Famine 57: Night Parade of a Hundred Demons

After all the crimson flames had died down, and their emotions had cooled, Nidhogg made a request.

“Don’t let Shi He know what happened today.”

Nidhogg leaned against the charred wall of the cabin, his powerful torso bare.
His body was covered in injuries, but he seemed indifferent, lowering his head to bite a cigarette. A spark flared at his fingertips as he lit it.

“As long as I don’t talk, that’s enough. I’ll take care of those players who went to the farm. We had a deal—I’ll work for you, I’ll be at the convenience store… nothing needs to be said.”

Si Zhiyan said, “He may come to hate you.”

Nidhogg’s breath quickened with the taste of blood. Staring at the ground, he grinned, “All the better.”

Si Zhiyan watched him for a long moment and nodded slightly, agreeing to the request.

…

[Mist Realm – Day 1 / 11:57 PM / Famine Farm / Current Farm Completion: 51%]

After seeing off Nidhogg, night had fallen.

Si Zhiyan repaired the little house, then sat back on the sofa.

Before the Grail was approached, he had deliberately split off a thread of his shadow clone to linger by Shi He and the others. As they drifted beneath the ice in the dark river, a wisp of mist surrounded their protective bubble, shielding them from piercing rocks along the way.

Now, that mist-clone guided their location, showing Shi He’s group had already camped at the edge of the Blackthorn Forest.
Perhaps it was too late in the night and they planned to rest first.

As for how to direct them to the farm…

“Shi He and the others are nearby?!” Anderson leapt up in joy, tugging off his top hat and spinning in place with a nod. “Good. Tomorrow—no, I’ll go fetch them right now!”

As soon as he heard the coordinates, a flash of blue light whisked him away.

Truly impatient—well, they were old teammates after all. Si Zhiyan couldn’t help but chuckle. He supposed it made sense; having just arrived in a new world, it was best to regroup as soon as possible.

As they spoke, midnight struck—twelve o’clock sharp.

[Mist Realm – Day 1 / Midnight / Famine Farm / Current Farm Completion: 51%]

Rumble—
Suddenly, the whole ground trembled as one.

“What’s happening?!”
Many who had already drifted into sleep were jolted awake, crying out to each other in fright.

In the forest, the thick mist turned a vivid, bloody red. This blood-mist grew ever denser, almost tangible, so thick one could barely see even vague shapes nearby. Moving through the gloom felt like wading through mounds of bloody cotton.

Within the red mist, predatory organs finally revealed their true form. Countless vengeful spirits with bloody, weeping eyes, torn lips—fleeting and flickering—glimmered in and out of sight.

Si Zhiyan’s expression turned grave. He cranked all the windmill fans to their highest setting, letting a steady breeze keep the blood-mist at bay, blowing clear a patch of pure land for the farm.

His HUD dutifully displayed the mist’s details—

[Heaven’s Law Sentence Forth the Omen of Death, a Hundred Ghosts Come Treading Blood]

[Night Parade of a Hundred Demons Begins]

“To the walls! Quick, onto the walls!!”

“Don’t sleep! This is no drill! All eligible and trained service players, with me—onto the walls!!”

Lin Qiushui shouted himself hoarse, waving his arms and tearing open tent flaps one by one.

Li Cui’e was already up, barking out commands crisply as she coordinated logistics and support. Li Yutong received Yun Shengsheng from Yun Zhong’s arms, hoisting her on her back and running to take shelter with her mother. Yun Zhong gave the two young girls a hurried hug, then grabbed his gun and sprinted for his post.

Li Xuan led a team to the wooden ramparts, hauling up baskets of American coffee, condensed milk, ice cream and other buffs—items long prepared in advance and now fetched from stairwell corners for use.

During the farm’s expansion, Wu Jing and others had found Lin Qiushui to select a group of able-bodied service players, putting them through training. They didn’t expect everyone to complete Divine missions, but at least, should disaster strike, these recruits would have some fighting prowess, could shoot, and might protect themselves.

Si Zhiyan had, thanks to Bian Xu’s map, watched scenes of their training.

Succeeding in Divine missions was like surviving infinite world loops—few were truly cut out for it. But giving a group of healthy youths a few days’ discipline, enough to follow orders and man the walls, was an achievable goal. The skeleton ferry guards’ leader Chang Sha had experience and helped them greatly.

In less than an hour, everyone stood at their assigned post, gripping weapons and ready for battle, tension thick in the air.

