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

Chapter 638

The breathing in his arms gradually became steady. Bai Lixin lowered his head; at some point, Chen Xiaoshi had already closed his eyes and fallen into a deep sleep.

On the other side, Chen Dazhuang’s chest rose and fell, his eyes closed—he was also asleep.

Bai Lixin stopped singing, carefully lifted the blanket, and quietly pushed the door open to step into the courtyard.

Father Chen and Mother Chen had stopped their work. The two stood in the center of the courtyard, their backs facing the door and facing the gate. They stood upright, heads raised, and completely still.

Bai Lixin walked to their side, and Father Chen and Mother Chen lowered their heads.

They didn’t seem surprised by Bai Lixin’s appearance or, rather, they were completely indifferent.

After glancing at Bai Lixin, they raised their heads again, continuing to stare at the pitch-black sky, like two statues dutifully fulfilling their roles.

Ten minutes later, a horn rang out from above.

It was that familiar sound again.

Father Chen and Mother Chen, who had been standing motionless, suddenly sprang into action.

They turned and hurried to the side room, forcefully shaking Chen Dazhuang and Chen Xiaoshi, who had just fallen asleep, awake: “Hurry, wake up! Go to the cellar!”

Bai Lixin: “…”

A few minutes later, just after they had hidden in the cellar, those familiar invaders came again.

As always, they spoke in an incomprehensible language, with the same disdainful, arrogant tone, and once again carried out their ruthless plunder.

Only after the sounds outside had faded did Father Chen and Mother Chen open the cellar door and return to their rooms.

The sky darkened a bit more.

The sky seemed to be covered with a thick, glutinous substance.

Bai Lixin hadn’t slept all night.

After the commotion, the whole family slept deeply and no one went out.

In the middle of the night, he went out again. The entire village was eerily quiet, as silent as death.

No shadows appeared, and there was no courtyard with stitched-together corpses.

“Cuckoo.”

“Cuckoo.”

At dawn, Bai Lixin heard birds calling outside.

Chen Dazhuang and Chen Xiaoshi were still sound asleep beside him. Bai Lixin gently lifted the blanket and quietly walked out.

Outside the door stood the dust-covered Song Yuantian and a trembling Xia Chi.

Bai Lixin looked them up and down: “Where did you two go?”

Xia Chi’s teeth were chattering—whether from the cold or fear was unclear: “I followed President Song and spent the night at his place.”

Bai Lixin: “Then why do you still look so disheveled?”

Song Yuantian: “It’s a long story.”

Xia Chi: “Then I’ll make it short.”

“Brother, this village isn’t real, and neither are the villagers!”

Bai Lixin: “…”

Xia Chi: “After we got separated from you, you went up Rong Mountain, and we arrived at Chenjia Village.”

“Then we discovered the truth about Chenjia Village.”

“The village we saw is a post-war ruin; all the houses are dilapidated and bombed-out, and the old elm tree in the middle of the village has long been broken and withered.”

“The whole village was empty and eerie, with no one in sight.”

“Just as President Song and I were checking each courtyard, petals from the banyan tree floated down from the sky.”

“The petals covered the ground, and then we saw something terrifying.”

Bai Lixin: “…”

Xia Chi took a deep breath and shrunk his neck: “We saw shadows emerging from the ground.”

“Before we could clearly see what they were, our vision turned red. When the red faded, Chenjia Village had returned to its current state.”

“The old elm tree in the middle of the village came back to life.”

“And the villagers appeared too.”

“They acted as if nothing had happened, they were chatting, chopping wood, and cooking at home as usual.”

“We might be trapped in an illusion, and everything we see could be false.”

The game time in the upper-right corner of the system showed only sixteen hours remaining.

Bai Lixin looked toward Rong Mountain. In the dim light, the banyan tree glowed with a warm light, looking like a rising sun from afar.

“Xia Chi, Song Yuantian, we need to climb the mountain again.”

The two hadn’t gone up the mountain yesterday, so they didn’t know what had happened there.

Bai Lixin tied the red headband given by Chen Xiaoling to his wrist and told the two the whole story as they walked.

Xia Chi’s expressions were very rich—sometimes his eyes widened, sometimes his mouth gaped open, and he gestured wildly, fully immersed in the story. “So, what are we doing up the mountain this time?”

Bai Lixin: “Among the twelve people we rescued, something like the fake Li Li mixed in. We were afraid they’d find something, so we hurried down the mountain yesterday. Since the banyan tree and banyan flowers have been around us from the moment we arrived, we should take a closer look.”

The sun hadn’t risen yet, and Rong Mountain was damp with dew.

The mountain was eerily quiet all the way to the top.

The banyan tree’s massive roots, branches, and leaves stretched out, with the banyan flowers in full bloom, vibrant and lively.

Bai Lixin placed his hand on the banyan tree’s trunk; the rough texture rubbed against his palm, and there was some warmth.

With one hand on the trunk, Bai Lixin lowered his head and began circling the tree.

By this time, the sun had risen, and a few rays of sunlight penetrated the banyan tree, casting mottled shadows on the ground.

He kept his eyes on the ground, seemingly searching for something.

