl at a critical moment.

It didn’t take long for “patter patter” footsteps to sound in the large and empty living room. Lamia had appeared.

Through the crack in the cupboard door, Xu RenDong saw Lamia walking straight to the entrance. The milk bottle outside the iron gate was absolutely attractive to her. She didn’t stay long in the living room so naturally she did not find Xu RenDong. Xu RenDong waited inside the cabinet for a while until Lamia walked into the courtyard. Then he got out quietly.

When Lamia came to the big iron gate, she immediately found that the milk scent came from the bottle on the ground. But as Xu RenDong expected, her IQ was not enough to recognize that this was just a baby bottle and not a child so she still stretched out her arm from the gap in the railing, trying to reach the baby bottle on the floor of the other side.

The slender and pale arm looked like a wrinkled snake in the moonlight. Xu RenDong had calculated the position carefully and so the place where the milk bottle fell just exceeded the reach of Lamia’s fingers. No matter how hard Lamia stretched out her arms, her fingertips were always only a little short of the bottle. This made her particularly annoyed and instead squeezed her shoulders into the railing gap harder.

With her IQ, it is estimated that this problem will not be solved for a while. Xu RenDong was very confident about this.

So he stopped peeping and instead quickly went to the gray wall at the end of the corridor.

He found the chalk in advance. Since the old nun hadn’t taught them yet, the chalk was still long and whole. He held the chalk tightly in his hand and his hands were no longer trembling as he did last time. Xu RenDong calmly drew four horizontal and vertical white lines on the wall. With a slight noise, the rock door was pushed aside. The familiar dark cave appeared in front of him.

Xu RenDong took a deep breath. He raised the kerosene lamp and walked into the cave. The stone gate then closed like a giant beast behind him, opening its big black mouth and engulfing the little child.

While Xu RenDong was searching in a cave full of food with a small backpack, Lian Qiao was standing by the window in the children’s room on the second floor, looking out into the courtyard.

What was that white thing? It has long hands and feet and a thin body with a long snake tail behind him..

Many monsters with similar images appeared in Lian Qiao’s mind but he was not sure which was correct. That white thing was trying very hard to squeeze its body out of the gap in the railing. Even though its hands had stretched out so much, it still couldn’t reach the white round thing that was on the ground, reflected in the moonlight. It seems that that thing is very important to it.

But what was it exactly?

Lian Qiao narrowed his eyes. He stared at the thing for a long time and finally? came to the realization that it was a baby bottle. The milk bottle has been knocked over, and the white flowers on the ground were full of milk that was still steaming hot.

Lian Qiao thought for a moment then glanced back at the crib.

The baby was still sleeping soundly.

Lian Qiao suddenly understood something. He showed a surprised expression of realization. Immediately afterwards, he frowned again.