Global Collapse-Chapter 636 - 604: Little Gu Gu the Scavenger_1
When Teacher Slaughter went upstairs and saw the "old friend" Lu Yi had mentioned, his already small brain almost exploded.
"You, you, you..." He extended his short arm, one finger pointing jerkily at the man who was adjusting his clothes.
It wasn't that he wanted to point; the enormous shock simply made him lose control of his hand, and his whole body trembled.
Teacher Slaughter never thought he would meet Gu Mian again. In his mind, this man should have died long ago in the collapsing forbidden zone.
Teacher Slaughter had always regretted not witnessing this man's death with his own eyes.
As if Heaven had heard his regret, the man was standing before him again, perfectly intact.
The cheers from below continued. No one knew there were five dead children outside. Nor did anyone know that the man who had attracted the hatred of countless audience members in the final episode of the Slaughter Game had returned.
After stammering "you" several times, Teacher Slaughter finally managed a coherent sentence: "You're not dead?"
Judging by his expression, he seemed to want to ask, You despicable Lower Class Person, you're not dead? But he likely felt the current situation was not in his favor, so he omitted the insult.
Gu Mian feigned a surprised expression. "Why should I die?"
Initially, he had been slightly worried that Teacher Slaughter would see the corpses on the ground when he went out, but he hadn't expected Lu Yi to bring the man directly upstairs.
He was also somewhat surprised when he saw Lu Yi bringing Teacher Slaughter up.
The little girl in red was still standing by the window. Gu Mian didn't know if Lu Yi could see her, but judging by Lu Yi's expression, he probably couldn't.
Teacher Slaughter's eyes lingered on Gu Mian's white coat for a long moment before he recognized the clothes underneath. "Wait, you're that Lower Class Person who was taken away!"
As he spoke, his eyes widened, and he even took two large steps forward. "How are you not dead? And how did you appear here? How did you sneak in?!"
Although Teacher Slaughter managed to appear somewhat composed, he didn't know he existed in an instance world; naturally, he was surprised by Gu Mian's "teleportation."
But his surprise was soon overshadowed by other emotions.
"No, that's not what I should be asking right now." Teacher Slaughter retreated two steps again, then turned to Lu Yi. "You know him too, don't you! This Lower Class Person was in the final episode of the Slaughter Game. I can't believe this Lower Class Person is still alive! Quick, call someone to arrest him!"
Saying this, he abruptly fell silent. A hint of suspicion flickered across Teacher Slaughter's face. He looked at Lu Yi, who was leaning motionless against the door, then at Gu Mian, who was equally still by the window. "You… know each other?"
He suddenly remembered Lu Yi had brought him up, saying something about "taking you to see an old acquaintance" before doing so.
It seemed Lu Yi knew all along that this Lower Class Person was here!
Gu Mian genuinely didn't know this Circus ringmaster, but the other party seemed to have known in advance that he would come.
Gu Mian suspected that perhaps when he obtained the clown mask, this Circus ringmaster had sensed it.
The cheers from below came in waves. A sense of impending doom welled up in Teacher Slaughter's heart. He wondered if he ran to the window and called for help, would anyone hear him?
The other two remained silent, and the atmosphere grew somewhat strange.
Teacher Slaughter sidled a few steps away before speaking again. "Lu Yi, what's the meaning of bringing me here?"
Lu Yi, still by the door, didn't respond immediately.
Gu Mian saw he had pulled out a lighter at some point and was now lighting a cigarette.
Once the cigarette was lit, Lu Yi finally drawled, "I told you, I brought you to see an old friend."
"Heh heh..." Teacher Slaughter forced a smile. Then, as if realizing something, he straightened up and stared at Lu Yi. "You aren't well acquainted with this man, are you?"
"This man," of course, referred to Gu Mian.
Gu Mian indicated that he didn't recognize the Circus ringmaster at the entrance.
But that didn't prevent Lu Yi from recognizing Gu Mian.
