Inside the inn at the Blood Pond Clan's territory in Hell Valley.
The door creaked open slowly, releasing a musty stench of decay. Uchiha Naori's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she wordlessly stepped inside, followed by Kirigakure and Nian.
This was a standard inn, with the entire room dimly lit by candlelight. The aged elmwood floors and worn-out tables and chairs all spoke of the establishment's simplicity.
Most importantly, among the seven individuals that Naori was particularly focused on inside the inn, only two showed any reaction when they entered.
One was the woman behind the counter, who merely glanced up briefly before losing interest.
The other was a shop assistant dressed in coarse linen clothes, who immediately put on a broad smile and hurried forward to greet the three newcomers.
"Welcome, honored guests. Will you be dining or staying with us tonight?"
Kirito instinctively glanced at Nian, his heart pounding. According to Nian, the man before them possessed a soul strength that rivaled even Naori's.
Fortunately, the three of them had removed their Uchiha clan garments before entering, drawing no unwanted attention.
"We'll dine," Naori replied calmly, her expression perfectly composed as she led the other two to their seats.
This table was right by the entrance and faced the hall directly. If things spiraled out of control, they could bolt through the door at a moment's notice.
"Coming right up!"
Naori took the menu and casually remarked while ordering, "It's rather quiet today, isn't it?"
"Ah, that's just how business goes—customers come and go," the shop assistant replied with a smile.
"So, what number customers are we?" Naori glanced at him, her delicate eyebrows slightly raised.
"Well... that's actually hard to answer." The waiter waved his hand, his tone carrying a hint of urgency. "Sir, you'd better order first. I can't wait for you to taste our chef's skills!"
"What's the hurry?" Naori wasn't having it, leisurely flipping through the menu while her other hand instinctively reached under the table, idly tracing patterns on the underside.
Just then, heavy footsteps sounded from upstairs. A burly man with sleepy eyes came down yawning. He glanced around, seemingly searching for the waiter's location, then strode over and plopped down at the table next to the trio.
"Three pounds of venison, a dish of pickled mustard greens, and half a pound of rice wine for me." He rubbed his eyes and called out without looking up.
Seeing the waiter remain unmoved, he immediately bellowed, "Bastard! Can't you hear me speaking?"
"Uh, my apologies, honored guest. Our establishment is rather small with only me as the sole attendant. Right now is this gentleman's turn to order," the waiter replied with sweat beading on his forehead, his tone clearly forced.
"Hmph, taking forever just to order." The burly man slammed the table, his temper clearly frayed.
The hall instantly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Two diners silently stood up and moved away from the burly man's position, coincidentally forming a surrounding formation as they sat around the trio, their dishes also being relocated to their new seats.
Naori chose not to confront directly, casually ordering a few dishes instead. The waiter quickly took the menu and handed it to the front desk before shouting into the hall:
"Meiya! Tell the kitchen to hurry up!"
The woman named "Meiya" nodded coldly before turning and walking behind the curtain.
The shop assistant immediately turned around to serve the burly man, occasionally letting out obsequious laughter.
Before long, dishes were brought to the table one after another, their colors enticing and aromas mouthwatering.
"Why did you order so much?" Kirito asked with surprise.
With her back to the entrance, Naori's delicate face suddenly turned serious. She tapped the table with her slender finger, glanced downward meaningfully, then deliberately knocked over the food container.
The siblings'默契 spoke volumes. Kirito immediately understood, bending down to retrieve it. While reorganizing the scattered utensils, he stealthily glanced upward and suddenly widened his eyes in shock.
There beneath the table, small characters were carved:
"Welcome to The Five Rules Inn."
"Step inside and the game begins."
"Rule One: The silent are eliminated."
"Rule Two: Those who don't eat are eliminated."
"Rule Three: Those who stand up are eliminated."
"Rule Four: Those who fail to follow the sequence of one bite meat, two bites vegetables, three sips drink shall be eliminated."
