Chapter 87: Sacred Temple

    Apparently, Shen Nianzu was not the only one who noticed the presence of an old acquaintance. Smelling the familiar scent, Jin Jiuchi’s ears perked up and he barked out, "Woof!"

    Numerous eyes instantly snapped to them, Xinxin included. His eyes widened in delightful surprise upon seeing them – or to be exact, Shen Nianzu. Alas, he had just taken a few steps toward them when the officer climbed into the bus and in the end, he could only give Shen Nianzu a timid wave before taking his seat.

    "W–What the hell is that creature?!" The male newbie, a bespectacled fatty wearing a shirt printed with a blue haired anime girl on it, exclaimed in shock when he saw the bus officer. "That... That can’t be a human!!"

    The bus officer this time was a tall and lanky man whose features could not be discerned clearly, for he was tightly wrapped in yellowed dirt-stained bandages from head to toe, clinging to his form like a macabre cocoon. Even his hair, eyes, nose and mouth were not spared. He looked just like a mummy straight out of a blockbuster thriller movie. His limbs were twisted, and they spasmed in an eerie way with each step he took. Emanated from him was the pungent odor of decay and medicinal balm that sent shivers crawling down everyone’s spine.

    The other players merely covered their noses and wrinkled their noses in discomfort, but for Jin Jiuchi whose nose worked twice – and even thrice in this form – better than average, it was as if the grotesque stench was choking his throat, causing him to retch.

    He let out a whimper and tried to climb into Shen Nianzu’s lap to take shelter, forgetting about his massive size.

    As a result, the jade doll was almost suffocated by the sheer weight and fluff of Jin Jiuchi’s body, and he pushed the silly husky away in anger, "Sit properly and don’t mess around!"

    "Ah! M–Monster!!!" The female newbie looked seconds away from passing out in shock at the bizarre and horrifying sight of the mummy bus officer, and she desperately scrambled to the door, trying to run away from this place. "I don’t want to be here! Please—!" Alas, the door was already locked once the mummy officer stepped in and no one could get down anymore.

    "Let me out!" She screamed and banged her fist on the door, while the mummy officer stared at her silently. "Please... I don’t want to be here! Please let me go!!"

    "So noisy," Jiang Shun clicked his tongue in annoyance. "This is why I don’t want to enter a low-level Cycle, there are too many loud and dirty pests." He flicked his finger and a small nail sized stone flew through the air to hit the woman’s temple, knocking her out in an instant.

    The male newbie stared at him in horror, "W–What have you done to her?!"

    Jiang Shun sneered in mockery, "What? Do you want to try it too?"

    That sentence effectively shut the newbie’s mouth and he huddled in his seat in fear and dread. The other players dared not say anything either, presumably realizing that Jiang Shun must be powerful enough for him to throw his weight around.

    The player closest to the female newbie went to check her ticket and brought her to her seat. Sooner or later, she would awaken to the merciless truth that once she got ahold of the ticket, it marked her entrapment in this forsaken place with no exit.

    Just like that, a momentary peace was regained in the bus.

    The officer’s bandaged mouth moved, and what came out of it was a harsh and discordant voice akin to nails scratching on board, "Welcome, everyone. Thank you for making it to the bus in time. We will be heading to the Temple of Anubis now."

    No sooner had his words hung in the air, the driverless bus began to move and carried them to their destination. But different from the previous Cycle, this time the air was heavy with tension, and no one took the initiative to introduce themselves and get to know each other.

    Jin Jiuchi plastered his snout to the window as he stared at the passing scenery in wonder. Previously, he was fixated on teasing the jade doll to pay attention to the road. Hence this time, he watched unblinkingly as the once verdant forest around him gradually dissolved into void as the bus entered a mysterious tunnel.

    "AH!" The male newbie let out a surprised cry at the abrupt black out. "W–What is going on here?!" Sadly, no one answered him as everyone preferred to keep to themselves.

    Jin Jiuchi sensed it vividly as the scent in the air began to change and the temperature rose higher and higher until he could not help but pant to relieve the heat. Hot... why was it so hot?! It was like he was standing in the middle of a burning pan!

