Salted Fish Zombie

The world seemed to have split into two scenes.

One was vibrant and colorful, with people cheering and worshiping, welcoming the auspicious light of the gods.

The other was dull and monochrome, where six people have their mouths stretched wide open, tongueless, and their anguished screams emanated from twisted facial muscles.

Players intuitively and profoundly felt the status of flower servants in this world.

They were treated worse than animals.

In many countries, laws and different associations protected animals, but the flower servants here didn’t have any.

They were harmed recklessly, and nobody cared or thought it’s wrong. In fact, everyone was cheering.

Zhu Shuangshuang couldn’t bear it anymore and said, “Let’s help them.”

Su Wangsheng replied calmly and coldly, “Boss Qi promised that woman that the fresh period will last for seven days. If we help them and they die, Boss Qi will choose two more, probably six flower servants for her, and there are still many players in the fourth water prison.”

Jia Chensheng added, “Su Wangsheng is right, we have to endure.”

But it was just too difficult to endure.

Su Wangsheng stood in front of her, and Zhu Shuangshuang turned her head away, not wanting to look anymore.

She turned her head and faced Ning Su. He looked at her with half-lowered eyelashes and slightly biting his lips, saying, “You have to adapt.”

Zhu Shuangshuang was momentarily stunned, looking up at him.

Ning Su remained indifferent, gazing at her with a slightly vacant expression.

She bit her lip and nodded firmly.

She indeed had to adapt; this was the theme of this dungeon world. There would be more scenes and events like this in the future.

Countless other dungeon worlds in the future would be the same.

They had both cleared two dungeon instances, so why could Su Wangsheng be so composed while she had to stand behind him?

Zhu Shuangshuang stepped to the side from behind Su Wangsheng and continued to observe the situation ahead.

After receiving the blessing of the Holy Maiden, eight men dressed in black carried vases and departed from the Flower God’s Temple, passing by those around them.

At close range, their conditions became clearer.

The closest among them was a “Flower Servant” with a head shaped like a bowl.

Jia Chensheng said, “I heard about a type of ‘flower’ with a cup-shaped head from the Flower Servant in our courtyard.”

They couldn’t recall what kind of flower corresponded to a “cup-shaped head”, but it seemed to be expressed by the shape of their heads.

Ning Su said, “There is a flower type called ‘austin rose’ which looks like a half-opened round cup when blooming.”

Zhu Shuangshuang, who often bought and received flowers, immediately thought of the type of flower he was talking about when he looked at the heads in the vases. It quickly made sense to her.

“How did you know?” Zhu Shuangshuang asked in puzzlement.

“Oh,” Ning Su said, “I learned about it when I bought flowers for Ah Fei the other day.”

He happened to buy a bouquet of ‘asters’ for Ah Fei before entering the instance.

At that time, he learned that even daisies were divided into “double petals” and “single petals,” and the double-petaled ones were named ‘asters’.

Back then, he thought it was cute to buy a bouquet of ‘asters’ for Ah Fei, but now it sounded a bit eerie in this instance.

Similarly, roses also had many varieties and types.

Ning Su wanted to bargain with the boss and intended to spend more time there to learn and try growing them himself, so he knew more about them.

The boss said that the Austin rose, in comparison, was more expensive and something he couldn’t afford.

Some of these flowers didn’t open well and needed manual assistance to bloom fully.

The “flowers” in front of their eyes had all been fully opened manually.

Jia Chensheng continued, “They say this type of ‘flower’ with the cup-shaped head can be reused. During the end of a ‘flower’s’ life, they can be used as a food offering by pouring oil into their brains.”

Thinking about that scene, a few players suddenly felt their heads ache and experienced an illusion of their brains twitching and shrinking.

Su Wangsheng looked at the cup-shaped person in the distance and said, “Can someone still live for seven days with a head opened up like that?”

Normally, with a skull opened up like this, one wouldn’t survive even a day.

Dai Dong said, “In this instance, it’s possible. This indicates that there must be powers beyond human capabilities in this world. It also shows that in this world, we players are truly insignificant.”

After that, the Holy Maiden received another offering they had heard of before: ‘Human Bookmark’.

“This year, Boss Wang gave us holy scriptures and human bookmark.”

“With a human bookmark, the grandeur of the ritual is unparalleled.”

“You don’t understand. Boss Wang claims to be the most cultured merchant in Furen County. He despises using money for such things, so he personally transcribed a set of holy scriptures.”

“That’s right. Don’t underestimate these holy scriptures and the human bookmark. I heard Boss Wang used the blood of five flower servants and took three whole months to complete the scriptures.”

To write an entire set of holy scriptures in three whole months, it must be quite extensive. It was also carried by the black-clad people to the entrance of the Flower God Temple.

A set of holy scriptures written using the blood of five flower servants was called the “Blood Scripture.”

The Blood Scripture was opened from the middle, and on the pure black, rigid paper with strange blood-red runes was a twisted and distorted human figure.

On it, a ‘human bookmark’ was affixed. The players couldn’t imagine how they turned a person into this type of ‘human bookmark’.

She still retained her original appearance, with her facial features and body in their natural state.

However, everything inside her body was gone.

Only skin and fine blood vessels remained thin and not quite dry, adhering firmly to the red paper with black writings.

Similar to the so-called human-shaped portraits on the holy scripture, it wasn’t like a holy book but rather an evil forbidden book because of the real human skin and blood runes.