Rumble, rumble, rumble…
The tremors in the earth grew ever fiercer.

A massive, circular shadow took shape in the forest’s depths.

“Something weird is coming…!” someone said nervously.

But when its full form became clear, their eyes widened in disbelief.

“No, that’s not right…”
“What the hell is that?!”

It was a gigantic roulette wheel, as tall as dozens of stories. Even standing atop the ramparts, craning their necks, it was nearly impossible to see its entirety.

The wheel was bone-white and streaked with scarlet, mottled with bloodstains. Dotted along its surface were only broken, palm-sized wooden carvings, their features indistinct.

Emerging from the blood-mist, it rolled forward in its enormous bulk, crushing through blackthorn and deadwood alike, leaving bloody marks in its wake, shaking the earth with each turn.

On the wheel’s side, like an endless scroll, writing blanketed the sky, filling their entire field of vision.

Different languages, varying materials, but all spelling the same character:

[Death death death death death death death death death death death…]

Si Zhiyan floated overhead and saw the thing’s name:

[Bone-Gnawing Fate Wheel]
Displays your fortune for the day.
One hundred percent accurate.

“That’s just too ominous!!!” Some service players, facing the field for the first time, were weak-kneed and nearly in tears.

Some even shook so badly they could barely hold their guns: “Are we supposed to fight that thing?! Me?!”

“What choice do you have?!” Li Cui’e thumped one on the back of the head. “Obey Captain Lin’s orders!”

“Volley fire!!”

Rattatatatatata!

Nearly a hundred gun barrels spat flame.

The bullets shattered fragments of bone from the wheel’s surface, arresting its movement for just a few seconds.

But only a very few.

Ten seconds later, the Bone-Gnawing Fate Wheel, as if enraged, surged forward even faster, rolling straight for the farm walls!
There was no way the wooden barrier would hold it off at this speed!

“We’re done for!!” someone wailed.

“Shut up! Damn it! Fire until the last second!” an eligible player roared, his face twisted in a snarl.
“Just when I finally got to eat my fill, how can I die now?!”

“Aaaah!” Some panicked, sobbing as they gripped their triggers, spraying bullets everywhere, no longer able to aim in their terror.

The farm’s reliance on service players showed its weakness now.
After only twenty days of training, in the face of a true, insurmountable crisis, the less-experienced members fell quickly into chaos.

They badly needed more combat units! Troops like Chang Sha’s, soldiers trained for real war!

Si Zhiyan bit his nails, floating above, brow furrowed, eyes fixed on the rapidly advancing bone wheel.

After recent purchases, just three hundred thousand credits remained. Enough for some disposable defensive gadgets.
But the marketplace offered a perfect anti-siege weapon for fifty thousand credits—

[Starship Cola Railgun]

Its capabilities fit the farm’s needs perfectly; Si Zhiyan had had his eye on it and was determined to save up enough to buy it. But fifty thousand was a hefty sum—he had to accumulate more.

This night parade seemed to occur, punctually, every evening. He couldn’t afford to squander resources now and drain the well dry.

The lawnmower’s energy replenished only ten percent every thirty days. This was just the first night, and already only sixty percent remained. If he used too much now and depleted it, there would be nothing left in the days ahead.

What to do!
What should he do?

Even as these thoughts rushed by, the Bone-Gnawing Fate Wheel had reached their walls.

Boom!!!

The ramparts shook with a violent blow, wood shattering, the ground quaking. People were thrown in every direction, toppling and screaming in terror.

…If there was no other choice, he would have to drain the last reserves.

The wheel rolled back slightly, gathering strength. As its second charge loomed, Si Zhiyan opened the marketplace, his finger hovering over the one-use defense items.

The wheel surged forward again!

Suddenly, a beam of ashen grey light pierced through the blood mist.

Buzz.

The massive wheel jolted, its momentum vanishing, suddenly frozen as though suspended in time and space.

It worked. Si Zhiyan’s heart relaxed, closing the marketplace interface.

Just in time!

[Shi Jin’s Soul-Hunting: Time Stop]!

But against so vast and powerful a target, the time-stop would not hold for long—only an instant before the effect slipped.

Yet it was enough.

Perched on the branch of a blackthorn tree, Shi He crouched in midair, both arms steady, cradling a jet-black sniper rifle. His eyes glinted gray, the scope reflecting the scene before him—

At the Bone-Gnawing Fate Wheel’s heart, set in its surface, was a mottled, battered wooden figurine, palm-sized.
It depicted a young calf, grazing peacefully in the grass.

