Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 359: Gu?

"Well, let’s head back for now and confirm the accuracy of this information with Hu Cang or Xiao Mochen. I believe this time they should give us an answer," Zhang Jingxu said with a smile.

So, Liu Xing and the other two returned to the teahouse run by Xiao Mochen. After all, there was nothing to do at Hu Cang’s place right now, so they might as well have some tea and chat in the teahouse.

Back at the teahouse, Xiao Mochen noticed Liu Xing and the others returning, so he arranged for the staff in the teahouse to prepare some tea for them.

At this moment, Liu Xing noticed a woman sitting next to Xiao Mochen. She was wearing a fitted qipao and was exceptionally beautiful and enchanting.

Fox spirit.

That was Liu Xing’s first impression of the woman because everything about her, from her appearance, figure, to her demeanor, gave off a seductive and alluring vibe. Liu Xing couldn’t help but associate her with the term "fox spirit."

However, Liu Xing quickly realized that this woman might actually be a fox spirit. After all, they were in the world of the Cthulhu RPG Game, and exceptionally attractive or handsome individuals were usually not ordinary humans. Based on Liu Xing’s earlier speculations, this module involved mythical creatures and supernatural events related to folklore. Additionally, Xiao Mochen was likely an important NPC in this module, so there should be a Side Quest associated with him. The Side Quests introduced so far were all related to mythical creatures.

Therefore, Liu Xing believed that the probability of the woman being a fox spirit was quite high.

Xiao Mochen introduced the woman by his side, and Zhang Jingxu translated, "This woman is Xiao Mochen’s wife, named Hu Li."

Hu Li.

This made Liu Xing even more convinced that Hu Li was a real fox spirit.

Hu Li nodded and said something with a smile. Although Liu Xing couldn’t understand, he couldn’t deny that Hu Li’s voice was very pleasant and still had that lazy and enchanting charm.

After Zhang Jingxu and Hu Li chatted for a while, they found a place to sit with Liu Xing and Ling Ishikawa. Zhang Jingxu then said, "Xiao Mochen is really lucky to have such a beautiful wife. No wonder he’s a doting husband."

Ling Ishikawa nodded and said with a smile, "But to be honest, this Hu Li could easily become an actress. She could play a role like Su Daji from Fengshen Bang, and she would be perfect for it."

Liu Xing added, "Exactly, that’s what I think too. Hu Li is incredibly captivating. If this were in the real world, I might have mistaken her for a fox spirit."

Zhang Jingxu stroked his chin and said, "Indeed, Hu Li really does resemble a fox spirit. But based on my knowledge, or rather, my master’s teachings, it’s not easy for a fox spirit to cultivate into human form. Without any special encounters, an ordinary fox would need at least a hundred years to develop intelligence. Foxes that live for over a hundred years are exceedingly rare."

"Even after gaining intelligence, they’re still just old foxes, not true fox spirits. At that point, they become a bit smarter, able to comprehend some natural laws. So, under certain fortuitous circumstances, some old foxes can come into contact with the path of cultivation and be considered fox spirits."

"But for a fox spirit to transform into a human form, it would require significant effort. The difference in appearance between a fox and a human is enormous. Fox spirits need to expend a great deal of magical energy to maintain their human form. So, generally speaking, only thousand-year-old fox spirits have a chance of genuinely transforming into human form. The probability of an ordinary fox becoming a thousand-year-old fox spirit is probably one in a billion. At least in recent times, after the founding of New China, the Daoist community hasn’t seen any fox spirits capable of human transformation. So, Hu Li probably isn’t a fox spirit. Otherwise, we could start buying lottery tickets after we leave Panlong Town."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow. Zhang Jingxu seemed to have set a flag with his statement.

Ling Ishikawa pondered for a moment and said, "Zhang Jingxu, my cheap master Serak has talked about a similar theory. He believes that humans are the chosen ones on Earth, and other creatures aspire to take human form. However, these creatures lack the intelligence to understand the gap between themselves and humans."

"But some creatures, through fortuitous encounters, receive help from mythical creatures or even Great Old Ones, evolving into intelligent beings not inferior to humans. These beings possess various extraordinary abilities, including the ability to transform into human form. However, they are usually individual entities, not a species. So, there’s no need to worry about them overthrowing humanity."

"But speaking of it, if my earlier speculation is correct, the creator of Panlong Town, this separate dimension, is likely either a powerful mythical creature or a Great Old One. With their strength, they could potentially nurture a monster. So, we can’t rule out the possibility that Hu Li is a fox spirit. Even the Black Flood Dragon, Disc Spirit, and the Black Cat Demon City existing in Panlong Town might be connected to that powerful entity."

Ling Ishikawa’s words resonated with Liu Xing because he also believed that there might be a hidden boss in this module. If he had knowledge in this area on his character card "WatanabeRyuusei," he would have suggested it earlier.

"If that’s the case, then Hu Li really could be a fox spirit. However, this means that there are at least four mythical creatures in Panlong Town, or rather, five, because only mythical creatures can transform the driver and the female guide into those ghostly forms. The four mythical creatures we’ve confirmed so far probably couldn’t achieve that," Zhang Jingxu said with some concern.

Hearing Zhang Jingxu’s words, Liu Xing thought of a movie, "The Cabin in the Woods."

"The Cabin in the Woods" was a classic horror film that revolved around a secluded cabin in the woods. Beneath it lay a secret facility of a mysterious organization used to imprison various supernatural creatures and murderous maniacs. Their goal was to sacrifice those who entered the cabin to an ancient god lurking below.

Although "The Cabin in the Woods" was essentially a satire of conventional horror film tropes, Liu Xing felt that the current situation in this module was somewhat similar to the story. Both involved the gathering of various mythical creatures in a relatively isolated space, with a hidden boss pulling the strings behind the scenes. As for Liu Xing and his group mistakenly entering Panlong Town, they might be the sacrifices.

