LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 315: Wax Museum Rules.
Soon—
Hungry Monkey shared the rules of the Shroud Shop with Miao and the others.
"Building Rules": Every player who enters this building will automatically receive a tailor-made shroud with the effect of keeping warm, ensuring you can sleep warmly and cozily.
"Uh..."
Seeing this rule, Hungry Monkey and the others exchanged glances, all seeing the speechlessness in each other's eyes. What kind of ridiculous rule was this? It was neither harmful nor beneficial, essentially useless.
If one had to say it served some minor purpose, it was that they now had an extra set of clothes to change into.
But no sane person would think of using a shroud as change of clothes.
"There goes one of my detection opportunities," Hungry Monkey lamented, looking at his remaining detection chances. He had only four detection opportunities left, and his initial bravado about scouring an entire street was indeed an overstatement; these five detection opportunities were already his limit.
He simply couldn't complete the seventh set of push-ups no matter what; the sixth set was already him pushing himself to the limit, and during the seventh, he simply couldn't move at all.
"Don't rush."
Chen Miao shook his head, "Let's check out the Wax Museum next."
...
Right next to the Shroud Store was the Wax Museum, and the two shops were almost connected, with a convenience store in between. At the moment, standing on the cashier counter of the convenience store, was a young man with a professional smile plastered on his face.
It was the same young man who had run into the convenience store last night.
Now, he seemed to have adapted to the role of a cashier.
It's just that the smile on his face was a bit too professional. If things were as expected, someone must have given this lad some on-the-job training last night.
Soon—
The rules of the Wax Museum also appeared before everyone.
"Building Rules": Every player who enters this building will acquire a lifelike wax figure tailored to their voice, which will accompany you when you are lonely, until the end of your life, so you will never be alone again.
If you can find a perfectly fitting shroud for your wax figure, then this wax figure will transform into your bodyguard, possessing a certain level of Combat Power to protect your safety, and when you face an inevitable death from the rules, it helps you dodge the disaster once.
This effect is triggered only upon a player's first-time entry into the shop.
...
"Hey!"
Upon seeing this rule, Chen Miao and the others exchanged glances again, only this time, everyone's eyes shone with excitement. This was a good deal, and it was then they understood the effect of the Shroud Store.
The rules of the two shops taken separately weren't of much use; if not outright deadly, they were basically pointless. But combining the two shops turned them into one, immediately providing a puppet to fight in their stead, and even capable of shielding them from a deathblow.
"Not bad."
Chen Miao smiled, nodded, and strode into the Shroud Store next door. After emerging, he entered the Wax Museum and when he came out, a featureless wax figure in a shroud now followed beside him.
The wax figure was as tall as he was, with a similar build but no face, just like a plastic clothing mannequin with a flat face.
The fingers were joined together, rather pointed, which must have been the wax figure's weapon.
Moving with a bouncy, hopping gait, it appeared somewhat cute and silly—of course, this was only in the daylight and in the merry atmosphere where such a sight could seem whimsical. Meeting such a thing in a corner of the town at night would hardly evoke the words 'cute' and 'silly'.
What humans find cute largely depends on their environment. For instance, when you excitedly gaze at pandas through the zoo fence, sparkling-eyed, proclaiming them the cutest creatures on Earth, with none cuter than pandas!
But if you were locked in with a hungry panda, its massive head grasping your ankle to start a deadly tumble, its several-hundred-pound body rolling over you, its strong paws pounding incessantly on your chest.
At that moment, you certainly wouldn't entertain the notion of 'cute' regarding this panda.
You'd just think it was a damn beast.
Even though it might be the same panda that's kept in the zoo.
...
After Chen Miao came out, the other members of the Tomb Guardian team also entered the Shroud Store and Wax Museum one after another, each claiming their own wax figure zombie babies. Over twenty wax figure zombie babies dressed in shrouds stood in a row, creating a rather odd sensation.
And this scene was also spotted by others, some of whom exchanged glances before quickly sending a representative who approached Chen Miao and his company with a sycophant and cautious expression, whispering.
"Excuse me, but could you tell us what the rules for the Shroud Store and Wax Museum are?"
"It's quite presumptuous," Hungry Monkey replied dryly, rolling his eyes at the man who had come to inquire, "Do you expect me to just share what I earned through hard-earned push-ups, as if by simply moving your mouth, you can plagiarize my benefits?"