He didn’t know the details, but he judged this was its weakness.

Bang!

Special armor-piercing round!

A burst of impact, a direct hit!

Yet, when the dust settled, only a small chip had splintered from the carving.
Tough stuff, a tricky target… Shi He frowned, worked the bolt, and reloaded.

But even that small chip jostled the entire Bone-Gnawing Fate Wheel.
It no longer charged the farm, but instead turned and thundered after Shi He!

Shi He didn’t flinch, calmly raising a hand to press his comms: “Anderson.”

A flash of blue, and Shi He vanished from the branch.

Crackle… half a second later, the tree where he’d been was ground into a mess of bloody pulp.

Behind the blackthorn, Anderson lowered his cane, pale blue light flickering behind his masque. A pigeon feather drifted gently down.

Bang!

Meanwhile, at the Bone-Gnawing Fate Wheel’s base, a blue cloud exploded. From it burst a gigantic saber-toothed tiger over ten meters tall.

ROAR!!

Wang Jian howled, his tiger-shout shaking the woods as he threw himself at the wheel to bite and tear.

At that moment, a magic circle’s light flared, flames whirling in their wake.

Zhong Yanqing’s eyes shimmered with spell-formations, cradling a swiftly flipping grimoire in his hands as he swept his arm wide.

Zhong Yanqing’s Chosen title was [Apostle of the Scorched Tome]. In the sacred tomb, a curse forbade open flames, crippling much of his combat power. But now, with no such restriction, he could finally fight at full strength, a relief in his heart.

The Chosen of the Xubei team coordinated tightly, their offensive efficient and rapid as rain, cycling and blending so smoothly that the wheel never had an opening to counter.

Gradually, their efforts slowed the Bone-Gnawing Wheel, its speed dwindling until it came to rest in the ruined woodlands.

“Is… is it over?” a gasping service player peered over the wall.

“No, it’s not that simple.” Anderson reappeared on the ramparts, eyes locked on the wheel, face grave.

Hum…

Suddenly, the wheel shuddered and rotated.

It turned its massive disk to face the ramparts.

Those overlapping characters for [Death] suddenly began to squirm and squiggle, writhing as if alive.

“No!!” Lin Qiushui’s face turned white. “Don’t look at it!!”

“—!”
Anderson’s expression said he had no more answers than anyone else—he could only adapt on the fly. A powerful sense of doom pressed on his heart, making him deeply uneasy.

Thump, thump.
The sound of heartbeats.

Thud—thud—thud—

The next second, from deep inside the mist, three slow, sonorous bell tolls rang out, echoing through the night sky.

…

The blood-mist dissipated.

Tonight’s parade of a hundred demons was over.

“Whew…”
Wang Wen’s legs nearly gave way—he would have collapsed if not for Lin Qiushui and Anderson supporting him from both sides.

“Thank you, thank you all, thank you…” Wang Wen mopped the sweat from his brow.

“No worries, it was nothing,” Anderson’s face was grim. “But the issue is—this was only the first day.”
“Will there be a hundred demons’ parade every night?”

“We have to stay in this world for a hundred days. Will every night get harder? When that thing comes again tomorrow, what do we do?”

No one could answer.

The first day in the Mist Realm had ended without casualties—by luck alone.

Service players let down ropes to check and repair breaches in the wall.

With a few blinks, Anderson brought Xubei’s team back together at the farm.
Si Zhiyan gave them each a separate cabin to settle in, welcoming them and letting them rest.

The Xubei team finally saw the Divine’s farm for themselves, and all were amazed and deeply moved. Only Shi He still looked preoccupied. After a day of fatigue, everyone exchanged pleasantries and soon retired to wash and rest, preparing for tomorrow’s trials.

The farm returned to peace.

Si Zhiyan could not summon any excitement.

In the sky above, neither Divine nor mainframe showed any movement.

If this was the nightly parade, what would the special reprisal be in fifteen days—and how powerful?

Once more, he scrolled through the marketplace, considering every option, and at last reached a conclusion:

It wouldn’t work.
If every night matched tonight’s intensity, even the Xubei team couldn’t defend the farm for many days.

He had to rely on the wall upgrade system.

Before midnight tomorrow, he had to save up fifty thousand credits to buy the [Starship Cola Railgun].

Still short by twenty thousand… Si Zhiyan pressed his temples and gazed toward the icefield.

On the convenience store side, there had to be progress tomorrow.