Chapter 24: So, You Think You're Pretty Tough, Huh?

"Finally finished."
Liu Zheng let out a long sigh.
"You finally woke up, kid."
Niu Ma said with a sinister tone.
"What happened to me?"
He asked, puzzled.
"Check the time."
Niu Ma gestured with his snout.
Liu Zheng pulled out his phone; it displayed the time: 11:30 PM.
"It's already this late?"
He was startled and looked at the Sudoku magazine. This thing didn't seem quite right.
"Stop staring at it. It's no big deal. Even if you hadn't finished, I would have kicked you awake."
Niu Ma said.
*Kicked me awake? More like kicked me to death,* Liu Zheng thought with a dry chuckle.
"Hurry up and get your food out. I'm starving to death," Niu Ma urged.
Liu Zheng took two staff meals out of the cabinet: a bowl of ramen and a box of sushi. For drinks, there was a bottle of 'raw' cola and a bottle of sake.
After completing the "offering," he ate the rest of his staff meal and drank the raw cola. Liu Zheng pulled down his pants to take a look and clicked his tongue in disappointment.
Nothing was glowing; this Japanese food was clearly not authentic. He tucked the sake into his pocket, intending to give it to the London Plane tree—the tree seemed to prefer alcohol over soft drinks.
He checked the time: 11:56 PM. Now it all depended on whether the Novelist was reliable.
Fortunately, the Novelist was indeed reliable. At exactly midnight, a ghostly hand reached in on time. It dropped off the takeout order and gave Liu Zheng the middle finger before darting back out before he could retaliate.
"Hahaha!"
Niu Ma burst into earth-shattering laughter, his thick lips flapping with the force of his breath.
"You... you kid, how did you provoke it?"
After a long while, Niu Ma finally stopped, gasping for air as he spoke.
"The food was problematic last time, so I gave it a little scare," Liu Zheng said, shrugging his tentacles.
The little thing was quite vengeful.
"Serves you right. It’s a miracle it didn't slap you across the face! Hahaha!" Niu Ma continued to roar with laughter.
Liu Zheng ignored him and picked up the takeout order.
"Item: One portion of Mermaid Egg Fried Rice."
"Address: Green Laurel Garden, Crazy City, Building 4, 606."
"Time Limit: Three hours."
"Three hours?!"
Niu Ma’s large head leaned in. "Your fling really spent a fortune on this," he remarked, clicking his tongue.
"We’re just friends," Liu Zheng corrected him seriously.
"Well, your friend is loyal enough. My wife wouldn't even be willing to spend that much on me," Niu Ma said with a hint of jealousy.
"Is it expensive?"
"Of course. Who do you think can afford to eat at the Bloody Restaurant? A voluntary order plus customized delivery timing—this single order is enough to keep you busy for a year," Niu Ma explained.
"What a ripoff," Liu Zheng said sincerely.
"If it weren't a ripoff, how would the boss make money?" Niu Ma chuckled.
"I wasn't the one who brought her up this time," Liu Zheng said, eyeing him warily. Last time the boss was mentioned, one person was scared half to death and the other beaten half to death. Was Niu Ma feeling brave again?
"It's fine to talk about this," Niu Ma waved a hoof dismissively. "The boss loves hearing people praise her for being cold-hearted, vicious, and greedy."
"Does she also like being hung from a lamppost?" Liu Zheng squinted.
"Never heard of that. But I heard she likes taking gold baths," Niu Ma said mysteriously.
"Gold? Baths?" He had heard of milk baths or rose petal baths, but how does one bathe in gold?
"She melts the gold and pours it into an iron tub to wash in," Niu Ma explained.
"That's impressive," Liu Zheng gave a thumbs-up. That woman was definitely not human.
"That’s why she’s the boss. Alright, stop prying and let’s go; three hours isn't exactly a luxury."
The two left the corridor, and Liu Zheng pulled out the map. "Where is the black market?" he asked.
"Here." Niu Ma pointed to the northwest corner of the map with his horn.
"Huh?" Liu Zheng looked at the spot, feeling a sense of familiarity. After recalling for a few seconds, he took out the initial letter. Flipping it over, he saw that the location of the black market indeed coincided with one of the circles.
"The City Hall actually marked the location of the black market. That doesn't sound like their style," Niu Ma muttered.
"Is that so?" Liu Zheng said casually. Perhaps it was the System that marked it.
"What are the other three places?" he asked, pointing to the other circles.
"That one is the Chaos Club, that one is the Landfill, and the one in the very center is the City Hall," Niu Ma listed them off.
"What kind of place is the Chaos Club?"
"Don't know. Never taken an order there, and you’d better pray you don't either," Niu Ma shook his head.
"Why?"
"I heard it from people in the black market. Last time, the City Hall sent three squads in, and not a single one came out."
"Are those squads strong? How do they compare to you guys?" Liu Zheng asked seriously.
"I said 'squads' (renma) as a general term, you idiot! Do you understand?" Niu Ma paused before erupting in rage.
"Understood, understood. Please continue, boss," he soothed.
"Continue my foot! Get moving. If I wasn't counting on you to make me money, I’d kick you to death right now," Niu Ma said huffily.
This was Liu Zheng’s first time out at night, and he clearly felt the difference. The gazes watching from the shadows were almost tangible, like countless tongues licking his body. He felt a pervasive itch all over.
"Itchy, aren't you?" Niu Ma mocked.
"A little," Liu Zheng admitted.
"Night is different from day. If I weren't here, they would have rushed out and torn you to shreds already," Niu Ma said.
"Who are 'they'?"
"Everything. Some love to eat people, some eat anything, and some have been eaten hollow. Like this one!"
As he spoke, Niu Ma stomped hard on the ground. The asphalt concrete shattered instantly, and dark green blood slowly seeped out from beneath. Niu Ma kicked aside the debris and used his horn to pry out a strange-looking creature. Its skin was pale, its body shaped like a fat toad, and its head was covered in a cluster of pink tentacles with no eyes.
"Good stuff," Niu Ma said happily. He stuffed the monster into his mouth and bit off its head and half its body in one go.
"Tastes like chicken. Crunchy," Niu Ma licked his lips with satisfaction. This thing was rare; even on a Bloody Night, it didn't come out often. Getting a bite of this made the whole trip worth it.
"Want a bite?" Noticing Liu Zheng’s gaze, he hesitated and asked. After all, he was counting on this kid to split the earnings; he couldn't be too stingy.
Liu Zheng looked at the pale corpse as the System prompt flashed above it:
"Name: Fresh Corpse of a Moon-Beast Larva"
"Type: Item"
"Quality: Fine"
"Effect: Spirit +5, Perception +5, small chance of gaining the 'Auditory Hallucination' status, extremely small chance of awakening the 'Isolated Maiden' bloodline."
"Note: The moon is watching you."
"Can be brought out of the instance: Yes."
"Warning: The 'Isolated Maiden' bloodline conflicts with the player's current status. Forced awakening will result in uncontrollable consequences."
He didn't need the System's warning; he had no intention of eating this thing. Eating a Black Goat's eyeball had already turned him into a tentacle monster; if he ate this, he probably wouldn't even have a human form left.
"Cowards have no luck with food," Niu Ma mocked, then shook his head and trotted forward.
Liu Zheng followed closely behind. Along their path, drops of green bodily fluid stained the ground. Pairs of scarlet eyes emerged from the darkness, letting out excited roars.