Chapter 83 She Is a Rabbit!

Standing on the beam, Ji Linmo watched as Lin Bufei and the head chef walked away, then nimbly leapt down. He glanced at Qin Feng, who was still hiding in the wooden barrel, and knocked on it lightly.

“You can come out now.”

The boy immediately crawled out with a grin, happily throwing his arms around Ji Linmo.

“Hehe~ Mr. Ji, did you follow us all the way to the fourth floor because you were worried about me?”

“I feel so honored.”

Ji Linmo merely raised an eyebrow in response and said nothing.

Truthfully, he had followed them out of concern, worried that the two might have a falling out and start fighting. So he’d taken off his convenience store uniform, trailed them quietly, deftly pried open the elevator keyhole, and made his way to the fourth floor.

But he had not expected that, barely after he arrived, Lin Bufei would try to kill Qin Feng.

“So... Mr. Ji, don’t you have anything you want to ask? Like, whether I’m a cultist of the Abyss or something?”

Ji Linmo looked at the boy before him and reached out to ruffle his hair.

“Relax, I know you’re not... because you don’t have the brains for it.”

For once, Qin Feng was struck speechless by this remark.

But Ji Linmo seemed entirely oblivious to how hurtful his words were, and began exploring the fourth floor on his own.

“Wait, Mr. Ji—are you serious? You really think I’m not qualified?”

At last, the boy’s composure crumbled. Gone was his usual easy smile; he hurried after Ji Linmo, anxiously demanding an answer.

But Ji Linmo didn’t seem to hear him at all, his gaze sweeping carefully over row upon row of partitions.

Inside the divided rooms, rows of saws and hammers lay on the tables, all stained with blood. Streams of blood, mingled with tufts of fur, flowed down the tables and disappeared into the drains.

After glancing into a few other rooms, Ji Linmo headed toward the last one—the one forbidden to enter.

Suddenly, he seemed to hear something.

From behind the door, it sounded as if someone was singing.

Ji Linmo’s brow furrowed as he studied the iron door.

Unlike the other rooms, this one had an iron door, set deep into the wall as if it were part of the structure itself.

[No Entry]

[Danger!]

[Open at your own risk!]

Warning signs were plastered all over the door, making it look all the more eerie and menacing.

After a moment’s thought, Ji Linmo pressed his ear to the door.

His senses had always been sharper than most—he could pick up sounds others couldn’t.

A long, rumbling sound drifted out from within, like the growl of an empty stomach.

Then came a childlike humming.

Listening closely, Ji Linmo realized the song being hummed inside was “Happy Birthday.”

“What is it?”

Qin Feng crept closer, but Ji Linmo waved him silent.

No, the voice inside—was that really a child?

Suddenly, Ji Linmo remembered the mural he’d seen in the corridor.

[Fairy Tale - The Little Girl’s Birthday]

[Today is the little girl’s seventh birthday. She’s very happy.]

Could it be that the person locked inside this room was...

Ji Linmo frowned and gripped the doorknob.

Click, click.

The iron door wasn’t locked.

Ji Linmo shot a look at Qin Feng, then pressed his hand to the handle.

But in the very next instant, something from inside slammed the door open with force.

From the pitch-black doorway emerged an enormous mouth.

Ji Linmo stepped back instinctively at the bizarre sight.

But the mouth paid him no heed, continuing to hum its childish tune.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...”

As the strange singing echoed, the mouth suddenly vanished, and then a pair of blood-red eyes flashed in the darkness.

The mouth opened wide, its maw like a gaping chasm, and spoke:

“Hungry! Hungry! I’m hungry! I want to eat!”

In an instant, the entire fourth floor shook violently, as if struck by an earthquake, and a thick, red, jelly-like tongue snaked out from behind the iron door.

At that moment, a card that had been wedged in the gap above the door fluttered down.

[Feeding Guidelines]

[1. Make sure it is well fed. If you do not have enough food (rabbit meat), do not open the door.]

Not good!

Ji Linmo tried to retreat, but it was too late. The writhing tongue, reeking of rot, wound itself tightly around him.

“Meat! Rabbit meat! I want to eat!”

Fangs gleamed in the blackness, dripping with saliva.

[Warning! You have angered the entity. Take action quickly to avoid death!]

Staring at the gaping maw before him, Ji Linmo’s mind raced.

Wait—the girl, the birthday song, the weeping rabbit, the elephant...

Memories of the mural flashed through his head.

“Xuanxuan! Are you Xuanxuan? Your mother asked me to bring you buns!”

Quickly, Ji Linmo pulled out a paper-wrapped rabbit-shaped bun from his pocket.

Mottled with mold, the little rabbit-shaped bun rested in his palm.

The red eyes appeared again behind the door, fixing on the bun in Ji Linmo’s hand, stunned.

Then, the thing behind the door burst into wailing sobs.

“Mom... Mom!”

“Mom, help me! Help me!”

Tears streamed from the enormous red eyes, and Ji Linmo was set gently down by the tongue.

Just then, a falling tear transformed into a beam of white light.

[Congratulations, player! You have discovered the key clue: ‘Birthday Photo.’ Dungeon progress +25%.]

[Rabbit’s Tear]

[Item Quality: High]

[Item Description: You’ve realized who the rabbit is, haven’t you? Do you want to see it clearly?]

[Task 2: Find out where the rabbit is (Clues: 3/4)]

[Current dungeon progress: 75/100%]

Holding the jewel-like teardrop, Ji Linmo suddenly understood. He stared blankly at those eyes.

“Xuanxuan... your mother is on the first floor. Come out, and Uncle will take you to her.”

But the girl’s childish voice rose in a heart-wrenching cry.

“Uncle, help me! I can’t get out! I can’t!”

Suddenly seized by desperation, Ji Linmo began clawing at the wall where the iron door was set, tearing at the plaster. When he realized he was too slow, he shouted at Qin Feng.

“Qin Feng, hurry! Help me peel off the wall!”

Bit by bit, the wall plaster was stripped away, revealing a patch of red flesh beneath.

[After the girl disappeared, a massive shopping mall rose from the ground.]

[The fairy told the little girl she could grant her wish.]

[But the little girl had to pay a price.]

At last, the white wall crumbled, exposing the red flesh that formed the mall’s very walls, trembling with the girl’s every breath.

Ji Linmo cradled a chunk of the flesh in his hand, lowering his gaze.

[Congratulations, player! You have discovered the key clue: ‘Rabbit Wall.’ Dungeon progress +25%.]

[Rabbit Wall]

[Item Quality: High]

[Item Description: You have uncovered the truth.]

—Fairy sister, my mom says, if only there were a huge supermarket with endless food, drinks, and warm clothes, that would be wonderful.

—Can you give me a supermarket like that?

The girl—she’s the rabbit!

The entire colossal supermarket is her flesh and blood!

This was the wish she’d made to the “fairy”!