Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Asking Around
"Hmm, then let’s each lead a team."
Zhou Yingting had no objection to this, nodding as he looked over at the four people beside him.
He was considering whom he should pick to be on his team.
However, as Zhou Yingting glanced over, the two men beside him avoided his gaze and quickly spoke to Song Qingyun’s group.
"I’ll go with you!"
"I want to be on your team!"
At that moment, the two of them each chose one person.
Song Qingyun and his companion were slightly taken aback by this, but quickly nodded in agreement. After all, they needed to form teams, and this arrangement was fine.
He initially thought that he and Ying Shai would each take one of the women, leaving Zhou Yingting in a team with the other two new guys.
But since these two had spoken up, he couldn’t arrange it that way anymore.
After thinking for a moment, Song Qingyun turned to Zhou Yingting, "Then the other two go with you? More people means it’s less likely to lose spiritual power."
He originally planned to pair the two women together to have a larger group.
In a horror dungeon, it’s common knowledge that it’s best not to be alone; having more people offers security.
Zhou Yingting glanced at the two women, seeing that the two men had already made their choices, he nodded in assent.
"Alright, let’s arrange it this way. While it’s still early, let’s start gathering information about the surroundings."
Seeing this, Song Qingyun immediately stood up and headed towards the elevator first.
Once the group descended on the elevator, they each went separate ways at the bottom of the apartment to gather information.
"Let’s introduce ourselves. Tell me your names."
With Song Qingyun’s group gone, Zhou Yingting walked down the street with the two women, asking them as they went.
"I’m Song Qianqian, and she’s Lin Yuxin."
The girl in JK uniform glanced cautiously around her and spoke softly at Zhou Yingting’s side.
Hearing this, Zhou Yingting paused slightly, "You two know each other?"
"Yeah, we were just walking on the street, then all of a sudden we ended up here."
Song Qianqian looked frustrated; she still had no idea how she’d ended up in this creepy place.
And this creepy place was indeed quite unsettling.
"Hey, can I ask, can the two of us sleep together at night? I’m scared of that room..."
Lin Yuxin hastily stepped forward, looking up at Zhou Yingting as she cautiously asked.
When viewing the rooms earlier, both were together, checking out two separate rooms.
If they had to check the rooms alone, they’d both be terrified.
"I don’t know; this is my first time in such a dungeon too."
Zhou Yingting shook his head at the query.
He wasn’t sure if they could stay together either.
Upon hearing this, the two women showed a hint of disappointment in their eyes.
It seemed Song Qingyun’s team was a bit more capable, but unfortunately, they had spoken too late.
Otherwise, they would have decided to stay with Song Qingyun’s team.
In this kind of dungeon, the two were hoping to find someone strong to ensure relative safety and hopefully survive and get out.
Zhou Yingting was unaware of their thoughts and continued walking until he spotted a butcher’s stall not too far away.
The butcher was smoking, waiting for business.
Seeing this, Zhou Yingting quickly stepped forward, "Hello..."
"What kind of meat do you want? How many pounds?"
Seeing a customer approach, the butcher promptly stood up, grabbing a butchering knife and asking.
"No, we’re not buying meat; we just want to ask something."
Ask something?
The butcher put down the knife, still smoking, and looked indifferently at the three people before him, "What do you want to know?"
"Well, do you know anything about Apartment No. 9?"
Despite their fear, Song Qianqian and Lin Yuxin bravely stepped forward to inquire.
Upon hearing this, the butcher’s face suddenly changed, glaring at Zhou Yingting and the others.
"Are you tenants of Apartment No. 9?"
"Yes, we live there now and want to learn about the place..."
Song Qianqian was startled by the butcher’s reaction, but she bravely asked anyway.
The butcher’s face darkened completely, and he waved his hand repeatedly, "I don’t know, ask someone else, go on, all of you, leave!"
The butcher now looked impatient, waving them away.
The trio was taken aback as they hadn’t expected such a reaction.
Realizing they couldn’t get any information from him, Zhou Yingting gestured for the two to follow him as they left.
"Looks like there’s something about that building at No. 9 that makes them reluctant to speak."
Zhou Yingting, having walked a distance, considered this and continued, "Next time we ask passersby, let’s say we’re looking for a place to stay, and heard Apartment No. 9 is available. Use that as a segue to extract some information."
If directly asking didn’t work, they’d have to try another approach.
Hearing this, the two women thought it made sense and promptly nodded.
"Why don’t you two go gather information? Since you’re women, it might lower others’ guard."
With that, Zhou Yingting gestured for the two women to seek information while he kept watch.
Song Qianqian and Lin Yuxin figured gathering information shouldn’t be dangerous and immediately agreed to do it.
While the two gathered information, Zhou Yingting observed the people around.
A moment later, someone approached the butcher’s stall to buy meat. After the transaction, the buyer handed over a coin tinted with a hint of red and gold, causing Zhou Yingting to pause.
"Blood gold?"
If he wasn’t mistaken, the currency used in the transaction seemed to be blood gold?
Was blood gold the currency in this place too?
Seeing this, Zhou Yingting couldn’t help but recall the term he saw earlier, "stay with the coin."
This blood gold seemed to have widespread use; otherwise, there wouldn’t be such a corresponding term.
If so, the little blood gold he had might be usable in this world.
Zhou Yingting withdrew his gaze and looked around other small shops, soon confirming that people in this world indeed used blood gold.
Then, Zhou Yingting turned his attention back to Song Qianqian and Lin Yuxin.
The two hadn’t been driven away, suggesting their plan worked.
Half an hour later, the two returned but didn’t say much, moving on to question people at another location.
Seeing this, Zhou Yingting remained patient, following behind and allowing them to continue.