Carnivore (12): Sunlight

The scene before him was veiled in a faint crimson haze, its colors overturned into filthy clumps that spilled across the dim background.

Qi Si felt as though he had been split in two. One half coaxed him gently, whispering for him to stop resisting, sink into the depths, and obey his instincts;

the other half seemed to have left his body and risen above his head, frozen high in the sky as it looked down on his physical form. With cold amusement, it described the scene objectively.

You are trapped in a nightmare illusion. The smell of meat you sense is the stench of decay, and the soup you crave is made from a corpse oozing pus.

That lofty version of him spoke in a deliberately mysterious tone, like a god delivering a decree.

The Identity Card of the Humanoid Evil Spirit hung high above him, its red and black phantoms interweaving as they poured into his spirit.

In an instant, Qi Si locked eyes with a pair of scarlet eyes through layer upon layer of demons and specters. His memories came rushing back like a tide.

In last night's dream, a solemn voice had declared, "You are the fruit nurtured by the greatest malice in the world, burdened with the deepest sin fate could bestow..."

"For my sake, and for your own, kill all blasphemers. You will keep winning until you die on the stage where the finale is played..."

The words faded from his ears. In the distance, the scarlet scene shattered with a crash, like glass struck by a heavy blow, and turned into a rain of blood that poured down from the sky.

Qi Si remembered. He had been immune to hypnosis and illusions of all kinds for a long time, and had always been able to stay lucid in his dreams—if he wanted to.

He had built grand halls and pavilions in his dreams, and sketched the forms of dead friends and acquaintances. But he had known they were all fake, and had always coldly, teasingly dissected his own psyche from the sidelines...

For a long time, he hadn't liked it.

[Hidden effect of Identity Card "Lucid Dream" has been triggered. It cannot be activated again in this instance.]

[Note: Evil spirits do not dream. You are not human, so how could you escape pain the way humans do?]

A streak of blood-red light seemed to cleave through the chaotic darkness in the depths of his sea of consciousness. Reason took control once more.

The fear arose and vanished at once, before he could even savor it.

Hunched over, Qi Si let out a low laugh. "If I really put that thing in my mouth, I'd be so disgusted I'd kill myself on the spot... Compared to that, I think I'd rather stay alive."

A pungent, fishy stench hit him in the face. This was what the sticky liquid covering the ground had truly smelled like. Qi Si was glad he'd come to his senses in time and hadn't actually bitten into the tumor the village chief had become.

The meaty aroma had long since faded, leaving only the nauseating stench of pus. His consciousness gradually cleared under the multiple stimuli, and the chaotic images slowly settled.

The Identity Card in the upper right corner of his vision had faded considerably, its once-bright colors now dim.

Qi Si leaned against the doorframe. His brief loss of strength made it difficult to stand upright, and he could only use the wooden frame to support himself.

The other players were in worse shape. Yang Yundong, Zhao Feng, and Zhu Ling were sprawled limply on the ground. Fortunately, they were still conscious. Though saliva from their appetites hung at the corners of their mouths, none of them had actually put the slime in their mouths.

The Tattooed Woman and Zhang Licai couldn't help reaching for the slime on the ground, about to put it in their mouths. Their hands pushed and pulled in a frantic struggle, as if they were fighting against their own willpower.

Allen was already lying flat on the ground, greedily stretching out his tongue to lick the slime flowing across the surface. He gulped it down in great mouthfuls, his throat bobbing as he swallowed it whole.

Qi Si saw pus the color of flesh seeping from Allen's body, just like the surface of the tumor in the main house. Allen's limbs shriveled as if melting, gradually losing their original shapes until they became one with the slime on the ground.

Before long, only his upper body and head remained sprawled on the ground, his mouth still greedily gulping it down.

Noticing Qi Si watching him, he raised his head, his eyes full of confusion. "Why aren't you eating? Aren't you hungry?"

As he spoke, he slowly oozed toward Qi Si.

"I'm not hungry. If you're hungry, just quietly mind your own meal." Qi Si took a step back and made an ill-timed joke. "Though given your cultural background, your parents probably never taught you 'don't talk while you eat or sleep.'"

Allen didn't seem to understand much of what he said, and kept insisting, "Something this good is best when we eat it together..."

Qi Si pretended not to hear and continued scanning the area. "Haven't you noticed anything strange?"

