As Qin Nuo turhe er of the corridor, he saw a group of young men and women standing there, each holding their own lunch.

  Moldy bread and biscuits, rotten fruit, sour fish soup—just the sight of it was enough to kill anyone's appetite instantly.

  Their faces were marked with unwillingness and anger, but more than anything, fear and helplessness.

  In front of them, a rge vending mae was cttering noisily, with a ghostly face as fierce as a dod in the middle.

  From its gaping mouth came a triumphant, eerie ugh.

  "Don't act so pitiful. Which of those trainee servers before you didn't have to deal with me?"

  "You guys are lucky. At least the stuff you got is edible."

  "There was this one brat before, thought he could challenge me just because he had some skills."

  "He came at me with a broken saw, thinking he could take me down. I spped him right into the wall, and he couldn't even be pried out!"

  "He kept c death, so I twisted his head off and tossed it into the kit to be made into a dish!"

  The new pyers turned pale with fright, the girls trembling, not daring to say a word.

  A taller boy's face darkened as he said, "Let's go!"

  Seeing the young men and women intimidated, the vending mae ghais arrogant demeanor, almost erasing the shadow of that unpleasant memory.

  "Oh, you tell me what that person who was sent to be made into a dish looked like?"

  Suddenly, an untimely voice rang out.

  "What did he look like? I fot!" The vending mae ghost was relut to recall that face.

  "Did he look like me?"

  The voice spoke again, and then a smiling face appeared in the vending mae ghost's line of sight.

  The moment it saw Qin Nuo's face, the vending mae ghost froze, then almost reflexively, its entire body shot up, instantly retreating to the er.

  "Holy crap! How are you still here? Weren't you dead?"

  Even though the vending mae ghost's fierce face remaiill, it was filled with terror, looking ical as its massive body trembled violently.

  Like a rat seeing a cat, its soul seemed about to flee in fright!

  The young men and women were even more incredulous.

  Wasn't that face perfectly normal? Why was it so scared?

  Qin Nuo's expression was somewhat strange. Why did these guys think he was dead?

  "Maybe to your disappoi, I'm alive and well. I just happeo pass by the her Springs Restaurant, so I came in to take a look and visit an old friend."

  "It's been a while, hasn't it? I tell you've missed me, spreading rumors that I'm dead?"

  Qin Nuo, hands in his pockets, bent down and said with a smile.

  The vending mae ghost desperately shrank into the er, wishing for a crack to crawl into and escape.

  The vending mae ghost forced a smile, "Just a little joke, don't mind it."

  "Twisting my head off and sending it to the kit?"

  "No... not you, don't misuand." The vending mae ghost broke out in a cold sweat.

  "What about the hammer and saw, what do they look like?" Qin Nuo suddenly asked.

  The vending mae ghost's mi bnk, stammering.

  "Do they look like this?" Qin Nuo suddenly pulled out a blood-stained saw.

  The engine roared, the sound eg through the space.

  This sound seemed to strike directly at the vending mae ghost's soul.

  The shadow it had barely erased resurfaced clearly.

  Driven by instinctive fear, the vending mae ghost could no longer hold on and began to beg for mercy, "Please, brother, spare me. I was just bragging, c death. I won't dare again!"

  "What are you talking about? This saw hasn't been used in a while. I just took it out to start it up. Look how scared you are. Am I that kind of person?" Qin Nuo shook his head, feigning ignorance.

  Back then, you were sulking and, without a word, came at me with a saw to vent!

  How do you have the face to say that?

  These were the vending mae ghost's ihoughts, though outwardly it maintained a pleading, ingratiating posture.

  "What's with these juniors of mine?"

  Qin Nuo g the newbie pyers, who were already dumbfounded.

  "Just a joke, you all e over, throw away the food in your hands. Is that stuff even fit for humans? e, I'll redistribute it for you!"

  "Eat well, drink well!"

  The young men and women exged gnces, hesitated for a moment, then walked over.

  One of the pyers couldn't help but ask, "Are you a pyer here too?"

  "I used to be. Now, well, I'm barely a regur pyer." Qin Nuo touched his nose and said.

  Hearing he was also a pyer, they rexed a lot. One of the female pyers, with a pleading look, asked, " you teach us the tricks to clear the instance?"

  Qin Nuo thought for a moment, then his tone ged, "My personal secret is, don't court death, don't show off, live quietly and steadily until the end."

  The vending mae ghost opes mouth but ultimately didn't dare to speak.

  "Let's leave it at that, old friend. See you ime."

  With limited time, Qin Nuo didn't linger. He took a free bottle of water from the vending mae ghost, waved goodbye, and turo leave.

  Leaving the young men and women p Qin Nuo's words.

  ...

  As Qin Nuo stepped out of the corridor, a small figure blocked the entrance.

  It inocchio.

  Its head rotated 360 degrees, looking at Qin Nuo, "You just returo the restaurant and already made a move on a chef."

  "The food was terrible, just giving some pruidance."

  "I'm a maoo, I have to think about the restaurant. My dissatisfa is a small matter, but if a big shot es one day ahe same treatment, the restaurant's reputation will suffer."

  Pinocchio was silent, seemingly agreeing with the logid didn't pursue the matter further.

  "You returo the restaurant for more than just a meal."

  Pinocchio's sharp mind quickly grasped Qin Nuo's general purpose, "What do you want?"

  "I want to buy ingredients." Qin Nuo was straightforward.

  "The restaurant has plenty of ingredients, go to the kit and pick for yourself," Pinocchio said.

  Qin Nuo smiled, "Special ingredients."

  Pinocchio's wooden face, though expressionless, paused, indig some surprise.

  "You want that thing to make..." Before finishing the sentence, Pinocchio uood from the ghost aura emanating from Qin Nuo.

  Then it said, "The restaurant has a few, but they're not cheap."

  "What's the cheapest?"

  "4000 ghost currency, ingredient number 2."

  Qin Nuo's mouth twitched. Although he was mentally prepared, the price still surprised him. And that was the cheapest!

  "Buy it! It's enough!" the Blood-Eyed Ghost immediately chimed in.

  Qin Nuo checked his assets, verted ghost bills to ghost currency, and it seemed just enough.

  If he bought it, he'd be utterly broke, pletely ed out!

  Previously, he didn't care much about ghost currency, saving when he could. Now it proved that without it, everything was difficult.

  Without money, you really 't move an inywhere!

  Qin Nuo nodded, "Deal."

  Pinocchio said nothing, turned, and walked in a dire, with Qin Nuo following behind.

  Then, Pinocchio went up the stairs to the sed floor.

  Is it on the sed floor?

  Qin Nuo was curious. He had never fulfilled his wish to visit the restaurant's sed floor, and now he could finally see what it looked like.

  JOSOLUNA