Jian Qingrong asked and Song Yan answered, repeating the conversation with the True Spirit word for word.
Wen Shi: “…”
Sometimes he really doubted whether Song Yan had the appearance of a glutinous rice dumpling with sesame filling inside.
It is still uncertain which monsters in the game want him dead, but Wen Shi is sure that Song Yan must want Zhen Ling to die, because he emphasized that Zhen Ling was not the real body last time, and may change his mind at any time and continue to deal with Wen Shi.
Wen Shi completely understood the meaning of the contradiction.
The spear not only attacks the shield, but is also trying to divert conflicts.
There was no trace of the previous softness in Jian Qingrong's eyes, and his drooping eyelashes temporarily concealed the solemn murderous intent. A large part of the malice in his bones towards Song Yan was transferred to the True Spirit.
Song Yan said at the right time: "When I become stronger, maybe I can sense the existence of more true spirits."
Before they could go deeper into the topic, Wen Shi promptly turned back to the issue of changing roommates: "If there is a risk in the dormitory at night, remember to move to bed number one."
He clearly expressed his intention to use the rules to deal with Xiao Li or A Zhuang.
Jian Qingrong did not suggest directly poisoning the person, and Wen Shi’s silence did not mean that he did not agree with such a simple and crude way of killing.
This is indeed the case. It is incredible that the game allowed Jian Qingrong to come here, and his shadow is still missing. Wen Shi is worried that he will harm the players too much, which will cause dissatisfaction in the game and lead to other twists and turns.
Restraining the murderous intent in his eyes, Jian Qingrong added water to the cup while saying:
"Blood testing is just one of the ways to find mermaids. It's not accurate. There will definitely be many more ways to explore next."
Wen Shi was stunned for two seconds before realizing that he was helping him predict the questions.
"Human evolution has a long history. You may not be a merman, but you may be the offspring of a merman and another species. The only difference between a mermaid and a human is whether this gene will be activated. Being bitten by an animal, eating contaminated food, or receiving an injection can all cause the gene to be revived."
The dormitory building was very quiet and everyone was listening to him carefully.
As expected, they are all mutants, and what Jian Qingrong tells is the closest to the background of the story.
Jian Qingrong handed Wen Shi a small bottle containing his blood. "In addition to finding mermaids, you also have to prevent them from 'making' mermaids. The one who makes mermaids could be a human or a mermaid. If you encounter a mermaid tonight, sprinkle its blood on yourself. Most marine creatures will be afraid of this virus and will not attack you first."
It was good to arrange everything in an orderly manner. Jian Qingrong said, "Go to sleep for a while. There is still more than an hour left."
"… oh."
The little octopus is so contagious, and Wen Shi is still a little uncomfortable having the highly intelligent Jian Qingrong around.
He was about to climb the ladder when Jian Qingrong pointed at his bed and said, "Just sleep here. It won't be long before it becomes inconvenient to climb up and down."
He originally wanted to decline politely, but Wen Shi caught a glimpse of the cold light in the dark pupils. It was obvious that Jian Qingrong had not yet let go of the matter of resurrection, so it would be better not to continue to provoke him at this time.
He closed his eyes and his breathing quickly became even. With Jian Qingrong around, Wen Shi saved the trouble of setting the alarm.
I slept until half past nine, and when I was woken up again, the night outside the window was as dark as ink.
It takes at least a quarter of an hour to walk from the dormitory building to the library. After Wen Shi washed his face with cold water to wake himself up, he said hello to everyone and left early.
The chill was creeping in, and Wen Shi unconsciously wrapped his clothes tightly. He was thinking about Jian Qingrong's words all the way, and the more he thought about it, the more he thought it was possible. On the way to the Mermaid Coast, you will pass by Sunset Town where the orcs live. It also involves mutation and evolution. Maybe the True Spirit created the half-orcs with reference to the mermaids. The difference is that this time it is not relying on evolutionary fluid, but genetic mutation.