Allen's head chuckled. "What's strange about it? It's delicious..."

He bent down and resumed eating the slime on the ground.

At the same time, seemingly aware that Qi Si was unaffected, clumps of flesh-colored slime gathered and surged toward the main house, creeping up over his heels.

The distant mansion's gate had closed at some point, and semi-solid slime had blocked the gaps. A thin film of flesh-colored slime covered every inch of ground in sight, writhing as it blocked every escape route he could think of.

Qi Si stayed almost coldly calm, silently looking around. Fragmented images and scenes flashed before his eyes like photo negatives.

—The canopy blocking out the sunlight, the main house's windows papered over, the tumor curled up on the bed...

—The villagers only came out at night...

The clues fell into place one by one. The answer was clear.

Qi Si noticed a huge window on the south side of the main house. It was sealed airtight with paper, but if he pushed hard at the center, it would be easy to break through.

And the south side faced the rising sun.

The moment his reasoning was complete, he acted. Qi Si snatched the Pu Saber from Yang Yundong, who was sprawled nearby, and threw it at the south-facing window behind the tumor.

He put all his strength into it. The Pu Saber became a gray blur as it shot toward the window frame. With a sharp crack, it punched a hole through the window, followed by the crash of shattering glass.

Pale sunlight shone in from outside. It was faint and weak, but it meant a glimmer of hope.

The once-dark, chilling main house was illuminated. The sunlight, cold and impartial, fell on every corner of the room, whether dim or polished, cluttered or pristine. Everything was bathed in its soft glow.

A piercing scream rang out, its high-pitched tail end quickly fading to human ears until it became a feeble moan.

The tumor-shaped village chief slumped like a balloon emptied of air, its flesh-colored surface quickly turning transparent. His half-melted face twisted into one expression after another, now angry, now afraid. His mouth, almost fused with his body, opened and closed as he muttered something.

Qi Si leaned closer and listened. He caught only one short sentence: "The God cursed us..."

He wanted to hear more of the village chief's last words, but the tumor had already melted completely into a pool of semi-transparent fluid. It glistened in the sunlight, while the shaded parts looked like white gel—just like the basin of God Meat Granny Su had served the night before.

Qi Si seemed to have thought of a novel joke, and the corners of his mouth lifted against his will.

He stepped forward, pulled the Pu Saber free from where it was lodged in the south-facing window, and casually cut into the gel the village chief had become. As expected, golden liquid seeped from the gash.

It was now certain that the village chief had completely turned into the God Meat the players needed—safe, clean, and edible.

Whether this was a good or bad outcome was hard to say, but it was certainly full of theatricality and humor.

Smiling, Qi Si carried the Pu Saber back to the entrance of the main house and saw Yang Yundong still sprawled on the ground.

The moment sunlight entered the mansion, the confusion caused by the tumor and slime abruptly stopped. The players' minds began to recover, though it would take a while for them to regain full control of their bodies.

In the vast mansion, Qi Si was the only one able to stand upright.

In other words, he now held these players' lives in his hands.

Realizing this, Qi Si lowered his eyes to the Pu Saber in his right hand. His left hand rested by his thigh, tapping idly against it.

He began to think it over in earnest.

If he killed everyone here, then went to Granny Su's mansion and killed Zhou Yilin, he would undoubtedly complete his deal with the God-level NPC. He would also trigger the Minimum Death Quota mechanic and clear the instance immediately.

But that would mean giving up on the instance's completion rating and its worldbuilding.

After all, once he became the sole survivor, the instance would directly guide the player into stumbling through the NE ending, and many deaths that contained clues would never be triggered.

The instance had four days left. There were plenty of mechanics that needed to be tested with human lives. Killing everyone here would be a waste.

Besides, he didn't know whether the veteran players on their third run through the instance had any tricks up their sleeves. If he pushed them into a desperate fight, he might lose more than he gained.

It took him only a second to think through every detail. Qi Si lowered his eyelids halfway to conceal the malice brewing in his eyes, then casually tossed the Pu Saber back beside Yang Yundong.

Under the sunlight, the gloom he'd worn earlier was gone, and his smile was bright. "Thanks for lending me your saber, Brother Yang. It worked great."

Yang Yundong caught the Pu Saber and let out a heavy breath. Cold sweat had soaked his back.

He raised his eyes to meet Qi Si's and hesitated for a long time, but in the end, he said nothing.