Thinking about it this way, it seemed entirely possible.

Fortunately, even in this parallel world, there was a movie like "The Cabin in the Woods."

So, Liu Xing said casually, "If that’s the case, doesn’t our current situation resemble the movie ’The Cabin in the Woods’?"

Ling Ishikawa and Zhang Jingxu were momentarily puzzled but quickly understood what Liu Xing meant.

"Indeed, our situation does have some similarities with the plot of ’The Cabin in the Woods.’ We’ve only explored Panlong Town briefly, and we’ve already discovered five mythical creatures. If we were to thoroughly investigate Panlong Town, we might find even more mythical creatures. After all, places like the slaughterhouse and clinic are usually accident sites in horror movies," Ling Ishikawa nodded.

Zhang Jingxu furrowed his brow, saying with some frustration, "If that’s the case, our current situation is even more challenging than when we were in Fisher’s Village initially. At least with the Deep Ones and Shoggoths, we had some knowledge and a few defensive weapons. Now, we only know the names of our opponents, and we don’t even have any defensive weapons."

Zhang Jingxu was right. Liu Xing and Ling Ishikawa’s defensive weapons couldn’t be brought into China’s territory, and Zhang Jingxu hadn’t planned to carry any defensive weapons, as he relied on his Daoist skills.

Just then, a young man burst into the teahouse and loudly spoke to Xiao Mochen. Liu Xing saw Xiao Mochen’s expression change, and he quickly rushed out of the teahouse, with Hu Li following him naturally.

"Xiao Mochen’s father is in trouble," Zhang Jingxu said with a furrowed brow. "Let’s go outside and see."

Liu Xing nodded and stood up.

At that moment, everyone in the teahouse rushed outside to see what was happening.

Liu Xing and the others left the teahouse and saw a large crowd gathered at the entrance of a supermarket not far away. It seemed that the drug addict was indeed Xiao Mochen’s father, who had likely overdosed.

Approaching the crowd, Liu Xing spotted a middle-aged man in a white coat, carrying a first aid kit, hurrying over and pushing through the crowd.

Liu Xing and the others took the opportunity to join the crowd.

In the midst of the crowd, Xiao Mochen’s father lay on the ground, convulsing and struggling to breathe. The middle-aged man began to administer first aid to him.

After observing for a while, Liu Xing could tell that this middle-aged man was quite skilled. He induced vomiting successfully with a few maneuvers and then directed Xiao Mochen’s father, who had regained some consciousness, to drink water.

"This middle-aged man is Zhong Rensan, the head of Panlong Town’s clinic and one of the town’s two doctors. The other doctor is Hu Cang," Zhang Jingxu shared the information he had learned with Liu Xing and Ling Ishikawa.

Soon, after Xiao Mochen’s father regained consciousness, he was taken to the clinic by Zhong Rensan for further treatment, and the onlookers dispersed.

Just as Liu Xing and the others were about to leave, KP Snow Wind suddenly said, "Alright, now let the four players here make an Inspiration Judgment."

Another Inspiration Judgment? Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, thinking that his Inspiration Judgment was likely to succeed this time.

Liu Xing: 62/70, successful.

As expected.

However, this time not everyone passed the Inspiration Judgment; only Zhang Jingxu "luckily" failed.

After the Inspiration Judgment, Liu Xing couldn’t help but look at the vomit that Xiao Mochen’s father had just expelled.

At this moment, something unexpected happened. A small, finger-sized white maggot emerged from the vomit, wriggled for a moment, and then burrowed directly into the ground, disappearing from sight.

Seeing this, Liu Xing was shocked. It appeared that Xiao Mochen’s father had not suffered an accident due to a drug overdose, but because of this maggot.

With this realization, Liu Xing couldn’t help but look up at the room above the supermarket, as Xiao Mochen’s father had experienced the incident there.

To his surprise, a masked man was standing at the window on the upper floor of the supermarket, staring at them with cold eyes.

After locking eyes with Liu Xing for three seconds, the masked man snorted coldly and turned away.

Liu Xing furrowed his brow, thinking that the masked man was likely the culprit.

"Did you see that? A maggot just crawled out of that pool of vomit. Could it be the legendary Gu poison?" Ling Ishikawa said, looking shocked.

Liu Xing shook his head and said quietly, "Let’s go back to Hu Cang’s place for now. There was a masked person watching us from upstairs at the supermarket."

Upon hearing Liu Xing’s words, everyone didn’t hesitate and went straight back to Hu Cang’s clinic.

At that moment, Hu Cang was chatting with Li Dian in the clinic.

"They’re discussing what just happened," Zhang Jingxu said before joining the conversation with Hu Cang and the others.

Liu Xing and Ling Ishikawa shrugged helplessly and sat down to talk amongst themselves.

"Leader, do you think the person watching us from upstairs in the supermarket could be the one who poisoned Xiao Mochen’s father?" Ling Ishikawa asked seriously.

Liu Xing nodded and said, "It’s very likely. However, we don’t have evidence to prove it yet, so we can only suspect. But speaking of which, why haven’t we seen the town hall and police station in Panlong Town? They should be the most prominent buildings in a township."

In theory, the town hall and police station should be the most conspicuous structures in a town, but Liu Xing felt that he and his group had explored most of Panlong Town and had yet to come across any signs of these buildings.

Ling Ishikawa rubbed his chin and also expressed his confusion, "Yeah, I haven’t seen the town hall and police station in Panlong Town at all."

At this moment, Zhang Jingxu walked over and said, "Xiao Mochen’s father’s name is Xiao Dafu..."

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