Tao Chengxin indeed didn’t have much money, and the accommodation fee of thousands of White Notes per night was simply unbearable. Yongxing didn’t interfere with guests fighting, so after entering, she began to look for a target. Xu Huo seemed weaker and had extravagantly moved into the top floor, naturally becoming the first choice.
However, she had the intent to kill and rob, but Xu Huo didn’t fall for it. He neither left his room when tricked nor intimidated, and any item in that room was enough to make her bankrupt, forcing her to return empty-handed.
Despite her complaints, they were now in the same boat, so she still took out her tool.
It was a two-meter-long fishing rod.
Tao Chengxin pinched the rod with her fingers and threw the fishing line towards the Skull forcefully, but due to her immobile wrist, she lacked accuracy and failed to hook the Skull even after several attempts.
"Are you going to make it? If not, let me try," Xu Huo said from across.
Tao Chengxin ignored him and tried a few more times. Finally, she hooked one of the Skull’s eyes, but just as she began to pull it, all four Skulls in the room suddenly took flight!
"Fuck!" Tao Chengxin cursed.
The four Skulls, two flying towards each person by the dining table and hovering in front of them, one of them suddenly dropped its jaw, and a rolled scroll slipped out revealing a blue-background menu—similar to the Bear’s Paw Restaurant’s menu.
However, the writing had changed, the beginning read: "All things are edible, all things can be eaten."
Below were listed the menu items:
"Candied Black Musk Melon—A refreshingly subtle and elegant aroma."
"Crunchy Burnt Ginkgo—Bursting with crisp and refreshing flavor."
"Pink Fragrant Kiss—Like the kiss of a beautiful woman."
"Cherry Pie—Melt in your mouth sweetness."
"Roasted Garlic Lever Slices—A lingering delicious fullness."
"Stewed Pork Chops—As delicate as skin."
"Boiling Crimson Sauce—Essence of spring."
Seeing this menu, Xu Huo immediately frowned. Bear’s Paw Restaurant was not a normal restaurant, and naturally, the menu couldn’t possibly be ordinary food. His eyes flashed with a glimmer of light as he shifted his gaze from the menu to Tao Chengxin across from him.
On the other side, Tao Chengxin also read out her menu:
"Stir-fried Fragrant Slices, Clear-Stewed Red Heart, Ginger Steamed Mushrooms, Stewed Pork Chops, Boiling Crimson Sauce... Are we supposed to order?"
"The menu at Bear’s Paw Restaurant doesn’t seem ."
"Do we have to order to leave?"
"What are all these things?"
Confused, Xu Huo only had to repeat her menu in his mind to understand, "Your menu is me."
Tao Chengxin was startled, seemingly not comprehending, "What did you say?"
Xu Huo read out his menu, "Candied Black Musk Melon is hair, Crunchy Burnt Ginkgo is eyeballs, Pink Fragrant Kiss is lips, Cherry Pie is breasts, the liver slices and pork chops are self-explanatory, and the Crimson Sauce is blood."
"Fragrant Slices might be tongue, Red Heart is the heart, mushrooms are male genitals, your menu is me."
Only then did Tao Chengxin realize the implication, her complexion turning slightly pale, "Are they asking us to eat each other? Does the restaurant intend to turn us into dishes?"
"No way!" she instinctively looked at the other menu, "There’s another one..."
Before she could finish, the second scroll unfurled, revealing a crimson-red paper that changed the style from the previous menu:
"Greedy, vicious eyes—crush them!"
"Tongues that wag with slander—crush them!"
"Malevolent, foolish lips—crush them!"
"Black-hearted, black-lunged livers in a chaotic stew—eat them!"
"Unrestrained, dishonorable instruments—eat them!"
"Hands and feet stained with human life—eat them!"
"Blood flowing with sin—bleed it dry!"
A malicious aura spilled out from the chaotic menu, startling Tao Chengxin so much that she instinctively leaned back, but since her body was bound to the chair, she could only glower and try to shrink her neck, blurting out in fright, "Who is this meal for?"
"Apart from others, it’s yourself," Xu Huo replied. Anything could be eaten, and anything could become food. Humans could eat others, or be eaten themselves!
Once on the dining table, everyone is food!
Suddenly, the hands resting on the armrest rose uncontrollably and reached toward the menu in front.
The power that bound him was once again manipulating his choice of menu!
Xu Huo’s gaze darkened, and he immediately clenched his fists, trying his best not to touch the scroll.
It wasn’t the case that choosing to eat someone else would allow him to escape; the two menus might not present a multiple-choice question. Choosing to eat others first might lead to having to eat oneself afterward!
He absolutely could not touch these two menus!
But the danger didn’t only stem from his own uncontrollable self; others across from him, in extreme situations, could do anything to survive.
He was about to warn her, but didn’t expect that Tao Chengxin couldn’t calm down at all. In a panic, she grabbed the fishing rod to swipe at the menu in front of her, and in her haste, she didn’t make a choice but inadvertently hit the one on the right!
The right side was the red menu!
The moment her tool touched the menu, it suddenly turned into a stream of red smoke and poured into her mouth and nose. Seconds later, blood streamed from her eyes, ears, and nose, followed by vomiting. First, it was blood, and then her chest and abdomen convulsed as if even her organs were going to come out!
Xu Huo made a split-second decision to snap his uncontrollable index finger with his thumb, buying himself a moment of respite. His peripheral vision then suddenly caught the Magic Cube floating up beside the chair!
His eyes shone sharply, and the piano wire, which had been hovering under his chair, flew out, looping toward the air behind the Magic Cube!
A figure, that should have been empty, was outlined by the piano wire and then, struggling, was dragged by the wire to crash into the chair!
The moment the chair toppled over, the force that had been binding Xu Huo dissipated. He kicked off the person pressing down on him and overturned the long table with one hand!
As the long table flipped, Tao Chengxin was thrown out, and simultaneously, the aromatic, secret room plunged into darkness—not because the lights went out, but because this place was never a secret room to begin with. The place where they were trapped was the restaurant on the second floor!
Like the Gourmet sitting at the dining table before them, they too were trapped in an illusion!
Kicking away the chair at his feet, Xu Huo turned to the person who had accidentally helped him a moment ago. This person had already stood up, holding his Magic Cube defensively.
As their eyes met, that person promptly picked up a table nearby and smashed it toward him!
Xu Huo deflected the table and was about to move forward when suddenly two cleavers flew from the stairway of the second floor, aiming at him and the person with the Magic Cube!
The two dodged separately, but upon looking up, they saw a puppet from the first floor aggressively rush into the restaurant, wildly hacking with the two cleavers!
Xu Huo became its first target. He raised the Bull Shield to block the cleavers, and with his right hand, the Crimson Sword swept across the puppet’s waist!
"Bang bang!" The puppet was chopped in half, and its torso and legs fell to the ground, its joints scattering apart with a clatter. But in less than a second, the pieces began to move back together, quickly re-constituting the figure, which then leapt furiously onto the Bull Shield, its feet hooked onto the edge as it rained down a barrage of chops!
Xu Huo deflected the attacks with the sword while ducking slightly, then crashed the puppet against the wall while holding the shield. As it fell apart once more, he took the chance to kick away one of its arms, not expecting the arm to twist mid-air and release the cleaver it had been holding, tossing it back at him!