Chapter 324: The Inn's Human Count Remains Sturdy

The inn had gained another person—a steel automaton named "Luna."

The strange thing was, after the new member joined, the human count at 66 Wutong Road still hadn't risen much.

However, Yu Sheng was quite open about this matter; considering the first "insider" he knew in this world was molded from clay and wire, his requirements for organization members were always low: basically, "alive, looks human, can speak human language" was enough, and Luna had just barely met all three requirements...

After this, the first thing Yu Sheng asked Luna to do was to familiarize herself with every member's name in the inn.

"Yu-Sheng." She first learned to say Yu Sheng's name with some difficulty.

Then, pointing at the fox-girl, she stumbled out the name Hu Li: "Hu, Hu... Li."

Finally, there was the small doll standing on the coffee table with arms crossed and a proud expression—Luna pointed at this small doll and emitted a stuttering, muffled sound from within her body: "Ai, Ai, Ai, Ai... Ai..."

Hu Li couldn't hold back halfway through and burst out laughing.

Irene stared at the fox-girl, just about to ask what she was laughing at, when Luna finally said her name: "Ai-Lin."

The small doll still stared with wide eyes, feeling something was wrong, but after thinking for a while without figuring it out, she stopped thinking.

Next came taking the new member to familiarize herself with the home's environment and arranging her living quarters.

Yu Sheng took "Luna" on a tour around 66 Wutong Road, and upon returning to the living room, said to her: "That's roughly the situation. Currently, there's an empty room on the first floor of this house with decent conditions; although there's also an empty room on the second floor, that room is a bit strange and isn't recommended for living. Then there's the basement and the attic... although they are clean and spacious, I think you should stay on the first floor. Also, your usual, um..."

As he spoke, he stopped, looking at the iron automaton before him with a subtle expression, starting to brainstorm.

A two-meter-tall iron automaton... what daily necessities would need arranging? How does she bathe? Does she need new clothes? What are her requirements for beds and bedding? Judging by her appearance, she probably doesn't need to eat normally... so what does she need? WD-40?

Seeing Yu Sheng suddenly stand still, Luna tilted her head in confusion, looked at the fox-girl beside her, and after holding back for a long time, blurted out a few words: "Yu Sheng, not moving, thinking?"

"Benefactor often does this," Hu Li, seeing nothing unusual, said while chewing on a half-eaten chicken leg in her hand, "He's probably considering what needs arranging for you to live here; when I first moved in, I often caused the Benefactor trouble and care."

Luna understood; a moment later, she suddenly reached out and touched Yu Sheng's shoulder.

"Holy-Coffin." She said it somewhat indistinctly.

Yu Sheng didn't hear clearly the first time: "Huh, what?"

"Holy Coffin." Luna repeated it, this time speaking much clearer than before.

It took Yu Sheng a few seconds to realize the other party's meaning: "You mean, you want to sleep in that iron coffin?!"

Luna slowly nodded, then, probably worried the other party would misunderstand, laboriously added two more words: "Must."

Yu Sheng blinked; this time he fully understood.

"You mean you must rest in that 'Holy Coffin'? So there's no need to arrange a room for you here?"

"Mm."

Yu Sheng scratched his head; this situation was quite different from his initial plan.

But after carefully thinking about Hu Li who could fire her tail, and Irene who could split into four paths alone, he suddenly felt a bit relieved.

This place, the Lands Between, was already known for its extraordinary people and land; it was normal for his inn's members to be somewhat off-kilter. Compared to Bai Xue's seven Thunder Titans, his new member only needed to sleep in a coffin—nothing worth making a fuss about—he was even planning to make a few small boxes for Irene...

"Alright then, you can still sleep in that 'Holy Coffin Room'; anyway, that ship is now part of the inn, and the cultists on board have all been cleaned up," Yu Sheng stroked his chin, looking at Luna, "But this makes things quite inconvenient for you... I'll open a door in the basement later that leads directly to the Holy Coffin Room."

This matter was settled.

And just then, Yu Sheng suddenly thought of another thing.

He looked the iron automaton up and down.

"Luna, do you still remember... the things in that 'Wilderness'?"

Luna didn't respond immediately; only a low hum came from within her body.

Hearing this sound, Irene was startled: "Huh? She crashed again?!"

Before the words had even finished, they saw Luna turn her gaze toward the small doll, then raise her hand and make a motion in the empty air as if swinging a sword down, as if using this method to retrieve a somewhat unreliable memory fragment, before nodding: "Remember."

Irene stood there stunned for a moment; after realizing what happened, she finally flew into a rage: "I've tolerated you for a long time, C-Type penalty! I think you're just doing this on purpose!"

