Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 8: Heaven Underworld (pt. 2: 856-1023) [Complete]

859: The Whale-Like Spaceship

"On the right side of the shop, there is a circular shelf with various goods hanging on it. Among them, there is a long box containing 'wilderness survival essentials.' Open it."

After the four circular leaves disappeared, Lin Sanjiu lay straight on the platform, feeling the soreness in her muscles from the tension. To distract herself from the discomfort, she recalled every word she had instructed the circular leaves. "Wilderness survival essentials" was something she had noticed during her past visits to the shop. She remembered that the box had a description of its contents, including accelerant and a lighter. It seemed to be something left from before the apocalypse, displayed in the shop for a long time without being sold.

As long as she opened it, starting a fire wouldn't be difficult.

The circular leaves should be able to accomplish this... right?

The sun gradually moved toward its zenith, casting a strong light that turned the sky into a translucent pale blue, causing Lin Sanjiu to squint. Her face and body felt warm from the sun, but it only made her more uncomfortable. The longer time passed, the more her heart tensed.

In the end, they were just four tea leaves... Had she placed too much hope in them?

Since her head was placed inside the box by the boy, she hadn't heard any noteworthy sounds. There had been some movements of objects, opening and closing of doors, and faint footsteps for a while, but it was difficult to judge the situation inside the shop based on those sounds. After that brief period of noise, the shop fell silent, with only the occasional sound of the boy sniffing from somewhere behind the shop—after all this time, there hadn't been a single customer, so it seemed like he had closed the shop.

Was there a gap under the door? Lin Sanjiu worriedly wondered. Those brothers were much rounder than ordinary tea leaves. Could they squeeze through?

Furthermore, why didn't the boy contact the other personalities after killing "Lin Sanjiu"? Why did he leave a corpse in the shop? Most importantly, it was already approaching afternoon—would the leaves have enough time to start the fire before they had to move on to their next incarnation?

Lying alone on the rooftop, Lin Sanjiu indulged in her chaotic thoughts. The more she thought, the more anxious she became. Just as she was lost in her thoughts, she suddenly heard a crisp sound, like something falling to the ground, through her earphones. It made her heart skip a beat—it sounded like the tea leaves had accidentally bumped into something!

Anxiously, she waited for a while and indeed heard vague footsteps approaching from afar. The boy walked briskly towards the cabinet where he had placed her head and shouted, "Who's there?"

Through the earphones, she could only hear silence inside the shop.

The boy seemed to walk past lightly, followed by a series of indistinct noises that were difficult to make out.

Unconsciously, Lin Sanjiu held her breath, afraid to make even the slightest sound, fearing that she would hear a sharp "Ah" from the tip of the circular tea leaves. She waited anxiously, her body tensed, but all she heard was the boy muttering, "Wasn't it properly hung?" and the sound of him seemingly adjusting the shelves.

A wave of relaxation and disappointment washed over her simultaneously.

The circular tea leaves hadn't been discovered, but it was evident that they had also not succeeded. After being lured out by the sound, the boy must have hung the box back in its place. Now, the circular tea leaves had to try again. However, they were slow and not agile, and time was running out for them to start anew.

Lin Sanjiu squinted her eyes, barely able to see the intense light source in the center of the sky through the shadow of her eyelashes.

She didn't know when, but it was already noon.