Wen Shi suddenly thought of the saying: The poor rely on mutation, the rich rely on technology.
"I was not born to be rich."
Once it gets dark, there are very few people still active on campus. After passing Quhe Building where classes were held during the day, there is no sight of any old students.
The only people still wandering around like ghosts were a group of unlucky people who were called out to study.
The further you go, the heavier the wind becomes. The library is built in the center of the wind outlet, and behind it is the Nianwen Building, where construction stops at night.
When Wen Shi thought of the name of the donated building, the uneasiness in his heart was covered up by silence, so that he was not disturbed by the gloomy environment at all.
The library at night gave people a completely different feeling than during the day, exuding a dead atmosphere from inside to outside. The door was not locked, and the security guard who stopped the overheating during the day was nowhere to be seen. Before stepping onto the stairs, he stood below and looked up for a moment.
The lights on the second floor were on, but there seemed to be something wrong with the wiring. Every once in a while, they would suddenly flash, and in the moment when darkness and light alternated, a black shadow appeared on the second floor.
Half of its face was covered with scales, its jaws protruded forward, and its jagged teeth allowed one to smell the fishy odor even from a distance. The shadow briefly stayed at the second-floor window for a while, and the next time the lights went out and on, the monster disappeared again.
A disembodied singing voice came from above, proving that what he had seen before was not an illusion.
The song created an atmosphere of sadness and pain, and was so penetrating that Wen Shi's brain nerves were pricked for a moment.
"Hey, what are you daydreaming about?" A player behind him called out to Wen Shi, "It's almost time for self-study, why don't you hurry up and leave."
Wen Shi turned around and saw two players, a man and a woman, rushing inside in a hurry.
There were less than five minutes left, so Wen Shi didn't waste any more time and entered the library.
The door faces the stairs and the elevator next to it is not in use.
I walked straight up, and the two players seemed very nervous, their chests rising and falling violently. Of course, it could also be because it was not conducive to breathing in here, the humidity was too heavy, and the air inhaled into the lungs was mixed with a lingering chill.
There are three study rooms on the second floor, and only the first one is occupied. No player would choose to be alone at this time.
The side near the door was full of bookshelves, and the walls were bulging and cracking due to excessive humidity, just like the scales of a fallen fish. The players around me all took a book from the bookshelf. Since they were studying on their own, they had to pretend to be well-dressed.
Studying by lamplight on a desk covered with graffiti at night, with the curtains fluttering in the night wind, it feels like I’ve really returned to my school days.
Wen Shi was not interested in reminiscing about his youth. He stood quietly in front of a bookshelf, where most of the books were about music, and some introduced the biographies of performers. He quickly scanned the bookshelves, trying to find one or two books related to mermaids.
The two players who came in with Wen Shi did the same. The female player started looking from the most unattended location and pulled out a thick book from the bottom. Because no one had read it for a long time, the pages inside felt like they were stuck together.
"Here." She whispered.
The cover of the book is branded with a portrait of a dried mermaid, and the first page inside records the great medicinal value of mermaids.
[One pound of dried mermaid can be slow-cooked for three hours and then consumed along with the medicinal residue to restore the body's vitality and nourish the yin and kidneys. ]
Next to it is a colorful illustration, showing a big pot stewing a little mermaid, with the shadows of dissected internal organs swaying under the waves.
The female player couldn't bear to watch it and sighed: "It's a bit pitiful, right?" Wen Shi didn't answer.
"Don't you feel pitiful?" The female player approached him and asked again.
Wen Shi hummed twice perfunctorily.
The radio suddenly started, and the prelude was as sad as the accompanying picture.
The female player turned another page, immersed in the text description, with a sad expression.
Realizing that something was wrong with this person, Wen Shi frowned and considered whether to knock her out. However, the female player was in an excited state, and this situation might cause a fierce backlash.
"Pathetic?" After reading two pages in a row, a fanatical look emerged in the female player's eyes. On the other side, the male player was also approaching Wen, and his voice was deliberately lowered, and even his voice line was very tense.
