Chapter 86: A Foreboding Omen

The Abyss Guild Creed

1. Divine salvation is no miracle; it must be paid for in equal measure.
2. The darkness within darkness, the despair within despair, is the abyss.

Outside the second-floor “Delicious Rabbit Shop,” customers came and went in a steady stream.

In the smoke-choked kitchen, chefs in tall white hats worked with feverish energy. Delicious dishes sizzled in iron pans, their rich aromas filling the air.

“Where’s Faceless? Where did Faceless go again?”

“Where else would he be? Probably the bathroom again.”

“Damn it, that kid ran off again. If nobody here besides him could make the other dishes, the head chef would have sent him packing long ago.”

Just outside the small kitchen door, the subject of all this talk, Lin Bufei, was leaning there with a cigarette between his lips, idly leafing through a thin little booklet.

The black booklet in the scarred man’s hand was already wrinkled and stained with blood, yet the gilt letters on the cover were still faintly legible.

A Beginner’s Manual for the Abyss Guild

—The only dawn to guide you in the dark

—Praise the abyss; the god of the abyss is with you always

“Phew...”

Lin Bufei put the booklet away, drew on his cigarette, and looked utterly content.

But just then, a voice sounded abruptly behind him.

“Lin Bufei, slacking off again?”

“Uh... heh heh heh, no, no. Nobody’s letting me stir-fry, so I came out to make room for the others.”

Lin Bufei turned around with an ingratiating smile, already ready to offer up the cigarette in his hand—when he suddenly saw a familiar face.

It was Ji Linmo.

“Damn it! Old Ji, you bastard, trying to scare me to death!”

Lin Bufei couldn’t help but smack Ji Linmo once, but the man only curved his lips at the sight of his jumpy reaction.

“Looks like our big brother Fei has fallen on hard times. Even smoking a cigarette has to be done in secret.”

Having said that, and without mentioning their previous conflict, Ji Linmo reached out and took Lin Bufei’s employee discount card, tossing it to Qin Feng, who had followed behind him.

“Mr. Ji, what is this?”

The boy caught the card in one hand and lifted a brow in confusion.

“Go buy me two big mugs of beer, Qin Feng. I need to talk to Lin Bufei about something.”

As soon as the words fell, Qin Feng stood where he was, staring at the two of them without blinking.

But in the end, he gave a soft laugh and left in resignation.

Heh, how strange... that little maniac is actually going to leave the two of us alone? Why didn’t he jab at me a few times?

Watching Qin Feng’s retreating back, Lin Bufei dusted ash from his cigarette in puzzlement and put it back between his lips.

But Ji Linmo merely extended a finger in a meaningfully beckoning motion.

“Heh heh heh, you little punk, weren’t you supposed to have quit smoking?”

Lin Bufei, clearly disgusted, fished out another cigarette from the pack and handed it over.

Yet Ji Linmo said nothing. He lit it with practiced ease and took a drag.

After a long silence, the man finally spoke.

“Lin Bufei, I’ve run into a difficult problem.”

Ji Linmo slowly told him everything he had seen and heard on the fourth floor.

When he finished, he looked seriously at one of the few friends he had left, Lin Bufei.

“So, which do you think is better?”

“To kill that girl quickly and safely, or to take a gamble and use strong liquor to test my guess?”

But Lin Bufei clutched his stomach and burst into laughter, as if he had heard some great joke.

“Hahaha, that’s killing me. I thought it was something serious. Tell you the truth, Old Ji, if I were alone, I’d have done it without the slightest hesitation!”

“What’s there to dawdle over? You think that girl is pitiful? Damn it, who isn’t pitiful? A living man like me is way more pitiful than them, okay?”

After saying this, Lin Bufei dropped the cigarette butt from his mouth and ground it out viciously beneath his toe.

“So... you think the former is better too, then?”

Watching Ji Linmo smoke with a blank expression, Lin Bufei suddenly changed tone and vigorously clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“Heh heh heh, what nonsense are you talking? Old Ji, sometimes a man has to answer to his own conscience!”

“My conscience isn’t worth much. So what does your conscience say?”

Ji Linmo still showed no expression, but Lin Bufei abruptly threw an arm around his neck and grinned.

“All right, enough hesitation. Do it the way you want!”

“Maybe one of these days we’ll both be dead anyway, so let’s follow your plan and try to reunite mother and daughter!”

Seeing Lin Bufei talk so recklessly, as though some ancient tale of a loyal man dying for his lord had come to life, Ji Linmo merely held his cigarette, exhaled a plume of smoke, and smiled faintly.

“Still, Ji Linmo, I have to warn you. That kid Qin Feng is dangerous.”

Changing course, Lin Bufei suddenly looked at Ji Linmo with unusual seriousness.

“When we were eighteen, if we’d faced a situation like this, would we have killed the girl after she turned into a monster without hesitation?”

Ji Linmo frowned slightly, and then suddenly felt something being handed to him.

It was an item that removed bonds!

[Bond Severance Potion]

[Item Quality: Medium]

[Item Description: After use, you may choose any one teammate and sever your connection]

“Make preparations early. Even if that little maniac isn’t part of some cult, he’s definitely not a good sort. You have to trust my instincts.”

“I understand... but—”

All at once, Ji Linmo felt a prickling sensation at his back, a sudden chill racing down his spine, and he immediately swallowed the rest of his words.

For some reason, he did not dare turn around.

Because looking at Lin Bufei’s rigid posture, he had already guessed what was happening.

“Mr. Ji, what is it? Don’t want to look at me?”

The boy’s cold voice echoed in the chill.

“Seems I’ve come at quite the wrong time~”

“Should I step outside and wait a bit? Wait until the two of you have finished composing the words you plan to curse me with?”

Ah, caught red-handed.

Ji Linmo blankly extinguished the cigarette in his hand, silent for a moment.

After all, he still had the bond severance potion in his grasp.

Lin Bufei, on the other hand, slipped away quickly. With a sheepish grin and an excuse that he still had things to do, he dashed back into the kitchen at full speed.

“Faceless! What are you rushing off for, brat!”

“Back to work! Head Chef, assign me everything you can—crush me if you must! Labor makes me happy!”

In an instant, only Ji Linmo and the boy remained behind the dark kitchen door.

Looking at Qin Feng in front of him—beer mug in hand, eyes half-lidded, smile cold as frost—Ji Linmo hesitated for a moment, and then finally opened his mouth.

“Well... Qin Feng, just now I actually—”

Whoosh—

A cold metal object was suddenly tossed from the boy’s hand. Ji Linmo instinctively caught it and looked down under the light.

It was a flask.

“Mr. Ji, considering your physical condition, I’ve put your liquor in a flask for you, so you can drink whenever you like. No need to thank me.”