Salted Fish Zombie

Chapter 64.2: Flower Servant (12)

August 28, 2023 by Wyrd

  In the underground secret passage, within an iron cage resembling an auction venue, the cage slowly ascended, pulled by something.

On the highest floor of the Flower God’s temple, where the tallest level was, there were statues placed there.

As they passed the first floor, many players held their hearts, struggling to breathe. Only Ning Su held onto the iron bars, gazing in the direction of the statues.

After being pulled up several levels in the iron cage, they faced a dark iron door.

Before entering the Flower God’s temple, they had imagined this place, the most sacred in Furen County, to be clean and holy, but reality was different.

Upon seeing the dark hues of the Flower God’s temple and the terrifying statues that they couldn’t even look directly at, they should have guessed.

The place was dark, damp, and cold. Dark green vines decorated the black iron door, their carved paths contrasted with the untamed growth of moss and plants, accompanied by patches of red rust.

Yenan Wang was the first to step out of the iron cage. “The Holy Maiden is currently giving offerings below. I’ll take you there first. If you have any needs, just talk to the people in white robes.”

He slowly pushed open the heavy door, revealing the first things in sight: two rows of people in white robes.

They were particularly conspicuous under the dim light.

At the same time, an odd, fishy and rancid odor wafted over.

Inside the rooms, which resembled a hall, there was only one small circular window facing them. The sole source of light that filtered through was enveloped in dust and mist, dim and heavy.

In the hall of about five to six hundred square meters, there were compartments reminiscent of old-style bathhouses. Inside each compartment was a bed, upon which lay withered and emaciated flower attendants dressed in black.

The players silently followed Yenan Wang into the hall. As they observed these flower attendants one by one, their eyes widened, and their footsteps grew heavier.

There was something beyond pain and numbness in the eyes of these flower attendants.

They still remembered the appearance of that failed flower attendant from Boss Qi’s place. Here, that appearance was considered normal.

Have you seen blood vessel walls tinged with a pale purplish-white color, visible through a thin layer of skin, faintly trembling?

Even the tiny blood vessels on the eyeballs were prominent.

Zhu Shuangshuang also felt the soreness of her blood vessels, throbbing rhythmically, as if the blood vessels had developed an independent consciousness.

“Why this is the blood vessel’s color like this?” Zhu Shuangshuang’s voice was full of astonishment.

Ning Su: “When human blood vessels have no content or interference, they appear white.”

“No, no content?” Zhu Shuangshuang’s voice lowered, almost inaudible.

“Why is it moving?” she asked again, her voice hoarse.

This question, Ning Su couldn’t answer for the time being.

The players’ hearts were heavy, their blood vessels throbbing faintly in pain.

In addition to the originally purplish-white blood vessels, there were also delicate layers of skin overlaying red, green, and black veins beneath.

No player dared to venture further inside.

They knew they were going to face something terrifying in this eerie Flower God’s temple.

Zhu Shuangshuang stood still, pressing down on the blood vessels on her wrist, taking deep breaths.

“Hurry!” the person in white clothes shouted at them urgently. In the silence of the hall, the sudden sound was exceptionally loud and piercing, enough to make one’s heart leap in fear.

“Why is my heartbeat slow to recover?” Zhu Shuangshuang asked with steady breath.

Su Wangsheng replied, “It’s probably because we’re close to the statue.”

Ning Su suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Beside him, Zhu Shuangshuang and Su Wangsheng followed his gaze immediately. “Is that... Fang Qi?”

Sitting on a distant bed was a person dressed in the uniform black robe of this place, with long hair hanging down, and the blue veins on his face protruding prominently.

Along his middle finger, there was a raised blue vein. Beneath his nail, a thick, viscous liquid was present. This liquid formed a long strand, hanging without fully dropping. At the very end of the strand, a droplet of liquid gathered but had not yet fallen.

He had noticed them as well.

Or perhaps the curiosity in their eyes was too intense, for he opened his mouth and silently mouthed four words to them.

A faint blue tongue flickered in his mouth, twice in succession, and all three of them understood what he meant.

The Land of the God’s Birth.

What did it mean?

The Dark Swamp.

The Dark Swamp, a holy ground in Furen Country, known as the Land of the Sleeping God. But was also sometimes called the Land of the God’s Birth.

They all knew this, but what did Fang Qi’s reminder mean?

After passing this path, they encountered several black rooms, and from one of the rooms came the hoarse and desolate sounds of screams.

The cries were both mournful and resounding, as if the strength to struggle had already been exhausted, leaving behind a sense of despair and hopelessness.

Yet, it was more restrained than the wails born from intense agony.

Ning Su: “Dai Dong’s cries.”

The atmosphere grew heavier.

In the end, they were led into a dark room at the edge.

Yenan Wang: “Do not make a commotion here. Stay put. Once the worship below ended, and the Holy Maiden arrives, we can begin.”

He also hadn’t started anything yet.

In the room, there were a total of three native world flower attendants and six player flower attendants. After the person in white clothes shouted sternly ahead, no one dared to go out on their own, but they could chat freely.

“We, how do we serve flowers? How come we didn’t get any of the flowers?”

The one who spoke up was one of the two players in the courtyard who also had an idea of what was going on and had been very quiet.

He had been active with them before, but it was relatively rare for him to take the initiative to speak up like this.

Now he finally couldn’t hold back and spoke.

Terrifying figures lying on the beds.

The cries of pain and weeping from each room.