They stared at Wen Shi's throat, eager to see him tremble and utter the word "pitiful".
The dissonant songs on the radio became coherent, and the singer began to sing: "On a quiet and peaceful night, boys and girls were in the study room looking forward to the future..."
The scenes described in the lyrics can be completely compared to the present.
"But their healthy bodies are about to be dismembered. Twenty-two..."
"Twenty-one." Wen Shi interrupted coldly.
You Shi didn't come to learn theoretical knowledge tonight, he only made free music.
The singing paused subtly for a second.
The light turned dark red, and the frequency of its flashing suddenly increased.
The singer seemed to realize the mistake in the lyrics and stopped singing. In the study room which had obviously become silent, the slightly bulging speaker seemed to express a kind of anger.
About a dozen people stood up at the same time. Wen Shi ignored the man and woman approaching him and found that there were still five or six players who did not stand up immediately.
He felt a little relieved, at least not everyone was affected.
"run!"
He shouted.
The five sober players who were originally preparing to wait and see the situation, saw someone rushing out first, so they did not hesitate and followed suit.
The air was too humid, making it difficult to breathe. Seeing that the people in the classroom had not caught up with them, the players stopped one after another and gasped for breath.
“Were those people controlled?”
There were three men and two women. The one asking the questions was a short girl, who propped herself against the wall with her hands, but then retracted them because of the sticky touch. She came early, and everyone was normal at first, but within ten minutes, the atmosphere in the entire study room suddenly became strange. First, the person sitting in the front seat kept repeating "It's so miserable, it's really miserable," and then the number of such mutterings increased. When the sound stopped, at least half of the players in the whole classroom seemed to be possessed.
Wen Shi wiped his forehead, not sure if it was sweat or moisture, and said, "Change to another study room."
The little girl's eyes widened. Is she crazy? She still has to study at this time.
Wen Shi frowned. The players with problems in their blood tests were the weakest among the group, so they were more likely to be infected.
There are considerable risks in doing activities with them.
"Do you think I'm stupid?" the short girl asked viciously.
The two male players next to her hurriedly pulled her over, and one of them explained to Wen Shi: "Xiao Zhu's skill is [Divination. Based on the results of her divination, we temporarily erased part of her memory."
This time when he glared at me when changing the temperature, could it be like this
"I just blocked my knowledge reserves," the male player said, "I have been unable to read or write for the past two days." Wen Shi looked at the other two people. One of them had a cruel personality and was thinking about how to use the rules to kill the trouble in the previous study room. The other one was also ferocious.
These two people are obviously output players with brutal and high attack power.
"Players can't kill each other. Those in the study room can't pose much of a threat." Noticing Wen Shi looking at him, the ferocious man said, "Let's just take care of ourselves and don't become like that."
“That’s assuming they’ve always been a player.”
The ferocious man was not too stupid. He frowned and crossed his arms: "If they all die and turn into monsters, it will be a bit troublesome."
Wen Shi didn't say anything and walked towards the second room. The task required studying in the study room for three hours, and standing in the corridor did not fall into this category.
The five players also followed in. The short girl at the end closed the front door and propped it up with a desk, leaving only the back door as an exit to prevent any unexpected accidents.
"Books." Wen Shi spoke at this time: "Players' inertial thinking will definitely look for information related to mermaids after entering."
The divination result of the petite girl is: There are advantages to being illiterate.
He nodded his head when he heard Wen Shi's words, indicating his approval: "Books may be a medium that causes mental disorder."
Illiteracy makes them have no intention of reading at all.
The ferocious man sneered: "I saw it too, how come nothing happened?"
"Because you lack empathy." Wen Shi said coldly: "Normal players will subconsciously think that mermaids are the weak or have been persecuted."
"Is not it?"
"Of course," Wen Shi said, "but they are not prey to be slaughtered at will. Legends sometimes regard sirens and mermaids as the same species. They are both famous for their singing."