After all, the sign in the instance supermarket stating, "Gu Mian and dogs are not allowed entry," was practically a bestseller.
Teacher Slaughter knew nothing about the "Gu Mian and dogs are not allowed entry" sign, much less that he was merely an NPC in an instance.
But Lu Yi knew. High-level NPCs were aware they were just NPCs.
Lu Yi, cigarette dangling from his lips, answered Teacher Slaughter's question, "Only twice."
Twice? Gu Mian wondered. Aside from this instance, Lu Yi had seen him before? He hoped it wasn't like that time with the ghost in 'Visage of Death,' who had supposedly seen him in a place resembling a crematorium.
"The last time I saw this Doctor was on your show," Lu Yi flicked the ash from his cigarette, looking at Teacher Slaughter. "The final episode of the Slaughter Game. I'm sure it left a deep impression on you."
Mentioning the Slaughter Game made Teacher Slaughter's heart ache. The cheers from below served as intermittent reminders that the Slaughter Game was a thing of the past; now, the Upper Class People's favorite was the Circus program.
But clearly, this was not the time to reminisce about the bygone Slaughter Game. Teacher Slaughter stared intently at Lu Yi. "Oh? So you've developed a sudden fondness for this Lower Class Person you've only met twice? That's not like you. And... a Doctor? It's common knowledge that such despicable Lower Class People aren't worthy of the title. He probably just stole that white coat from some hospital."
As he spoke, he shifted his gaze to Gu Mian's clothes, and the more he looked at the white coat, the more familiar it seemed.
Gu Mian was already engrossed in watching the performance on the stage below, as if the "despicable Lower Class Person" Teacher Slaughter was referring to wasn't him at all.
Meanwhile, Teacher Slaughter grew more alarmed with every glance.
He recognized the white coat Gu Mian was wearing.
"Jin Hu!" Teacher Slaughter's eyes widened further as he recognized the coat's previous owner. "Isn't this Jin Hu's coat?"
True, most white coats in the world looked more or less the same.
But Jin Hu's was slightly different.
Despite being a Lower Class Person, he had carved out a place for himself in this world full of Upper Class People, yet his status was still despised by them. Although he had become a Doctor, his uniform was subtly different from those worn by Upper Class Doctors.
The collar of Jin Hu's white coat was slightly different from those of other Doctors.
That was how Teacher Slaughter could recognize the coat's previous owner.
"How did his coat end up on you?" Teacher Slaughter knew full well the dangers of the Forbidden Zone, and also knew that Jin Hu's location within it was exceptionally perilous.
That hospital... Without exaggeration, even if Teacher Slaughter himself led two full squads of the Order Guard into it, they might not even get to see Jin Hu in person. They would most likely die on the hospital's staircases or in its corridors, perhaps even in the first-floor lobby.
That hospital was the most dangerous place in the Forbidden Zone. Throughout the many iterations of the Slaughter Game, only a few Lower Class People had ever entered it.
And those few Lower Class People had thoroughly demonstrated to the audience the hospital's perils: its monstrous creatures, twisted limbs, and the horrifying sounds of chewing. Their gruesome deaths were broadcast live for all the Upper Class People to see.
Once, a somewhat cleverer Lower Class Person had sensed something was wrong immediately upon entering and had tried to flee, but the monsters inside the hospital gave him no such chance. That "clever" individual also ended up dying in that tragic place of origin.
In short, it was a place that sent chills down the spines of all spectators.
Yet this Lower Class Person before him... was wearing Jin Hu's uniform.
Had he gone to the upper floors of the hospital to find Jin Hu?! Impossible! How could he possibly have escaped unharmed from such a dangerous place?
Teacher Slaughter, incredulous, temporarily pushed the thought of the five corpses outside to the back of his mind. He stared at Gu Mian's face and asked in an uncharacteristically hesitant voice, "You just found this coat outside the hospital in the Forbidden Zone, right?"
