CHAPTER 247: CHAPTER 247: DIRECTLY FEED HIM SHIT

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

"Huh? Seriously, you want a story?"

The shop owner glanced at Yellow Hair and took his hundred bucks. "Your money is all that’s needed."

She looked at the old man. "Let’s hear about your life."

The red-haired girl laughed. "Boss lady, you’re so funny."

Yellow Hair gently patted his girlfriend’s waist, then smiled apologetically at the shop owner and the old man. He whispered something Ren Suo couldn’t hear, but a dialog box popped up over his head: "Look, the old man seems like he doesn’t have much money. The boss lady is doing a good deed. Don’t say anything that might embarrass him."

Ren Suo looked at Yellow Hair in surprise, not expecting him to be so considerate of a stranger. Guess you can’t judge a book by its cover.

The old man ordered a bowl of Yangchun noodles. The shop owner nodded and spoke to Yellow Hair, "I’ll make noodles for the old man first; you guys wait a bit."

"We were here first..."

Yellow Hair pressed on the red-haired girl’s waist again and smiled at the shop owner. "We’re not in a hurry. Take your time."

The shop owner drank a cup of free 1% concentration Holy Water, listened to the old man’s life story, and started extracting keywords. The couple, either bored or out of phone battery, sat nearby listening to the old man’s stories, occasionally whispering comments:

"This place was still countryside? The old man is that old?"

"The old man even had to pay protection money in the past."

"If I were born in the old man’s era, I would definitely make big money flipping properties."

The shop owner and the old man ignored them until the old man revealed the end of his life:

"...my two sons, one joined a club and died. The other went north, and I don’t know how he’s doing now. I pick up cans and plastic bottles on the street to exchange for Mantou and buns..."

Keywords: "sons."

The old man sighed. "Got old, tripped and broke my leg while going out to pee at night. Couldn’t cry out, and the weather got cold too. I lay there unable to crawl... eventually..."

"I froze to death."

Keywords: "cold, freeze."

Among Demons and Ghosts, demons have no deathly conclusion to their stories, but ghosts do, and they remember it vividly. This clear memory allows them to control their homicidal desires, hiding in the city until the hour of the Midnight Walker stall, when they emerge from the shadows.

The red-haired girl snorted with laughter but, remembering her boyfriend’s advice, said nothing.

However, Yellow Hair’s expression changed slightly. From his angle, he could see the old man’s lips turn a subtle purplish-red, the whites of his clouded eyes suddenly occupy a much larger area, and his hands were an oddly frostbitten blue, only slightly obscured by age spots.

But as the old man finished his story, the anomalies on his body became more noticeable. Yellow Hair swallowed hard, wanting to leave, but then the shop owner said, "Your food is almost ready."

Ren Suo didn’t know why the shop owner said that, but it seemed to reassure Yellow Hair. Yellow Hair then switched places with the red-haired girl, positioning himself closer to the old man.

The red-haired girl found it strange but didn’t think much of it and just leaned against her boyfriend to play on her phone.

After adjusting the flavors according to the keywords, the shop owner presented the Yangchun noodles to the old man and quickly served up a dish of Barbecued Pork Rice—rice that had already been cooked in the rice cooker.

Ren Suo thought she would give them Barbecued Pork Rice directly, but then the screen went back into the flavor adjustment interface, which surprised him.

This couple didn’t tell any stories, so how was he supposed to flavor it?

Now that it had entered the flavor adjustment interface, Ren Suo had no other choice. He randomly selected "Joy" and "Love," setting all flavors to their richest. Then, the shop owner grabbed two seasoning bottles and poured them into the dishes of Barbecued Pork Rice as if they were free.

But Ren Suo wasn’t worried—ordinary people, the protagonist could handle them anyway.

Unlike the other customers, Yellow Hair and the red-haired girl suspiciously inspected the Barbecued Pork Rice before digging in, spoon by spoon. Then, their faces suddenly flushed red, and they exclaimed loudly:

"Delicious!"

"It feels so good to eat this!"

"This flavor, really... It’s so refreshing!"

"It tastes like love."

"Here, let me feed you. Mmm~"

This couple started flaunting their affection, feeding each other mouthful by mouthful, causing Ren Suo to smirk.

After the old man finished the Yangchun noodles, the anomalies on his body disappeared. He transformed back into a common old man enduring the hot weather in a cotton coat.

"Very delicious, thank you." The old man fumbled inside his coat, pulled out what looked like a piece of candy, and said, "This is from a child nearby. I couldn’t bear to eat it. Seems I’m not blessed enough; when I want to eat, I can’t even taste the flavors anymore. I’ll give it to you."

The shop owner took it, realizing it was not candy:

"Chalk wrapped in candy paper: If you eat it directly, Health Points +100, Attack +15. Can also be used once in battle to restore 9,999 Health Points."

The old man left silently. The couple had almost finished their Barbecued Pork Rice and were about to leave when they both suddenly paused.

"What did the boss lady put in the rice? Why do I still feel so comfortable after eating it?"

"I... How come I..."

At this moment, "+0.52" appeared above the red-haired girl’s head, while "+0.31" and "+1 Awakening" appeared over Yellow Hair’s.

Yellow Hair immediately pulled the red-haired girl to sit down. Looking anxious, he said, "Another two dishes of Barbecued Pork Rice, same flavor as before! I’ll pay whatever it costs!"