"Want to know? Easy, why don't you go in and see for yourself?"
The man sent as a representative touched his nose somewhat awkwardly, seemed about to say something, then said nothing and turned to leave. Based on their observations, they had guessed that these two stores probably weren't dangerous.
And there were rewards to boot.
After all, people had freely walked into these two shops and came out carrying a zombie wax figure baby behind them.
But even though they felt they had guessed right, they didn't dare to enter rashly. After all, it's not the thousands of things that you have to worry about, but the what-ifs; what if the rule of these two shops was that you only get the reward if you step in with your left foot first, and stepping in with your right means instant death?
It's hard to say with these things.
Just as this representative was about to leave, Chen Miao gestured with a calm expression for the man to wait, then turned towards Hungry Monkey, "Hungry Monkey, share the panel information with them. This secret realm is quite difficult, and it's tough for everyone."
"Helping one another, exchanging information, we can have a better chance of making it out alive."
"Everyone should contribute a bit more."
"Alright then."
Hungry Monkey pursed his lips without speaking, just glaring at the man who had come to ask questions.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you all so much, THANKS!!!"
After seeing the rules for the two buildings, the man was visibly excited as he hastened to thank everyone and ran towards the crowd, clearly prepared to report back the good news.
Very soon.
A large number of people crawled up from underground and swarmed towards the Shroud Store quickly.
This wax figure zombie baby was a genuinely good item; not only could it serve as a puppet with a certain Combat Power, but it could also save your life when faced with a rule-based crisis.
If those two women who went to the public toilet last night had such a thing, they wouldn't have died.
Most people passing by Chen Miao would express their gratitude, thankful that Chen Miao was willing to share the information.
...
Chen Miao, with a calm expression, didn't respond; he didn't mind sharing things that didn't harm his interests, but he definitely wouldn't give up something that could only benefit a small number of people.
After all, the people around him had been with him for a long time, and it was more important to him to protect the lives of those close to him.
The third building.
Was a meat shop.
They were currently at the entrance of the town and hadn't ventured deep inside. Since entering the town last night, they had stayed at the entrance on the blue-brick road. They had seen the meat shop last night, of course, but nobody had dared to go in.
Soon—
The rules of the meat shop emerged.
'Building Rule': This place used to be a famous meat shop. The butcher had excellent skills in killing pigs for many years. After death, due to a grievance, he became a Fierce Ghost that wanders within the meat shop. Although he has lost most of his memories, the task of pig slaughter is etched in his mind.
It will chase and kill all creatures that enter the meat shop and touch the ground with both hands and feet.
It won't rest until it kills.
"Hmm."
Chen Miao nodded and gestured for Hungry Monkey and the others to draw a red cross on the door of the shop as a warning to others not to enter, "This building has no benefits, only risks, but it doesn't involve a rule-based kill. I might be able to handle it if I go in."
A rule-based kill is like the one outside the town's public toilet—satisfy the rule, and you die.
There's no way around it.
But entering this meat shop meant you'd just be chased by the butcher, it wasn't certain death. In theory, as long as you can defeat the butcher in the meat shop, there's no risk. He had fought with Fierce Ghosts multiple times and believed he had some unique methods to deal with them.
But even if he killed the Fierce Ghost, it wouldn't benefit him. Naturally, he was reluctant to do something that had risks without benefits.
Normally, one's hands and feet definitely wouldn't touch the ground simultaneously, except in certain situations, like doing push-ups. But as long as you don't do push-ups inside the shop, it's fine.
Or if you fall over.
In the event of a fall, the hands instinctively touch the ground to support the body, inadvertently fulfilling the rule of being chased.
In other words.
As long as you don't do push-ups or fall down in the meat shop, even if you stroll around inside, there's no danger. But it's still safer not to enter if it can be helped.
"Heh."
Hungry Monkey stood at the entrance of the meat shop, poking his head inside curiously to look around, "Looks like a pretty small room. There shouldn't be any oil or anything on the floor to intentionally make players trip and fall, right?"
Just then—
A wave of commotion came from the crowd behind them; it seemed someone had died, and Hungry Monkey quickly withdrew his head and excitedly ran into the crowd to find out what was happening. He was always keen on such gossip.