Kirito stiffly picked up his utensils, straightened his posture, his face having already turned deathly pale.
Meanwhile, the burly man began feasting heartily - one bite of meat, one bite of vegetables, one sip of wine - thoroughly enjoying himself with unrestrained delight.
The hall was dimly lit, filled with the sound of chewing, occasional clinks of bowls and chopsticks, and faint whispers like the buzzing of mosquitoes.
Looking at the lavish spread of dishes on the table, Kirito felt nothing but nausea. Across from him, Naori's expression wasn't much better—clearly, she had already learned about these so-called rules.
At that moment, Kirito wanted nothing more than to get up and leave, but he lacked the courage to break the rules.
Among the three of them, it was the youngest, Uchiha Nian, who remained the most composed. Propping up his chopsticks, he picked up a piece of meat and popped it into his mouth, his cheeks puffing in and out as he chewed.
"Pah." He spat out, immediately spewing onto the table.
He picked up another piece of diced radish with his chopsticks, chewed twice before spitting it out again. Lifting his teacup, he noisily rinsed his mouth before suddenly spraying it onto the burly man sitting beside him.
"Ptooey!"
This scene made Kirin's heart pound wildly with fright, while even Tomoe looked somewhat startled.
"Fucking hell, you little brat asking for death?!"
The burly man flew into a rage, slamming the table as he stood up and grabbed Nian by the collar in one stride. But as if suddenly remembering something, his face turned deathly pale.
Then came a scene that made one's scalp crawl. The man's eyes widened in terror as his flesh began melting unnaturally, like a wax figure scorched by flames, his limbs and torso dissolving inch by inch into the ground.
Accompanied by a horrifying sizzling sound, he transformed into a pool of bloody water within mere seconds, seeping through the cracks in the floorboards.
Kirito instinctively looked out the window, only to see a stream of blood flowing along the ground's crevices, converging into the central blood pool.
"Ugh!"
He uncontrollably retched, nearly falling from his seat, fortunately saved when Nian grabbed his arm.
Now he finally understood how that pool of blood had come to be!
Could it be that every member of the Blood Pool Clan has dissolved into blood!?
Only then did he realize that the two diners who had gotten up to change seats earlier had completely vanished without a trace.
Suppressing their nausea, Kirito and Tomoe reluctantly picked up their chopsticks and sampled the dishes in order. As expected, the flavors were bizarre—utterly different from ordinary human cuisine.
Suddenly, Kirito noticed that Nian beside him had frozen mid-motion. His eyes bulged violently as he clutched his own throat, foaming at the mouth before convulsing violently and collapsing from his seat.
"What!"
"Why!"
"Nian clearly followed the rules!"
He screamed Nian's name in terror while bending down, trying to pull Nian up from the ground, but it was utterly futile. He could only watch helplessly as Nian melted inch by inch, turning into bloody liquid that seeped into the floorboards.
Overwhelming grief drowned him.
Suddenly, his casual glance under the table revealed—to his shock—that at the very bottom of the inscribed rules, there was one more line of tiny text.
"Rule Five: It is forbidden to obey all the above rules."
Kirito's entire body turned ice-cold as bean-sized sweat droplets rolled down his temples.
"Kirito, wake up quickly!"
An urgent call from Naori came from above the table.
Kirito's lips trembled as he hurriedly got up, "Sister, what should we do? Nian... Nian is dead!"
"Kirito, eat your meal now!"
"?"
"Kirito, hurry up!"
Kirito stared at his sister in disbelief, watching as she called out to the empty space beside her as if someone was sitting there.
"Sister, I'm right here!" Kirito shouted.
As if hearing his voice, Naori stopped calling out and suddenly turned to look at him.
In that instant, Kirigo's soul nearly left his body, because the sister before him—that gentle, refined face—had completely transformed into the appearance of the shop assistant, grinning at him eerily with hollow eyes that radiated an overwhelming sense of dread.
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