    The discomfort did not apply only to Jin Jiuchi alone. Other players also started to get uncomfortable and shed away the outer layer of their clothes. It was only Shen Nianzu who remained poised and quiet in his seat with his appearance as flawless as ever, as if he was truly a cool jade who could not sweat.

    "Awo~" Jin Jiuchi let out a miserable whimper and nudged the jade doll’s cheek with his snout, only to hear Shen Nianzu say in response,

    "Bear with it a bit. It should be more than forty degrees celsius now."

    Jin Jiuchi was shocked. Only forty?! Didn’t Nian’er say that the desert could get as high as fifty degrees celsius?! Never before had Jin Jiuchi been thrust into such a scorching hot environment, and this time he truly learned how unbearable it felt.

    The darkness lasted no more than ten seconds. Yet for Jin Jiuchi, it was as if ten hours had passed. Much to his chagrin, the heat did not diminish at all and became even higher instead. Worse still, he could not even sweat and could only pant harder to regulate the temperature in his body, earning him an amused look from the jade doll.

    When the darkness ebbed away to reveal an immense landscape of yellow sand as far as one could see, Jin Jiuchi immediately forgot about the heat and stuck himself to the window again.

    Desert! Yellow sand! It was truly the same as the pictures Nian’er had shown him! He intended to share his fascination with the jade doll, but what came out of his mouth was only ’awoo awoo’ sounds, his tail swinging harder like a helicopter blade.

    "Yes, yes," Shen Nianzu could fairly guess what Jin Jiuchi was saying and he reached out to rub Jin Jiuchi’s doggy head. He paused, and then rubbed it again a few more times. Damn, how could it be so fluffy...

    The sky stretched overhead, a vast canvas of murky amber, only interrupted by the relentless glare of the scorching sun. Heatwaves danced on the horizon to distort the air. And amidst the endless expanse of desert, stood an ancient temple that looked both weathered and magnificent.

    At the temple’s entrance, colossal pillars rose defiantly from the shifting sands, their surfaces adorned with intricate hieroglyphics that spoke of ancient tales and forgotten legends. Guarding the sacred grounds of the temple were a series of imposing statues, stoic sentinels frozen in eternal vigilance. Carved from obsidian, their jet-black forms contrasted starkly against the sun-bleached sands of the surrounding desert.

    ’Wow...’ Jin Jiuchi marveled in awe, unable to tear his gaze away from the sheer grandeur of the temple in front of him. How beautiful...

    The bus eventually came to a halt in front of the temple, and the door slid open with a faint hiss, allowing the heat and sand to blast away any remnant of coolness in the air.

    "Welcome to the Temple of Anubis," the bus officer said, his voice shaking in the mixture of laughter and excitement that caused dread to settle in the players’ hearts. "I wish you a pleasant stay~"

    Everyone began to get off the bus one after another. Even the female newbie, who had roused awake some time after the bus entered the tunnel, had resigned to her bleak fate as she followed the crowd, still with a bruise on her temple from where the stone had hit her squarely.

    Shen Nianzu took the lead, while Jin Jiuchi trailed closely behind him. As they got closer to the bus officer, Jin Jiuchi subconsciously held his breath. He would die if he had to smell that pungent and rotten medicine again in such proximity!

    For some reason, he could sense the officer’s eyes on him, albeit the creature’s eyes were literally covered in bandages. And as a law-abiding and peace-loving citizen, Jin Jiuchi raised his head and offered him a bright smile, as much as his current form permitted him to.

    But the officer remained motionless as a statue as he stared at Jin Jiuchi. He was not even breathing. He would have passed as a real mummy if not for the bandage’s trailing edge, fluttering against the wind behind his back...

    Jin Jiuchi stared and stared, and all of a sudden, a sudden urge overtook him.

    Shen Nianzu, who had stepped down first from the bus, turned around to check on Jin Jiuchi in time to see the huge fluffy dog lunged forward to chomp down on the unsuspecting mummy’s loose bandage, before rushing out of the door with his tail wagging in excitement!

    Shen Nianzu’s eyes flew wide in horror, "Jin—"

    "ARGHHH!!!" A bone-chilling scream was torn out of the officer’s throat as he spun like a top, the layers of thick bandages unfurling around his body to reveal the withered and dessicated skin underneath.

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    A/N: petition to gather the bus officers who got a grudge against our JJ *laughing-crying*