Ren Suo was surprised. The shop owner shook her head and said, "That flavor, each person can only taste it once. If you want regular Barbecued Pork Rice, that I can do."

"You all should leave quickly; other customers will be coming soon. This place is a ’Ghost Stall.’"

The red-haired girl also asked, "I’m full. Li Wei, why are you..."

Yellow Hair pulled his girlfriend over and whispered in her ear, "The food here has further awakened my supernatural power! Didn’t you feel anything?"

"I just feel quite comfortable."

"Anyway, it’s beneficial! This is a rare encounter!"

However, no matter what they said, the shop owner wouldn’t agree. She stated, "The taste of desire can be sampled only once by each person. Those who taste it twice successively will no longer be able to maintain the Bastion of Rationality, becoming a beast of desire."

"Do you want to rip the girl next to you into pieces here?"

Yellow Hair immediately calmed down and said, "Thank you very much."

"You’re welcome."

"Should I leave a gift for you?" Yellow Hair began checking his pockets.

The shop owner said, "No need. Gifts from normal people are meaningless to me. Only when ’customers’ whose minds are like a tightly wound bowstring leave things behind, will those items harbor their desires..."

"Hurry up and leave before the next customer arrives."

While the shop owner was talking, Ren Suo fiddled for a long time and finally found the communication option.

But there was a red annotation next to this option: "Incorrect communication might lead to customer dissatisfaction. Please be careful."

The customers were all Demons and Ghosts who had forcibly suppressed their desires with their reason. They had finally found a shop that could offer ’delicious’ food, allowing their tense nerves to relax. This made them easily provoked into combat by words, something Ren Suo could understand. Thus, he didn’t plan on personally interacting with the Demons and Ghosts.

The two in front of him, however, were normal people, and Ren Suo had some questions he wanted to ask them.

The shop owner, prompted by Ren Suo, asked, "Are you an Awakener?"

Yellow Hair nodded. "Yes."

No wonder this guy noticed the old man next to him was a ghost yet remained so composed.

The shop owner then asked, "Is your girlfriend an Awakener?"

Yellow Hair looked at the red-haired girl, who shook her head. "No, I’m not."

Following Ren Suo’s prompt, the shop owner said, "Let’s shake hands," and stretched out her delicate wrist.

Activate the data stream!

Ren Suo had already equipped the Ghost Stall Owner with the data stream, but this device needed contact to be activated. Fortunately, it worked—an icon for the "data stream" appeared in the upper right corner of the screen, displaying relevant data based on the objects the shop owner touched.

"Target type: Primate Hominidae Adult Male"

"Meal Consumed: Barbecued Pork Rice (Joy 100, Love 100)"

"Effects Gained After Consumption: Talent +0.31, Awakening Technique Level +1, Slight Body Optimization"

"Can the Desire Meal be Eaten Again: No"

Unlike using the data stream in reality, the game’s "data stream" was more concise but provided just enough to analyze all the information Ren Suo wanted to know—

Normal people, after consuming the Ghost Stall’s Desire Meal, would see an increase in Talent, and if they possessed awakened spells, they would further awaken!

The shop owner then shook hands with the red-haired girl. The girl didn’t receive a +1 level in awakened spells, but her Talent increased by 0.52. However, neither of them could consume the Desire Meal again.

After the couple left, Ren Suo controlled the shop owner to continue serving customers, but his mind was already elsewhere—

He, too, wanted to eat at the Ghost Stall!

Such opportunities to enhance oneself without much effort were rare!

But there were many complications. For instance, Ren Suo couldn’t find out the specific dates when the Ghost Stall operated. If he were to search for the Ghost Stall, there was a high probability he would encounter Demons and Ghosts, among other things...

Lost in thought, Ren Suo saw that the Ghost Stall had welcomed a dozen or so more customers, and the in-game time was already 3:30 AM. In half an hour, today’s Ghost Stall game would end.

「At that moment, the light of a distant street lamp flickered.」

A young man dressed in a suit and red tie, wearing a red hat, and carrying a large black umbrella, slowly approached the Ghost Stall and sat down.

He glanced at the Ghost Stall’s sign and smiled.

"Sorry, but I’m not interested in sharing my life story with others," the man said.

Ren Suo could see the Jade Pendant tied to the shop owner’s wrist emitting a faint red glow.

"I originally planned to just eat you. But I heard your cooking is quite good, so let’s give it a try. Do your best to please me," the man said. "If I enjoy it, maybe I’ll let you die a quick death."

Ren Suo knew instantly that this man was the bloodless and tearless ’Demon’—the only kind among the Demons and Ghosts who was inherently chaotic evil, disregarding all order.

Such a Demon would be a criminal with numerous offenses. In the Inland, he would have been swiftly smashed to pieces by socialism’s iron fist (the countermeasure systems and the Yangtze Yellow River Troops were established for this very purpose). But Ben Gang, an important port of the Mysterious Country and an international city, offered him chances to hide.

"An unavoidable fight then..."

Even if he had to fight, this man, for various reasons, would wait to finish his meal before attacking.

And now, Ren Suo finally knew what those ’Despair,’ ’Anger,’ ’Incontinence,’ ’Immorality,’ ’Jealousy,’ and other dark seasonings were used for—

"For such a heinous person, there’s no need to observe any martial world ethics. Just feed him shit!"