Use song as a weapon to confuse prey.
Before entering the library, there is a song. Once you have a subconscious feeling of pity for the mermaid, the song will invade your mind. The text also has the same effect. In the story, normal people will sympathize with the mermaid's past.
"Spiritual pollution?" The petite girl frowned.
In order to be completely illiterate, they also used props to block their aesthetic and appreciation abilities. She originally thought it was unnecessary, but her teammates insisted on spending a large amount of points to do so considering that it was an S-level copy.
Wen Shi: "Probably. This kind of pollution is hard to prevent. You sit together and supervise each other. If you see anyone who is not right, knock him out directly."
After saying that, he walked to the bookshelf.
I thought this tone of command would cause conflict, but the petite girl noticed that the other two troublemakers sat down very well and didn't object.
The ferocious man said, "You didn't hear him. Any normal person would sympathize with him."
Obviously, this young man who seems to be the easiest to control is not normal.
Wen Shi carefully selected books related to mermaids. Since these books were channels for spreading pollution, the content must be more valuable.
The first thing he opened was a very thin book with no pictures, only densely packed documentary text.
Wen Shi’s empathy wasn’t strong either. He clearly remembered the brutal scene of the mermaid killing people on the first night. In addition, his complete body transformation gave him an innate hunting instinct for fish.
Skipping over the tragic descriptions, Wen Shi focused entirely on the habits of this creature.
One book after another, the two study rooms were not far apart. A hoarse wail was heard from one side, and the smell of blood covered the salty smell of sea water in the air. Wen Shi was still reading peacefully here.
The sharp howl made one player's fingers tremble, and he couldn't help but walk to the back door to watch. Just then, a person in the study room fell out, and he was scratching his skin frantically: "How pitiful, how pitiful..."
Small drops of water condensed from the ceiling and dripped onto the wound. A layer of white mucous membrane grew on the bleeding area, which continued to darken and change color, spreading inch by inch. His skin became increasingly rough, and finally patches similar to those on the wall appeared on his body.
The players tried not to make any noise and retreated to the study room, praying that the three hours would pass quickly.
The short girl asked her teammates, "Are they killing each other?"
The player shook his head: "The wound is infected, and there is a tendency for it to turn into a mermaid."
The only sounds in the study room besides the discussion were the turning of pages.
The back of Wen Shi, who was studying attentively, looked like a young college student, which made the other five people feel uncomfortable. They didn't understand how he could concentrate on studying in such an environment.
"The period of mermanhood..." The information obtained by Ji Yuanzhi's investigation was indeed reliable. There was also a related description in the book, which explained that mermaids have the habit of eating their mating partners.
Key point: Go ashore and look for the target.
Because the number of people is small, in order to prevent the extinction of the race, the mermaids will expand outward. Their breeding period is generally from the end of September to mid-October, during which time the weather is cool and suitable for reproduction.
"You eat me, I eat you," Wen Shi's mouth twitched, "Everyone is having a great time."
His phone suddenly vibrated. He looked down and saw a message from Jian Qingrong: "Are you okay?"
He sent the message to be on the safe side. Wen Shi was not in danger at the moment, so he called back directly. After the call was connected, he said, "Everything is going well for me at the moment."
While he was speaking, his other hand was still turning pages of the book.
His cervical spine was aching a little. If he hadn't just read the news, he wouldn't have known that the three-hour time was almost up.
Jian Qingrong: "Shall I pick you up?"
Wen Shi: "No, evening study is almost over, I can handle it."
As I was speaking, a prompt sound came:
[You discovered the habits of mermaids]
[You are the only qualified self-study student tonight]
Compared with his bottom-ranked peers who failed the blood test, Wen Shi's mouth curled up. Since the game praised him so much, he should be rewarded.
[Your excellence attracted a low-quality mermaid]
You corrected the mistakes in his singing.
[He came to mate with you]
(End of this chapter)