A mingling of a pungent and bitter scent in the air.

The impending unknown but heart-stopping conclusion.

The dark room festered and congealed into a suffocating depression.

He rubbed his foot on the ground.

The ground here was covered in gray slate, and on the damp ground, deep green moss crowded the gaps in the slate.

“If we are here at the Flower God’s temple to learn flower attending, then where are the flowers?”

This sentence, combined with the scene they had just arrived at, was like a horror story.

Zhu Shuangshuang forced a dry laugh. “Perhaps all the flowers are being cultivated in one flower room.”

This statement lacked a foundation, and its soothing effect was almost non-existent.

They had faintly realized something.

Zhu Shuangshuang also knew that what she said was like telling a not so funny joke. She changed the subject, saying, “Just now Fang Qi mentioned the Land of the God’s Birth? Why did he bring this up?”

Ning Su and Ning Changfeng sat side by side. From yesterday afternoon until now, they hadn’t exchanged a single word.

Even the greeting “brother” whenever they met was gone.

At this moment, Ning Changfeng also spoke, as if Ning Su wasn’t even there. He muttered to himself, “Strange.”

Su Wangsheng caught on, and he directly asked him, “What’s strange?”

Ning Su earnestly answered him, “In general, when a place is a sacred location, a very solemn place, it’s referred to as a holy land, or it might also have another distinct name.”

“The holy land of Furen County is called the Dark Swamp, also known as the Land of the Sleeping God, and it’s also referred to as the Land of the God’s Birth.”

Ning Su said, “Having multiple names is fine, but the Land of the Sleeping God and the Land of God’s Birth, aren’t they somewhat contradictory?”

Several people were stunned. Ning Changfeng lifted his eyelids and gazed toward Ning Su.

He sat to the right of the young man. He looked over and saw the young man’s slender and rugged profile. His peach blossom eyes drooped slightly at the corners, with high, straight eyebrows.

After moving to the Yenan family’s yard, he rarely looked at the other like this. A single glance was difficult to divert, and warning alarms of danger went off in his head whenever he did.

Indeed, dangerous.

Ning Changfeng withdrew his gaze.

He wanted to believe in the Flower God. As his faith deepened, he would always wait in front of the Flower God’s temple.

In his midnight dreams, he often woke up in a cold sweat, suddenly realizing he forgot he was a player and had a mission to complete.

Devout believers and mission-oriented players, these two roles were in conflict, but they could coexist.

Yet the young man could simultaneously be a believer and a player.

He devoutly believed in the Flower God and always understood what they should do in this instance - to capture key issues related to the mainline at any time.

Ning Changfeng knew how difficult it was to achieve this. Others who didn’t truly believe in the Flower God weren’t aware of the terror within.

“It seems like you really have some insight,” Zhu Shuangshuang said.

The Land of the Sleeping God and the Land of God’s Birth might not be directly related. Even while being nurtured, one could still sleep, but sleep and nurturing were somewhat contradictory in general terms.

She asked, “Is this what Fang Qi wants to remind us of?”

Su Wangsheng: “He only mentioned The Land of God’s Birth. What could be the significance?”

Su Wangsheng asked Ning Su: “What else do you know?”

Ning Su replied, “Hua Feng told me that the god statue originated from the Dark Swamp. Originally, it looked like this, but due to the mark of the divine, it gradually condensed into the appearance of a god.”

“This could be one of the reasons why the Dark Swamp became known as The Land of the Sleeping God.”

Zhu Shuangshuang added, “The believers in front of the Flower God’s temple also sensed the divine presence within the Dark Swamp. Nurtured by the essence of the god, sacred flowers blossomed—contributing to the name The Land of Sleeping God.”

Su Wangsheng inquired, “Then why is it also called ‘The Land of God’s Birth’ which is similarly ambiguous?”

Ning Su explained, “Perhaps both of these terms originally came from the same person.”

“I see,” Su Wangsheng realized, “So that’s how it makes sense. The people here gave this holy land different names based on their understanding, and later these names with slightly conflicting meanings spread.”

Zhu Shuangshuang concluded, “Everyone knows about the god’s statue and the sacred flowers, as well as the Land of the Sleeping God. But what about The Land of God’s Birth?”

The term ‘The Land of God’s Birth’ was initially known to only a few.

Su Wangsheng asked, “How was a god conceived? Aren’t sacred flowers the only ones born in the Dark Swamp?”

A sense of unease swept through the group, causing a moment of trembling.

Just then, the Holy Maiden and Yenan Wang returned.

Yenan Wang abruptly opened the door, and there stood the Holy Maiden in a black veil and black silk robe, her smile indiscernible, whether she had heard Su Wangsheng’s final words or not.

The whole room was dimly lit. She stood in black attire with red, runic symbols clearly displayed on it.

Ning Su narrowed his eyes and, in the midst of the darkness, caught sight of the red in her robe.

He had always thought those ancient and eerie symbols resembled twisted and intertwined blood vessels, and at this moment, they seemed even more so.

The Holy Maiden said, “We still have to worship the Flower God in the afternoon. After dealing with so much at noon, let’s prioritize. Which two should we start with?”

Excitedly, Yenan Wang pulled Ning Su and Ning Changfeng, nervously swallowing a gulp of saliva. “Let’s start with these two.”

The Holy Maiden’ gaze fell upon the two of them, laden with deep meaning. “The anticipation has been long.”

T/N: This whole conversaion was so darn hard to translate. So, I apologized if it's confusing. >_<