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Chapter 39: Food And Danger Detector

Meanwhile, in the back kitchen.

Zhi pushed open the heavy door and took a step inside, his vigilant eyes taking notes of the surroundings.

Toward the compressed and musty odor in the air, he did not even bat an eyelid and merely wrinkled his nose to show his discomfort. His eyes immediately went to the wooden cabinets and shelves. If there was a place to store food, then it could only be there.

With a flick of his hand, a dagger appeared in his palm and he held it in his grip as he trudged deeper into the neglected kitchen. He used the tip of the dagger to hook the cabinet handle and yanked it open, coughing when the movement caused the thick dust to blast him right on the face.

Inside the cabinet was nothing more than a stack of antique plates whose surface had been covered by a thin layer of dust.

Leaving it alone, he moved to the next cabinet. But at that moment, a slight movement entered the corner of his eyes. Startled, he turned around, his grip tightening around the dagger ready to throw it forward... only to see that it was only a little gray mouse peeking at him from behind the can on the floor.

"Ciit...!" the ruby-eyed mouse let out a squeak and hurriedly scrambled away once it saw that it had been noticed, and Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.

So it was only a mouse...

There was nothing strange about seeing a mouse or two in the kitchen. His tense muscles loosened and he went to rummage through the cabinets again.

Unaware that behind him, in the dark corners where the light could not reach, numerous pairs of tiny ruby eyes snapped open one after another, staring unblinkingly at him.

***

"Ah, that\'s right," Jin Jiuchi suddenly recalled something when they were walking down the second floor\'s corridor. He bent down to catch Nian\'s purple eyes, asking for the second time, "What kind of deal are you making with that man, Nian\'er?"

The more Nian thought about it, the more he felt like he had been tricked by Jin Jiuchi\'s crocodile tears and thus, he refused to look at the man\'s deceitful face. "None of your business," he stated coldly and came to a stop in the room closest to the stairs – 201. The shortage of food had arrived at the perfect time. Now he would be able to do what he had been planning for since entering this Cycle under the guise of searching for food.

...If only this damned husky did not stick to him like glue.

Why did he tell Jin Jiuchi to follow him again? Water must have entered his brain for him to blurt that out in the heat of the moment. He should have kicked this man as far away as possible!

"So cruel..." Jin Jiuchi grumbled, feeling extremely wronged. "I\'m telling it for your own good. Nian\'er, that man smells funny and treacherous. I reckon that he must have done a lot of thieving acts in the past. So you must be careful not to get cheated!!"

\'Are you the reincarnation of a hound?\' Once again, Nian found himself wandering. He grew amused by the unexpected concern he found in Jin Jiuchi\'s words. Exactly who was the newbie and who was the veteran here?

"I can tell at a glance that he is not a good person," he let out a light scoff. "You will meet more people like that the longer you spend in the Cycle. Even if someone is a respected scholar in the normal world, here, there is no telling how many people they have harmed just to survive. Isn\'t it repulsive?"

As he spoke, he pulled out a familiar yellow talisman from his pocket, ready to stick it to the door in front of him when he suddenly perceived a heated presence approaching him from behind.

"Hmm..." Jin Jiuchi sniffed on the back of the jade doll\'s neck. "But you still smell pure and—oww!" He held his throbbing cheek and cried out abuse, "Nian\'er, why did you slap me?!"

"...And you still dare to ask why!" Nian gritted out with his cheeks flushing red. He rearranged his long silver hair to cover his neck so as to not give this crazy pervert another chance to smell him again. \'Pure\'? Did he just say \'pure\'? How could he tell that Nian was still—

Nian choked, unable to finish that line of thought lest he would really be angered to death. As expected, this man was really a crazy pervert through and through!

No longer giving Jin Jiuchi any attention, he turned away with a huff and slapped the yellow talisman on the door. Almost in an instant, the cinnabar on the talisman glowed red, then it started to wiggle out of the paper in lieu of slipping into the room through any cracks it could find.

"Wow...!" Jin Jiuchi\'s silver eyes flew wide in wonder, and he turned to look at Nian with awe. "Another excellent magic trick!!"

He was ignored, of course.

