After the Full-Level Boss Entered the Infinite Game By Mistake

Chapter 618

Bai Lixin finally found Chen Dazhuang and Chen Xiaoshi downstream by the river in Chenjia Village.

In the bitter cold, their pant legs and sleeves were soaking wet. When Bai Lixin found them, the two were fumbling around by the river.

Their noses and ears were red from the cold, and their arms and hands had also turned red. It was unknown how long they had been in the icy river.

“What are you looking for in the river?” Bai Lixin asked as he approached, but their hands were empty, holding nothing.

Xiaoshi flashed a big grin, showing his white teeth, “We’re trying to catch fish in the river. I’ve been craving some, and wanted to catch some wild ones to eat. But it’s too cold now, we’ve been trying for a while and haven’t caught a single one.”

Bai Lixin: “Come up, be careful not to catch a cold.”

“We won’t catch a cold,” Chen Xiaoshi muttered under his breath, but still, he and Chen Dazhuang staggered up the bank.

Watching them dry their frozen feet with their sleeves and skillfully put on their cotton shoes, Bai Lixin recalled how they had also found him by the river, “Do you come here to catch fish every day?”

Chen Xiaoshi lowered his head to put on his ill-fitting cotton shoes. “It’s not ‘you’, it’s ‘we’, Brother Erniu, did you choke on water and become stupid? We three always went fishing together in the river. You were the best at catching fish among us. Brother Dazhuang and I thought you might still have some effects from choking on water yesterday, so we didn’t call you today.”

Chen Dazhuang added, “But I think we don’t need to come here anymore before spring. It’s too cold, the fish are all hiding.”

Chen Xiaoshi: “Yeah, let’s head back.”

Bai Lixin stood beside them, looking into the river. The river at night was pitch-black, its surface reflecting the moon and stars, making it impossible to discern the depth.

He casually picked up a stone and threw it into the river. The smooth pebble skipped a few times on the surface before sinking with a “plop.”

After a moment, he heard a faint sound of stones colliding, indicating the pebble had reached the bottom of the river.

Though narrow in appearance, the river had a certain depth. The pebble sank in the middle of the river, and the depth was about six meters deep.

This river was a flowing one. During the warm currents, fish migrate from upstream to downstream and pass through this river. That should be fish at that time.

But now, with the weather so cold, the fish were no longer migrating, so naturally, there weren’t any fish to be found.

This wasn’t a particularly profound understanding; even someone like him, who wasn’t a native of this village, knew this rule. How could Chen Dazhuang and Chen Xiaoshi, who had always lived in the village, not know?

They were definitely not looking for fish in the river, but they weren’t telling the truth.

Since they chose to lie, pressing them further wouldn’t yield any answers.

So Bai Lixin didn’t ask any more questions, and the three of them returned home together.

There weren’t many rooms in Chen Erniu’s house—there was one for Father and Mother Chen, and one for the three Chen brothers.

Tonight, there was no celebration in the village, so everyone went to bed especially early.

But just before two in the morning, Bai Lixin was awakened by a series of hurried knocks at the door.

Almost at the same time as the previous night, Father and Mother Chen hurriedly woke up the three brothers and took them into the cellar again.

It was the same group of people from last night. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they began to wreak havoc, cursing and yelling about finding some treasure in Chenjia Village. Occasionally, they uttered some words in a language Bai Lixin couldn’t understand.

Those people didn’t leave until they had turned the house upside down, and two hours later, Father and Mother Chen opened the cellar door.

The outside was as messy as the day before.

The Chen family was obviously accustomed to all this. Without saying much, they skillfully and mechanically tidied up the mess before returning to their rooms to rest.

The chaotic night passed unknowingly, and by the time the first ray of sunlight shone through the window, the task time had been reduced from the original 93 hours to 62 hours.

Breakfast was still the same hard, cold steamed buns, and as usual,

Father Chen, who was the largest, ate the least.

But today was different from yesterday. Just as Bai Lixin was about to go out and search for clues in the village, he ran into a familiar face.

The man had a strong build, deep and resolute eyes, with a refined air in his handsome appearance.

Bai Lixin remembered the scene of the man comforting the other players in the snowy landscape, leading them to resist the cold together.

It was the leader-like player in the green down jacket.

Bai Lixin: “What a coincidence, it’s you.”

Behind the man were two others, one of whom Bai Lixin recognized as a player from the first stage. The other one seemed unfamiliar, but judging by his behavior, he was most likely a player too.

“It’s not a coincidence at all.” Before Green Down Jacket could speak, the player behind him interjected, “We came specifically to find you. In the past two days, Mr. Li has gathered most of the players, and today we’re looking for the few of you who are still separated.”

‘Mr. Li?’

Bai Lixin glanced at Green Down Jacket with a questioning look.

