Chapter 1 The Start

In the morning, the sun was shining brightly. When Boss Zhou opened his eyes, he found himself lying on the sofa in the bookstore.

In front of him,

coffee and a newspaper.

Zhou Ze smiled and reached out to rub his temples. His head still throbbed with pain, as if he hadn't fully recovered from the dizziness.

Moreover, this scene was all too familiar. That idiot had tried to create a similar atmosphere to deliberately please him the other day.

However, this time it was different. The difference was that the newspaper wasn't neatly ironed, but soaking wet. Rainwater was dripping incessantly from the roof of the bookstore.

Bai Yingying was slacking off,

Lao Dao was also slacking off.

Although the sun was shining brightly outside and it wasn't raining, the inside of the bookstore was like a Water Curtain Cave, with a shallow pool of water on the floor, full of dead fish and rotten shrimp.

A rotten and damp atmosphere permeated the air, exuding a nauseating moldy smell.

Zhou Ze supported himself on the coffee table with one hand and rested his chin on the other. He felt disgusted, but he forced himself to shake his head, his eyes flickering between clarity and confusion.

Across from Zhou Ze sat a dark figure wearing a clown mask, dressed in black. In front of him was also a cup of coffee and a newspaper.

Looking at the coffee on the other's coffee table, smelling that familiar civet cat scent,

Boss Zhou frowned slightly.

Even in a dream,

Boss Zhou would still feel uncomfortable if a stranger drank his coffee.

"You're the last one."

Beneath the clown mask seemed to be a very young soul. The other's voice had a strong feminine lilt, yet it was a man's timbre, giving the impression that he was singing.

It was like sitting in the audience watching the Hua Dan actresses perform.

"The last one?"

Zhou Ze was a little puzzled, but he still got up from his seat. However, just as Zhou Ze was about to step away, he found that his feet were stuck as if glued to the floor, and he couldn't move.

Forcing himself, Zhou Ze staggered back a few steps and fell back onto the sofa. This time, however, the sofa seemed to be covered in slime, firmly attaching Zhou Ze's entire back to it.

Boss Zhou was like a fly caught on flypaper. After struggling a few times, he became too lazy to struggle anymore.

"The Seven Deadly Sins are about to be complete, and it's much better than I expected."

The clown stood up. He wasn't restricted and walked towards Zhou Ze.

On his black clothes, six dots appeared, rotating continuously. Now, there was only one left.

Yin Yu,

Greed, Gluttony, Pride, Envy, Wrath,

All that was missing was Zhou the Lazy.

"What exactly are you?"

Zhou Ze asked.

"I'm not a thing."

The other party replied.

"So honest." Zhou Ze was stunned for a moment. He was so honest that it was a little heartbreaking.

"You're the last one."

Beneath the clown mask seemed to be a pair of very deep eyes. It was these eyes that could penetrate people's hearts, luring out the desires within.

Desire is a fire.

Guiding it out and turning it into a fire dragon,

would be enough to devour the host!

But the clown also seemed a little confused,

because the scene in this bookstore had a sense of decay and filth, which was very different from what he wanted, and also very different from what Boss Zhou wanted.

It seemed that something had gone wrong somewhere.

But even the clown didn't know where the mistake had occurred.

Was it because he was too weak and too tired?

"Let's change it a bit."

The clown raised his hand,

and the water on the floor of the bookstore began to dissipate.

The dripping from the rafters was also gradually disappearing,

the moldy smell began to disappear, and everything began to resemble the real bookstore.

Zhou Ze watched the clown in front of him changing things, adjusting things, as if watching an executioner choosing Barbie doll decorations for the guillotine.

Everything was just to make the condemned die a little more peacefully.

After all, Lord Zhou, the ghost messenger, had been a decent man in his lifetime.

"Do you think this will be better?"

The clown asked Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze smiled and remained silent.

The clown walked towards Zhou Ze, less than two meters away from him. He was a little relieved and a little grateful, saying:

"Purely setting oneself on fire is too troublesome. You, whose brain has suffered a heavy blow and whose own consciousness is already damaged, are really convenient for me. It's even much easier than dealing with the other people."

Zhou Ze tried to pick up the teacup in front of him, but because his back was stuck to the sofa, he couldn't reach it.

The clown helped him pick up the cup and placed it in Zhou Ze's hand, very friendly.

Zhou Ze took a sip of tea,

unhurried and composed.

The eyes beneath the clown mask seemed to narrow at this moment.

An instinctive sense of crisis began to creep in.

He didn't know where the sense of crisis came from,

but he felt that,

this time,

something seemed a little off.

