LRAB Chapter 378 The Eight-Headed Serpent Arrives
Chapter 378 The Eight-Headed Serpent Arrives
The four of them dawdled and slowly made their way to the four windows under the north wall, where they each stood.
Teruo Tsuruga stood in front of window number one, while the other three guarded windows number two, three, and four respectively.
Everyone looked tense, their eyes filled with apprehension.
The window remained shrouded in thick darkness, like a bottomless maw ready to devour anyone at any moment.
Soon, four hands reached out from the dark window—
The hand was as pale as paper, with bluish-gray fingertips, long and sharp nails, and the skin was covered with fine wrinkles, devoid of any life.
Each pair of hands held a bowl of vegetarian noodles.
The noodle soup was clear, with a few bright green vegetables floating on top, looking quite ordinary.
Yet, against the backdrop of those pale, ghostly hands, an eerie chill emanated from them, utterly extinguishing any appetite.
The four of them exchanged a glance, and saw fear and despair in each other's eyes.
"Stop dawdling! Hurry up and get it! Don't waste time!"
A hoarse, dry curse came from deep inside the window, like a broken gong scraping bone, sending chills down one's spine.
It was as if if they had been a second slower, they would have been dragged into the darkness by the window.
The four of them were so frightened that they didn't dare to hesitate any longer. They carefully reached out their hands, trying to avoid the pale ghostly hands with their fingertips, and quickly picked up the bowls of noodles in front of them.
The four of them, carrying bowls of noodles, walked heavily back to table number 44 and sat down in turn.
Zhaixintang fell silent once again.
All the chosen ones held their breath, their hearts pounding in their throats.
Everyone knew very well that one of the four people would eventually succumb to the poison.
This is certain.
What remains uncertain is who the person who died was.
What's even more suffocating is that everyone knows deep down that this meal could be someone else's death sentence, and the next meal might be their own.
This nagging fear, this agonizing uncertainty, drew everyone's attention to the four bowls of vegetarian noodles—
It was as if those weren't noodles, but four face-down cards, and the moment they were revealed, one had to stake their life.
Xia Ning's gaze swept over the four of them, and she urged them coldly, "Eat quickly, don't waste time!"
Teruo Tsuruga held the bowl of noodles, his fingertips trembling slightly. The noodle soup in the bowl swayed gently, reflecting his distorted and fearful face.
He subconsciously looked at the other three people, who were also looking at him with eyes full of hesitation and despair.
After a few seconds of stalemate, the thin man from Java was the first to pick up his chopsticks with trembling hands, grab a noodle, and slurp it into his mouth with tears in his eyes.
"Lord, help me..." he prayed softly, the last syllable swallowed by sobs.
The other two also picked up their chopsticks and swallowed a mouthful of noodles with pained expressions.
Teruo Tsuruga became the last one.
He knew that dawdling any longer would only anger Xia Ning, so he immediately took a deep breath, picked up a noodle, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it haphazardly a few times, and swallowed it hastily.
He closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and murmured in a trembling voice:
"It wasn't me... It definitely wasn't me... I've had enough bad luck these past few years, it's time for my luck to change... Namo Amitabha Buddha, God, Buddha, wish you happiness..."
Time passed by, and the Zhaixin Hall was so quiet that you could hear everyone's heartbeats.
About a minute and a half later, Teruo Tsuruga suddenly froze, and the chopsticks in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter".
His face suddenly turned bluish-purple, and his eyes widened so much that his eyeballs almost bulged out of their sockets.
The intense pain caused his body to convulse, and a strange "hoarse" sound came from his throat, as if something was blocking his throat, making it impossible for him to breathe.
"Poison...it's poisonous..."
He roared with his last ounce of strength, his eyes filled with despair and resentment.
Then his body convulsed violently and he fell silent, his eyes still wide open, frozen in extreme fear.
A suppressed commotion instantly erupted inside Zhaixintang.
Someone covered their mouth and couldn't stop dry heaving.
Some people were so frightened that they closed their eyes tightly, unable to look at the corpse any longer.
Some people turned pale and bit their fingers in terror.
Others remained calm and composed throughout, watching everything with expressionless faces.
Just then, a cold and majestic voice resounded simultaneously in the minds of all the chosen ones and on the strange tales livestream channel:
[Illustrated Announcement: Teruo Bald Kawa, the Chosen One of the Cherry Blossom Country, has been eliminated.]
[The punishment for the ghost stories will soon descend upon the entire Sakura Kingdom:]
On the night of the 15th of each lunar month, the shadow of the Yamata no Orochi will emerge from a crack in the earth's ley lines somewhere in the Land of Cherry Blossoms.
[The shadow materialized, reaching a length of 300 meters, with eight heads and eight tails, and indiscriminately attacked the citizens of the Sakura Kingdom.]
[PS: Human weapons are ineffective against Orochi.]
The live stream chat exploded instantly, with a flood of comments pouring in.
"Wow, once a month? That's more punctual than Aunt Flo!"
"Yamata no Orochi: I've heard that you people of the Cherry Blossom Country have worshipped me for thousands of years? Then I won't be polite."
"On the fifteenth of every month, the night of the full moon, a giant serpent descends to earth, and the buffet begins."
"Yamata no Orochi: I heard your modern weapons are pretty awesome? Sorry, I'm from the mythology department."
"I'm not from Japan, is it okay if I go to the event and do a live stream?"
........................
Xia Ning gave a wink to the two black-clad stewards behind her.
The two black-clad deacons stepped forward expressionlessly, one on each side, and grabbed Teruo Tuchuan's feet, dragging his cold corpse toward the door of the Saishin-do.
During the dragging, Teruo Tsurugi's head rubbed against the ground, leaving a faint bloodstain.
Once Teruo Tuchuan's body had completely disappeared through the doorway, Xia Ning slowly spoke:
"The poison testing phase is over. Window number one is the poison window for this test."
"Please line up in order to receive your meals, avoiding window number one. Enjoy your meal."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xia Ning glanced at Lin Feng, intentionally or unintentionally.
Lin Feng happened to be looking at her as well.
Their eyes met, and Xia Ning's lips curled up almost imperceptibly, as if she were smiling.
She then withdrew her gaze, turned around, and calmly left Zhaixin Hall.
The tense nerves of the crowd relaxed a little, and long queues gradually formed in front of windows number two, three, and four.
Everyone moved quickly when getting their food, carefully avoiding the pale, ghostly hand reaching out from the window with their fingertips. After taking the bowl of noodles, they hurriedly lowered their heads and left, not daring to look at it for a second.
Lin Feng and his three companions successfully collected their food and returned to table number 56 to take their seats.
Dave glanced down at the plain noodles in his bowl—a thin broth with a few forlorn greens floating on top—and couldn't help but frown and mutter:
"That's it? Not even a piece of meat. The food in this crappy place is terrible."
Vassim picked up his chopsticks expressionlessly, without saying a word.
Lin Feng leisurely took out a bottle of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce from his spatial storage, unscrewed the cap, and picked up a small amount with his chopsticks and put it into the noodles.
The fermented black beans also contain dried beef. When mixed into the noodles, the aroma is instantly irresistible, making one's appetite whetted.
Dave swallowed hard, staring longingly at the bottle of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce: "Brother Lin Feng... could you spare some to try?"
Lin Feng nodded: "No problem."