The next second, she leaped forward, furiously pouncing on the iron automaton before her, her wild punches creating afterimages in the air—but the latter easily caught her mid-air; struggling with all her might, she couldn't even defeat her, and with her arm fully extended, she couldn't even reach the other's elbow...

But Irene's advantage was her numbers; with one body caught, the other three immediately pounced, showing no martial virtue at all, combining sneak attacks and siege, instantly hanging all over Luna—but unfortunately, all the shouting, kicking, and stomping failed to break her defense.

Luna didn't even resist; after discovering that these shorties hanging on her felt nothing, she simply put down the Irene in her hand, thought seriously for a few seconds, and added to Yu Sheng: "Thought, dream."

Yu Sheng had originally planned to control the situation so Irene wouldn't cause too much trouble, but seeing this, he became too lazy to bother, and after hearing Luna's answer, thought briefly: "You mean, from your perspective, you thought you were having a dream?"

Luna nodded lightly.

Yu Sheng frowned slightly, lost in thought.

After a moment of hesitation, Luna broke the silence again, asking curiously: "Then, not a dream? Is, what?"

She tried several times in a row before saying these words clearly.

"Sanctuary," answered Hu Li beside her; she had finally finished the chicken leg earlier and now pulled a bun out from her tail, "A sanctuary for the soul; I've been there before too!"

"People who touch my blood have two situations," Yu Sheng further explained, "For enemies, I will erode and control them; for our own people, I will open the door for them and grant them various permissions and sanctuary.

"In the final battle in the Holy Coffin Room, to repair your body, I performed the final step of 'Blood Bestowal' for you according to the method for our own people; while repairing your shell, I also opened the permission for you to enter the Sheltered Wasteland.

"But at that time your state was very poor; I suspect this process might have even exacerbated your mental fracture, resulting in part of your mind wandering into the Sheltered Wasteland in a daze, while the other part remained in the Holy Coffin..."

Luna listened very seriously, seemingly still trying to think and understand what Yu Sheng said; she also remembered her several encounters and battles with the other party, and remembered the feeling when her body was first stained with that blood: panic, anger, even terror.

At that time, the Cognitive Mask was still in effect; her perception and understanding of the whole world were covered by a layer of lies; she felt that unspeakable terrifying pollution seeping along her limbs, piercing inch by inch into her soul; she remembered that she even severed her own arm at that time, yet the eroding power continued to spread within her body, even spreading to the knights who were connected to her heart...

Until the moment the mask shattered, until she was pushed by Yu Sheng into the Holy Coffin and the coffin lid closed, only then did she feel the peace and tranquility behind that erosion.

And after that, she had a dream.

She dreamed she stood in an endless wilderness, with magnificent soul currents surging in the high sky; a towering mountain stood at the end of the wilderness and the currents; heavy and solemn gates stood upon the mountain.

She also dreamed of a grand bonfire; that bonfire, with suffering as its fuel, emitted a light named "Hope," burning fiercely in the wilderness; she and her knights guarded that bonfire, and discussed and plotted their future journey in the wilderness.

She also dreamed of a great voice, indescribable in words, conversing with her; that voice was gentle and friendly... it seemed to be Yu Sheng? But she was in a daze at the time and couldn't hear clearly.

Oh, she also dreamed of a little dwarf who was jumping up and down beside her while that great voice was speaking.

Very noisy.

So at that time she patted the other party—just a light pat, but that little dwarf was directly knocked into the ground.

Luna suddenly woke from her memories, seeing the little dwarf hanging on her arm, shoulder, neck, and thigh—there were four of them.

Three dead, one alive, yet it seemed as if all were dead, or perhaps all were alive.

Truly a strange form of life, hardly resembling a normal creature that should appear in this world.

But it didn't matter; no need to overthink it. The little dwarf was a friend, a new family member in the "Inn."

Luna smiled, plucked Irene from her arm, held her up before her eyes, looked at the other very seriously, then struggled to speak clearly: "No fighting. Fighting is bad."

Irene suddenly froze. Held aloft by the "Artificial Saintess," she suddenly felt, whether illusion or not, that the other's face—always smiling, hollow, cold, and pale—seemed to have gained some warmth. Even the smile itself seemed to shift slightly, turning into a genuine, living expression.

"Uh," Irene scratched her head while the other three bodies climbed down from Luna. "Truly a satisfying battle—since you admit defeat, then no more fighting. Hmm, I'll let you go, Type-C!"

Luna slowly nodded, carefully placing Irene on the ground.

"Good, little dwarf."

Two seconds later, the furious roar of the small doll echoed from Number 66 Wutong Road:

"... T-Y-P-E-C! You did that on purpose, didn't you?!"

(End of this chapter)