The man smiled faintly, “Let me introduce myself. My name is Li Li. I was the player in the green down jacket in the first stage. We’ve interacted several times, so you should remember me.”

Bai Lixin nodded.

Li Li continued, “Since yesterday, I’ve been searching for the players scattered throughout Chenjia Village. The clues here are very fragmented, and it’s nearly impossible for one person to find the answers within the 93-hour limit. We need to work together as a team. Would you be willing to join us?”

Bai Lixin: “How many people do you have?”

Li Li: “Without counting you, there are 55.”

There were still 64 surviving players, and Li Li had gathered 55 of them, meaning he had found almost all the players.

Bai Lixin looked at Li Li with a more inquiring look.

Most of the players at this stage were already among the best of the best.

There was a saying, “Kings do not see kings.” When a person has reached a certain level of excellence in a field, their psyche tends to show arrogance and a sense of honor.

This feeling often drives them to resist submission.

Was Li Li able to persuade almost all the players to gather because of the leadership goodwill he had built in the first stage, or did he naturally possess a convincing ability?

For some reason, when Li Li said, “Would you like to join us?” Bai Lixin had a moment where he almost instinctively wanted to say “Yes.”

After a brief pause, Bai Lixin swallowed the word back down and looked at Li Li, “I want to exchange information, is that okay?”

Li Li kept a faint smile on his face, “Okay, you go with them back to the base camp first, and I’ll go look for the others.”

Bai Lixin: “No rush, I’ll go with you to find them.”

Li Li didn’t argue, “Alright, let’s go.”

Following Li Li, Bai Lixin soon found another player.

He noticed that when Li Li asked, “Would you like to join us?” that player agreed without a second thought.

In just an hour, Li Li’s small team had added three more people.

Including himself, there were four, leaving only five players unaccounted for.

Li Li eventually found Lin Jue.

Lin Jue glanced at Bai Lixin in the team and also accepted Li Li’s invitation.

Xia Chi was trapped in Master Song’s house, and Li Li couldn’t approach him. After circling the village, he simply said, “Let’s head back,” and they started their return.

Just like that, except for Xia Chi, Li Li was only three players short of gathering everyone.

Bai Lixin followed Li Li into a small courtyard, and when they opened the door, they saw a yard filled with people.

Bai Lixin recognized about half of them, and he finally understood why it had been so difficult to run into players in the village—someone had already started gathering them, which was why he hadn’t encountered many outside.

When the door opened, the guarded expressions of the players relaxed immediately. A few of them waved warmly at Li Li, “Mr. Li, you’re back?”

The players Li Li brought with him closed the courtyard door cautiously. Li Li said, “I’ve found all the players I could in the village. One is trapped in Song Yuanwai’s mansion, and three others are still missing. I couldn’t find them.”

Bai Lixin scanned the yard and quickly spotted Song Yuantian, Samael, and Emir, who had been missing, in the corner.

He then counted the heads. Including them, there were exactly 60 people.

They were still missing Xia Chi and three other unidentified players.

One player asked, “Who are the three missing players? Aren’t they in the village?”

Li Li: “I don’t know who the three missing players are. I’m not sure if they’re even in the village, or if they’re in a place I haven’t found yet. I’ll go out and search again later.”

“What’s the point of searching?” a man with curly black hair said. “We’ve been searching since yesterday. We’ve even checked rat holes. If they were in the village, we would have found them by now. The game time is only 93 hours, and there are only 60 hours left. We don’t have time to play hide and seek, Old Li.”

Another player chimed in, “Yeah, let’s hurry up and complete the task. Those three players will just have to fend for themselves.”

“We don’t even know who the three missing players are.”

“Let’s get back on track. I think the two NPCs in my house aren’t human. I secretly watched them last night while they were sleeping and noticed they weren’t breathing!”

“I’m sure the NPC in my house isn’t human either. I saw a piece of his skin fall off yesterday, and underneath, it was black charcoal.”

As the players continued talking, the conversation quickly shifted from the missing players to the main task.

Song Yuantian and the other two pushed through the crowd and made their way to Bai Lixin and Lin Jue.

Song Yuantian’s face was still unnaturally pale. He blinked at Bai Lixin and then pointed to an empty corner.

The five of them exchanged glances and quietly slipped over to the corner.

While the others continued discussing their discoveries, the five of them started whispering.

Song Yuantian whispered, “The three missing players—Pink Hair, Black Framed Glasses, and another one—aren’t here. It seems they’re the ones who haven’t been found.”

Lin Jue: “When did you guys get here?”

Song Yuantian: “We were gathered yesterday, but when the sky suddenly changed, everyone sensed something was wrong and rushed back home. However, four players didn’t have time to hide and were captured.”