In Hell Valley, inside an Inn within the Blood Pond Clan Territory.
The door creaked open, and a mix of mildew and musty odors wafted out. Zhi Li of the Uchiha Clan frowned slightly, leading Tong Ren and Nen silently inside.
This was a standard Inn. The room was dim overall, lit only by candlelight. The simple elm floorboards and old furniture spoke of the Inn's humble nature.
Most importantly, of the seven people inside the Inn that Zhi Li was highly concerned about, only two reacted when they entered.
One was the woman behind the counter, who merely glanced up before losing interest.
The other was the Shop Assistant dressed in coarse linen, who greeted them with a beaming smile and hurried over as soon as he saw them enter.
"Welcome, esteemed guests! Are you here to dine or stay?"
Tong Ren subconsciously glanced at Nen, his heart pounding. According to Nen, the person before them was the man whose soul strength was comparable to Zhi Li's.
Fortunately, the three of them had removed their Uchiha Clan robes before entering, so they didn't attract any attention.
"Dining," Zhi Li replied calmly, her expression natural, as she led the two to a table.
This table was close to the entrance and faced the hall, allowing them to escape quickly if things got out of control.
"Alright!"
Zhi Li took the menu and casually asked while ordering, "It's a bit quiet today, isn't it?"
"Ah, it's just business. It's common to have fewer customers," the Shop Assistant replied with a smile.
"So, what number customer are we?" Zhi Li glanced at him, her eyebrows slightly raised.
"That... is hard to say." The Shop Assistant waved his hand, his tone urging, "Esteemed guest, please order first. I can't wait for you to taste our chef's cooking!"
"What's the rush?" Zhi Li didn't take the bait, slowly flipping through the menu, her other hand instinctively reaching under the table, feeling around the bottom.
At that moment, heavy footsteps came from upstairs. A burly man, rubbing his sleepy eyes, came downstairs. He glanced around, seemingly looking for the Shop Assistant, then strode over and plopped down at the table next to them.
"Slice three pounds of Roe Deer Meat, a dish of Mustard Greens, and half a pound of Rice Wine for me," he said, rubbing his eyes and speaking to himself.
Seeing that the Shop Assistant didn't react, he immediately roared, "Bastard! Didn't you hear me?"
"Um, esteemed guest, I'm really sorry, but our Inn is small, and I'm the only assistant. It's this esteemed guest's turn now," the Shop Assistant said, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, his tone apologetic.
"Hmph, taking forever to order," the burly man slammed the table, quite agitated.
The hall instantly became silent. Two diners silently got up and moved away from the burly man, coincidentally surrounding the three of them. Their dishes were also moved to their new seats.
Zhi Li didn't choose to confront him directly, seemingly casually ordering a few dishes. The Shop Assistant quickly took the menu, handed it to the front desk, and shouted into the kitchen:
"Mei Ya! Tell the kitchen to hurry!"
The woman named "Mei Ya" nodded indifferently, turned, and walked into the curtains.
The Shop Assistant immediately turned around and began serving the burly man, constantly offering apologies.
Soon, the dishes were brought to the table one after another, their colors enticing and their aromas fragrant.
"Why did you order so much?" Tong Ren asked, surprised.
With her back to the hall, Zhi Li's pretty face suddenly turned serious. She tapped the table with her jade finger, glanced downwards, and then deliberately knocked the lunchbox off.
Needless to say, the siblings had a tacit understanding. Tong Ren immediately understood, bent down to pick it up, and while tidying up the scattered tableware, he quietly looked up, his eyes widening suddenly.
Under the table, several lines of small characters were engraved.
"Welcome to the Five Rules Inn."
"Enter the inn, and the game begins."
"Rule 1: The silent are eliminated."
"Rule 2: The non-eaters are eliminated."
"Rule 3: Those who stand up are eliminated."
"Rule 4: Those who do not follow one bite of meat, two bites of vegetables, and three sips of drink are eliminated."
Tong Ren stiffly picked up the tableware, sat up straight, his face already pale.
On the other side, the strong man began to eat and drink heartily, one bite of meat, one bite of vegetables, one sip of wine, enjoying himself to the fullest.
In the hall, the lights were dim, and the air was filled with the sound of chewing, the occasional clinking of bowls and chopsticks, and the faint whispers like mosquitoes.
Looking at the rich dishes on the table, Tong Ren only felt nauseous. Zhi Li's expression was not much better, obviously she already knew the so-called rules.
At that moment, Tong Ren only wanted to get up and leave, but he didn't have the courage to break the rules.
Among the three, the youngest Uchiha Nen was much calmer. He poked his chopsticks, picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, his cheeks bulging.
"Pui." he said, then spat it out on the table.
He picked up a piece of diced radish, chewed it twice and spat it out again, raised his tea and gargled, and then, suddenly sprayed it on the strong man next to him.
"Pfft!"
This scene made Tong Ren's heart beat wildly, and even Zhi Li was a little surprised.
"Damn it, you little bastard, are you looking for death!"
The strong man was furious, slammed the table and stood up, took a step over and grabbed Nen's collar, but he seemed to have suddenly thought of something, his face turning pale.
Immediately afterwards, a scalp-numbing scene occurred. The strong man widened his eyes in horror, and his flesh and blood began to melt strangely, like a wax figure roasted by fire, melting into the earth inch by inch from his limbs to his torso.
Accompanied by a creepy "hissing" sound, he turned into a pool of blood in a matter of seconds, seeping into the cracks in the floor.
Tong Ren subconsciously looked out the window, only to see a stream of blood flowing along the grooves in the ground, merging into the central Blood Pond.
"Ugh!"
He retched uncontrollably, almost falling off his seat, but fortunately Nen grabbed his arm.
He now knew how that pool of blood came to be!
Could it be that all the people of the Blood Pond Clan had turned into blood!!?
At this time, he realized that the two diners who had gotten up to change seats had disappeared.
Suppressing their nausea, Tong Ren and Zhi Li also picked up their chopsticks one after another, tasting the food in order. As expected, the taste was strange, very different from the dishes that ordinary people eat.
Suddenly, Tong Ren noticed that Nen beside him had stopped moving. His eyes bulged, and he clutched his own neck. In a violent spasm, he foamed at the mouth and rolled off the seat.
"What!"
"Why!"
"Nen clearly followed the rules!"
He shouted Nen's name in horror, while bending down, wanting to pull Nen up from the ground, but it was of no use at all, he could only watch helplessly as he melted inch by inch, turning into blood that seeped into the floor.
A huge sadness overwhelmed him.
Suddenly, he inadvertently glanced under the table and was shocked to find that at the very bottom of the line of small characters engraved with the rules, there was actually another line of small characters.
"Rule Five: It is forbidden to obey all of the above rules."
Tong Ren felt a chill run down his spine, and beads of sweat the size of beans flowed from his forehead.
"Tong Ren, get up quickly!"
Zhi Li's urgent cry came from above the table.
Tong Ren's lips trembled, and he quickly got up, "Sister, what should we do? Nen... Nen is dead!"
"Tong Ren, eat quickly!"
"?"
"Tong Ren, hurry up!"
Tong Ren stared at his sister in disbelief, watching her shout at the air beside her, as if someone was sitting there.
"Sister, I'm here!" Tong Ren shouted.
As if hearing his voice, Zhi Li stopped shouting and suddenly turned her head to look over.
At that moment, Tong Ren's soul flew away, because the delicate and gentle face of the sister in front of him had completely turned into the Shop Assistant's appearance, smiling at him sinisterly, with a strong sense of weirdness in his hollow eyes.
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