Upon receiving the signal from inside, Nian held the door handle and pushed it open to reveal an empty room which looked like it belonged to a young woman. The things inside were neatly organized; two large plush dolls lay on the bed covered in light pink sheets, and a dressing table stood against one side of the wall with a few tubes of cosmetics and various skin care lined up on it.

Nian\'s eyes brightened when he saw this. Surely, this kind of person must have one or two snacks stored in her room, right?

"Let\'s search here," he said as he walked into the room, but then he noticed that Jin Jiuchi merely stood on the doorway without taking a step in. He furrowed his brow, "What\'s wrong with you again?"

"Nian\'er..." Jin Jiuchi tilted his head in confusion. "Do you want to get those plush dolls?"

Nian rolled his eyes. He could not even begin to guess what was running through Jin Jiuchi\'s mind for him to ask this kind of ridiculous question. In this place where their life and death remained uncertain until the very last second, who would care about plush dolls?!

"We are searching for FOOD," he emphasized each word, wishing that he could be tall enough to whack Jin Jiuchi on the head.

Jin Jiuchi blinked. "But there\'s no food here though?"

"What?!"

"If you want food..." Jin Jiuchi took a step back and sniffed the air. He then pointed at the room diagonal to the one they were at. "You can find it there."

By now, Nian did not even bother to question how superb Jin Jiuchi\'s sense of smell was – especially when it was related to food. He rushed forward and angrily kicked Jin Jiuchi on the shin, earning him a yelp of surprise, "Tell me sooner if you can smell something like that, you damned husky! I wasted one prop just for nothing!"

"Ow– ow ow ow!" Jin Jiuchi clutched his leg while jumping around, eyes wide in bewilderment. "H–Husky?! How am I a husky?!"

Enraged, Nian stomped toward the room Jin Jiuchi pointed at, his purple eyes burning bright in rage. He did not even realize how much trust he had in the man to follow his words without a question.

***

At lunch time, everyone gathered again in the dining hall.

"Wow..." Tang Ye\'s eyes went huge in awe as he stared at the assortment of compressed biscuits, potato chips, and a sealed can of cookies on the table. His eyes moved to the smug Jin Jiuchi, so happy that he almost shed tears. "You guys found all of these within four hours?! Yes, we will definitely be able to survive today just fine!"

Xinxin couldn\'t take her gaze off the food, her throat bobbing hungrily, "T–There is so much food..."

"Hehe," Jin Jiuchi rubbed his nose with a proud look. "Ain\'t I awesome?"

"Yes, yes! Brother Yang is awesome! The most awesome in the whole world!" The two of them continued to spout rainbow farts, making Jin Jiuchi\'s nose turn up higher and higher to the sky.

Beside him, Nian subtly rolled his eyes. Okay, maybe he was a little impressed. Jin Jiuchi\'s sense of smell was more acute than he expected. Not only could he detect a sealed can of cookies from outside the door, he could even tell if there was something suspicious inside, saving Nian from having to use up his talismans!

Nian could finally find a reason to keep Jin Jiuchi by his side despite the man being annoying, perverted and childish.

Food and danger detector. En, it sounded quite nice.

"Brother Zhi!" Tang Ye waved at the man who had just stepped in through the door. "Come here and look at what Brother Yang had found for us! How about you? Do you find something?"

Zhi reached into his pocket and took out a package of compressed biscuits, placing it on the table. "Just this."

"Okay, okay, that\'s alright. I\'m sure we are all starving right now. How about we share..."

Nian felt something tugging on his sleeves and he raised his head to find Jin Jiuchi staring at him with a rarely solemn look on his face. His heart skipped a beat and when the man led him away from the crowd to the corner of the hall, he followed along without a word.

"What\'s wrong?" He asked after they were already out of earshot, not knowing why he was lowering his voice.

"Nian\'er," Jin Jiuchi stared at him seriously. There was none of the silliness akin to a husky he had always shown. His sharp jaws were tense, and his silver eyes hardened into steel, giving him an air of aggression that caused Nian\'s heart to race.

"W–What is it?"

"That man..." Jin Jiuchi furrowed his brows. "That man who came in last, he is not Brother Zhi."

.

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A/N: there is a mass release event on 11th, 20th and 26th May so please wait for it ^^