But the clown still opened his palm, and in the center of his palm, a fleshy lump appeared. The fleshy lump was constantly wriggling, and then slowly split open.

A milky white worm emerged from the fleshy lump, and the worm's body began to stretch continuously, gradually stretching to an eerie arc.

It was a white worm, but at this time it felt a bit like a snake.

It began to actively spread towards Zhou Ze's body,

with a plop,

falling into Zhou Ze's teacup.

A look of disgust appeared in Zhou Ze's eyes.

He still wanted to take a few more sips of tea.

Immediately afterward,

the white worm's body continued to lengthen, following Zhou Ze's arm, constantly moving upwards, and then reaching Zhou Ze's chest.

It was like an explorer, touring every part of Zhou Ze's body. Wherever it passed, it was incredibly smooth, with a coolness similar to ice, and this coolness also had a hint of warmth.

If you lay down and let it crawl all over your back, it would probably feel very comfortable.

Zhou Ze lowered his head and looked at the white worm, thoughtfully saying:

"Are you doing this to evolve?"

The clown seemed a little surprised, slowly saying: "You surprise me a little, so much so that I seem to have the illusion that you are not just a ghost messenger.

But it doesn't matter. After I eat you, I will enter a dormant state. When I wake up again, I will start the next feeding."

Zhou Ze's gaze left the white worm, even though the white worm was trying to burrow into his body.

He looked out the window.

He didn't know when it started,

but the inside of the bookstore had returned to normal,

but outside the bookstore,

there was no sunlight.

A bookstore without sunlight was like a piece of bread without butter, always feeling like a huge regret and loss.

The clown's fingers were twitching constantly, controlling the worm.

The white worm opened its mandibles, revealing rows of sharp teeth hidden within, attempting to bite through Zhou Ze's chest to enter. But for some reason, the white worm tried everything, but couldn't make any progress, not even breaking through Zhou Ze's skin.

The worm was anxious and angry, but it didn't give up and continued to bite and tear, like a docile pet snuggling in Zhou Ze's arms, acting coy.

The clown took a deep breath.

He was now,

a little panicked.

Then,

he saw Zhou Ze looking out the window,

and he followed Zhou Ze's gaze,

outside the window,

it was no longer sunny,

but a churning, muddy mess.

It was as if the entire bookstore had been placed in the depths of the sea, becoming an underwater palace.

The refraction of light and shadow became very irregular, like the neon lights outside a nightclub at night.

The clown took several steps back,

He was a little dazed,

and a little terrified,

because he saw countless corpses and remains rolling and swimming in the seawater outside the window.

Filthy, sinful, greedy, brutal, and other emotional auras were venting crazily through the glass as if they were free.

That sea,

was the last carnival of the dead,

an unconstrained…unclaimed land!

Roaring, howling,

one by one,异鬼 (yi gui, different ghosts) with hideous faces were趴 (pa, lying prone) on the window glass, peeking inside with all their might. They twisted their bodies, they露出 (lou chu, revealed) their big yellow teeth, trembling their bones.

If it weren't for the barrier of this glass,

they couldn't wait to rush in and enjoy the freshest blood and flesh offerings!

They were hungry,

they were really hungry!

The clown looked at Zhou Ze. This time, his voice had a slight tremor. Obviously, he was scared.

As someone who possessed the ability to manipulate the Seven Deadly Sins, he also experienced the emotion of fear.

"Who… are you?"

Zhou Ze reached out, and the slime on his back completely collapsed at this moment.

Like an eagle catching a chick,

he pinched the white worm that was still wriggling and trying to drill into his chest,

held it up, and placed it in front of his face.

The little worm's body began to shrink,

Obviously, it also sensed fear from the clown, and there was a very deep bond between the two.

"Want to go in? Don't worry, I'll send you in."

Saying that,

Zhou Ze opened his mouth,

and sent the white worm into his mouth,

like swallowing an ice pop in the middle of summer,

that refreshing feeling, coupled with the dizziness in his head,

was really intoxicating.

"Where is this? Why?"

The clown began to retreat non-stop. He tried to open the door behind him, but found that the door of the bookstore had a huge "封" (feng, seal) character written on it.

He used all his strength, but couldn't open it.

He was trapped here,

at the same time,

the clown also understood,

that the person he had just seen,

was also trapped here!

He, like himself,

couldn't get out now.

Zhou Ze slowly stood up,

his eyes shining brightly,

staring at the clown,

"He was knocked unconscious,

when you came in,

that pen deliberately put you here with me."

As he spoke,

Zhou Ze began to slowly stretch,

the joints making a series of cracking sounds,

and then he softly asked:

"I heard,

you wanted,

to eat me?"