The Holy Maiden’s fair, jade-like fingers lightly traced the blood runes, “Boss Wang put in a lot of effort.”

She clasped her hands together on her chest, raising them upward, saying, “May the Flower God bestow blessings.”

More and more people knelt in front of the temple. Upon hearing her words, they bowed their heads once again, mumbling something.

The surrounding onlookers clapped and cheered once more.

Zhu Shuangshuang couldn’t help but mutter, “What kind of god is this? A sinister god, perhaps.”

Back in the game hall, when she saw the ten-second preview video of this instance, she also thought the blooming flowers were beautiful.

Upon entering the instance, the first time she heard “Flower God”, she imagined a flower fairy, a bright and beautiful celestial being.

Now, it felt entirely different.

Ning Su made a sound of acknowledgement, completely focused on listening to the voices coming from the people kneeling in front of the temple.

The gifts presented to the Flower God, one after another, passed through the Flower God Temple—the Holy Maiden prayed for blessings, and the followers worshipped.

From morning until noon, numerous kinds of suffering were displayed before them, with death notifications following one after another.

The players witnessed various gruesome offerings, among which the most ordinary one turned out to be a hundred Flower God cakes.

After noon, they didn’t feel the slightest bit hungry.

Except for Ning Su.

But they couldn’t go back to eat now; even more players from different clans gathered in front of the Flower God Temple. It was a rare occasion with so many people, and they wanted to exchange information together.

Furen County had lakes everywhere, and the players gathered by one of the lakes to exchange information obtained from different clans.

The main topics of discussion were Holy Water and body modification.

“If we don’t drink or soak in it, what will be the consequences?”

“You can try not drinking it. Being a Flower Attendant sounds good, but essentially, you’re still a flower servant. What will happen to a disobedient flower servant?”

“I think we should accept the Holy Water.”

There were more players supporting this viewpoint.

“If this were just a method of one particular big family, it might not be trustworthy. But every family lets us soak in holy water, even Boss Qi has it. This indicates that it has become the consensus in the entire Furen County.”

“They all do it, so it must be a necessary measure to be recognized by the god.”

“Yes, and if we don’t follow suit, it won’t end well. In that case, we might as well accept it.”

“If there’s any serious reaction, find a way to inform the others. We all live close by, so it shouldn’t be difficult.”

In the afternoon, they headed towards the Yenan family.

On the way, Zhu Shuangshuang asked, “I didn’t see Fang Qi, is he still inside, or is he with Boss Qi?”

The others weren’t sure either.

If he’s still with Boss Qi, it meant he hadn’t been sold as a flower attendant, and his current situation could be very dangerous.

Su Wangsheng replied, “Don’t worry, he’s very capable.”

Zhu Shuangshuang responded with a downcast, “Mmm.”

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, except for the impact of welcoming the gods.

During the night, they heard the eerie sound of the wind crying like a ghost blowing through the courtyard and past the wooden house.

When their bodies started feeling dry again, they didn’t resist this time and dipped their feet into the stream inside the house.

The water seeped into their feet and ankles, and they sighed with relief, quickly escaping from the torment of the wind and falling into slumber.

Starting from the next day, they ate on time and drank water properly. After three days, Yenan Wang appeared again.

He said with satisfaction, “Very good. You can begin learning how to serve flowers.”

All twelve flower attendants looked at him, and these past few days, they had been pondering how to learn the art of serving flowers, mainly focusing on what they would be serving.

Yenan Wang said, “To serve flowers, you must have flowers. Prepare yourselves, and when the sun sets, I will take you to choose your flower masters.”

Behind the courtyard where they lived, there was a place resembling a forest. As the sun began to set, Yenan Wang led them to the entrance of this place.

On this street, there were quite a few courtyards like this. On the first day of the welcoming god period, they discovered that many flower attendants lived here. At this moment, apart from them, there were flower attendants from other families present as well.

They were all sizing up this place filled with dark gray mist.

At the entrance, there were several rows of luxuriant ancient trees, blocking the view inside.

The ancient trees were densely covered with branches and leaves, obscuring the sky, and the leaves were so dark green that they almost looked black. The surroundings were filled with a dark mist, and it was unclear whether it was emanating from inside or from the leaves themselves.

Yenan Wang said, “Choose a young flower from inside before it gets dark.”

He reminded them once again, “It’s very dangerous inside after dark. You must come out before it gets dark. Otherwise, I won’t be able to save you.”

The players hesitated as they walked inside.

When they reached the foot of the ancient tree, they smelled a strong foul odor, and one of the slender flower attendants immediately started vomiting.

“Why is this forest so strange?” Zhu Shuangshuang said, “Are there really flowers here?”

Su Wangsheng replied, “This forest is a cover-up; it should be even more bizarre inside.”

And he was right.

After passing through a small forest, what lay ahead was an endless swamp.

The black swamp was reflecting the orange sunset on the horizon, undulating as if it were alive.

The foul smell was emanating from this thick, dark swamp.

Zhu Shuangshuang couldn’t bear it and covered her mouth and nose with a red ribbon. “What is this?”

Even Su Wangsheng couldn’t handle it a little. “Could the flowers be in there?”

Just the thought of going in to find the flowers made them feel nauseous.

And once again, he guessed right.

As they stared at the dark swamp with surprise and resistance, one of the flower attendants calmly tied up their clothes around their waist and walked into the dark swamp.