Chapter 151: Two Clowns

"Hello, praying to the great Abyss..."
"Hello to you too, praise the great Abyss!"
Inside the abandoned house, players with "Abyss Guild Manuals" hanging at their waists went about their business in an orderly fashion.
Several members were tending to a companion who had been injured in the recent ferocious ghost attack.
Other members were distributing items to newcomers, preparing to gather a team to participate in the vicious ghost's game in the alleys.
Amidst this well-organized and clearly divided scene, Ji Linmo was tied to a chair, sitting starkly out of place right in the center of the room.
"Old Ji, you're awake?"
Lin Bufei rubbed his hands nervously, looking somewhat sheepishly at Ji Linmo, before ingratiatingly picking up a towel to wipe the other man's face.
"Hehehe, well, you see, I had no choice either. For the sake of my son—uh, my own happiness, just bear with this a little bit, my old friend."
Ji Linmo stared expressionlessly at Lin Bufei. Wherever the man walked, Ji Linmo's gaze followed him fixedly, practically looking at him like he was a mortal enemy.
Consequently, the bronze-skinned man with the massive scar across his face began to cry out in extreme nervousness.
"Liu Xiao! Liu Xiao! Where is the person in charge here! Someone hurry up and untie me!"
Liu Xiao, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, walked unhurriedly out from behind a draped curtain.
Seeing Ji Linmo, she bowed very respectfully to express her apologies, then picked up a pen and paper to jot something down.
"What on earth is the purpose of your Abyss Guild?"
Seeing that she remained silent, Ji Linmo frowned and took the initiative to ask.
Liu Xiao did not look up, but instead handed a drawn picture on a piece of paper to the man.
—The picture depicted the man's appearance when he transformed into a monster.
"Ji Linmo, have you ever, in the past, witnessed the great Abyss?"
To such a nonsensical question, Ji Linmo let out a cold snort.
He had never believed in gods; he didn't believe in the past, and he didn't believe now.
Yet some people always regarded these ethereal notions as more important than their lives.
Gazing around the room at people who were more devout than the next, the man raised an eyebrow at Liu Xiao.
"Never seen it, and I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."
"However, Liu Xiao, it's about time you went and got your brain checked. Day in and day out with all this god nonsense, you really need to seek medical treatment promptly."
Yet Liu Xiao paid no heed to the man's biting sarcasm.
She merely picked up her pen and tapped it against the monster she had drawn.
"Miracle-bearer, your true strength far surpasses that of my kindred created by the Abyss."
"With power as formidable as yours, there is only one possibility: you too have received the favor of the Abyss, and your body has been reshaped by a god..."
The favor of a god?
Ji Linmo lowered his gaze, his face sinking into shadow.
Though he had no idea whatsoever why he had become like this,
he found it very hard to believe such an absurd claim from Liu Xiao.
"Wait—Ji Linmo, you... don't remember how you became one of the kindred?"
"You must have heard the voice of the god..."
Liu Xiao keenly noticed the shift in the man's emotions and spoke up involuntarily.
However, Ji Linmo merely shook his head.
He had simply been lying in a pool of blood, waiting to die that day, when he suddenly discovered that his reflection in the crimson water was a horrifying, unrecognizable monster.
From that day on, the man knew this was his punishment.
"Miracle-bearer, listen to me. Just like me, you are also kin to the Abyss. The aura of the Abyss, as mighty as it is, still lingers upon you. That is the proof."
Seeing the man lost in thought, Liu Xiao hurriedly spoke to snap him back.
"Therefore, you and I must join forces. It has been a very long time since I last listened to the voice of the Abyss. As a devout believer, I am deeply worried about whether the True God has encountered some mishap. Thus, the original purpose of establishing the guild was to search for and retrieve the great Abyss."
"To this end, I can spare no cost. Praise the Abyss, I—"
Smack!
Before Liu Xiao could finish, Lin Bufei slammed his hand down on the table, sounding somewhat anxious.
"Hehehe, stinky four-eyes, what do you mean by this? Didn't you say that if I brought my brother over, you'd let Xiaoxiao see me?"
"You just yammer on and on without stopping. When on earth are you going to finish?"
Yet Liu Xiao didn't even grant Lin Bufei a glance, merely coughing twice as she prepared to continue her explanation to Ji Linmo.
At this, Lin Bufei grew displeased. He leaped straight onto the table, towering over Liu Xiao and glaring down at her fiercely.
"Apologies, Lin Bufei, now is not the time. I have other work to attend to next."
However, while Liu Xiao was speaking, Lin Bufei—occupying the advantageous high ground—seized the moment when she least expected it, raised his hand sharply, and snatched her glasses right off her face.
"Hehehe, you're just a pair of broken glasses acting all high and mighty. Is this even your body? You're strutting around lording it over Xiaoxiao's body every single day!"
The next second, the expression in "Liu Xiao's" eyes became instantly clear. Those eyes, as if untainted by worldly knowledge, flashed with irrepressible joy.
"Brother Lin Bufei! You're back!"
With that, Liu Xiaoxiao scrambled right up onto the table and threw her arms around Lin Bufei, pouncing on him like an enthusiastic hound.
"Hey, hey, hey! My brother's right here, and he's still a poor single guy! Let's take it easy, maintain a bit of composure, hehe~"
In full view of everyone, Lin Bufei happily scooped up Liu Xiaoxiao, his mouth splitting open from ear to ear as he spun the woman around right on top of the large table like a pair of absolute fools.
Yet among the other members of the Abyss Guild present, not a single one looked surprised, as if they were entirely used to this spectacle.
Swish!
Right at that moment, Liu Xiaoxiao's left hand jerked sharply, snatched the glasses back, and jammed them back onto her face.
The woman's gaze instantly returned to sharpness, and she immediately resumed her earnest pitch to Ji Linmo.
"Ji Linmo, listen to me, join the Abyss! We are the only—"
Swish!
The glasses were snatched away by Lin Bufei once again.
"Brother Lin Bufei! I'm back again!"
"Hahaha! My darling Xiaoxiao! I will never let those broken glasses stand in the way of our love!"
Swish!
"Stop taking my glasses off! Ji Linmo, you listen to me!"
The woman opened her mouth in agitation, but the next second, a pair of hands lunged at her—
Swish!
"Bro~ I didn't see you just now, I missed you so much!"
"Hey! Babe~ Bro couldn't see you, and I missed you just as much!"
Watching the two of them performing a lively square dance on the table, Ji Linmo finally reached the limit of his patience. He simply wrenched his hands free from the loose ropes and stood up.
"I'm saying, Lin Bufei, are you two ever going to finish!"
Lin Bufei's eyes widened in utter shock, and equally astonished was Liu Xiaoxiao, who was in the middle of a dance-off with him.
Glancing around the room, Ji Linmo once again rubbed his temples in helpless despair.
"Tell me, how has your Abyss Guild... managed to survive this long with just these two clowns running it?"