Suddenly, he stopped, his brows furrowing as he looked at his toes.

The soil where the tree trunk met the ground was a bit loose, and the dust beside the trunk was lightly pulsing up and down, rhythmically, as if it were breathing.

If it weren’t for the light hitting at just the right angle, Bai Lixin wouldn’t have noticed it.

Feeling something was off, he crouched down and stared at the pulsing dust. He slid his hand down the rough tree trunk to the loose area.

Thump.

Bai Lixin’s pupils suddenly contracted, and he quickly withdrew his hand, staring at the spot in thought.

What was that just now?

It seemed like a heartbeat?

After a brief hesitation, he placed his hand back on the spot where the soil met the tree trunk.

Thump.

Thump.

Bai Lixin: “…”

There was no mistake—though faint, it was definitely the rhythm of a heartbeat.

Whose heartbeat was it?

Was it from this giant banyan tree?

Or from the land itself?

“Ah—”

“Bang!”

“Ouch, that hurts!”

Bai Lixin looked at the figure that suddenly fell from the sky and landed in front of him, and suddenly felt a pain in his temple.

Whoever’s heartbeat it was, it definitely wasn’t Xia Chi’s!

Xia Chi clutched his back as he stumbled to his feet, grimacing in pain. “Ouch, my butt is going to split open.”

Bai Lixin glanced at Xia Chi, then looked up at the tree trunk, which was five or six meters tall, and felt his temples throb even more.

“Brother.” Xia Chi spotted Bai Lixin and pointed up at the tree. “You need to go up there and check it out. I heard someone talking up there just now!”

The banyan flowers were talking?

Bai Lixin froze only for a moment, then pushed off with his toes and used the force to leap onto the banyan tree’s branches.

The dense foliage interwoven with red and green completely blocked his view.

He held his breath and listened carefully, but apart from the rustling of leaves, there seemed to be no human voices.

Xia Chi carefully climbed up to Bai Lixin’s side, looking a bit embarrassed. “I swear I heard someone talking when I was climbing up. Sorry, Brother, I must have made too much noise and scared them away.”

“Shh, don’t speak, they haven’t left yet.”

A small, sharp voice pierced into Xia Chi’s ears.

His pupils widened and he looked at Bai Lixin in shock.

His mouth opened, but before he could say anything, Bai Lixin swiftly covered his mouth, forcing all his words back down into his stomach.

“Keep your voice down. You talk too much and don’t let others speak.”

Another voice drilled into Xia Chi’s ears.

Xia Chi’s eyes widened, but with his mouth blocked, he could only make exaggerated expressions with the upper half of his face.

It wasn’t him speaking.

It wasn’t his brother speaking.

And it definitely wasn’t Song Yuantian’s voice.

Who was speaking?

Xia Chi’s gaze landed on the bright pink banyan flowers in front of him.

“Shut up, they seem to have noticed us!”

Another different voice entered Xia Chi’s ear, as if it was whispering directly into it.

Xia Chi turned his head in confusion, tentatively reaching out a finger to touch the banyan flower beside him.

The small umbrella-shaped flower immediately trembled all over with its fine, long hairs.

Xia Chi’s eyes widened even more.

Bai Lixin narrowed his eyes, his gaze threatening.

—If you say one more word, I’ll kick you down.

Xia Chi instantly withdrew his hand, curling up obediently like a well-behaved rabbit.

“Hehe, it seems like they can’t hear us talking.”

“Can these kids really take us home?”

“He said they can, he’s a good child, he’s never lied to us.”

Bai Lixin strained his ears.

‘He?’

“But they themselves can’t go back anymore.”

“Then I’ll send them back, it doesn’t matter if I don’t return.”

“They’re all good kids.”

“Yes, they’re still young.”

“They can’t die.”

“They need to live.”

“We must send them home.”

There are more and more sounds around them, chattering like a flock of sparrows.

Bai Lixin: “Who is he?”

The chattering suddenly stopped.

A few seconds later, a voice rang out again.

“They can hear us.”

“They’ve heard everything, they heard everything.”

“Go home, hurry back home.”

“Good children.”

Bai Lixin asked again, “Who is he?”

“Hehehe, he is Lin Xiao.”

“It’s Lin Xiao.”

“Lin Xiao.”

“Lin Xiao.”

“Lin Xiao.”

“Lin Xiao.”

The familiar name rippled around them like waves of wheat.

Xia Chi clutched his ears in pain.

Bai Lixin: “I want to find Lin Xiao. Where is he?”

“Hehe, Lin Xiao is right beside you.”

Bai Lixin subconsciously looked at Xia Chi, only to see the latter’s contorted expression. He quickly looked away after just one glance.

Xia Chi: ???

‘Brother, are you disgusted with me?’

“Lin Xiao is in the sky.”

“Lin Xiao is underground.”

“Lin Xiao is in the wind.”

“Lin Xiao is everywhere.”

“He’s always been here.”

“Lin Xiao.”

“Lin Xiao.”

“Lin Xiao.”

“Hehehe.”

“Hahaha.”

“Swish swish swish.”

The tree leaves began to sway violently.

The laughter, mingled with the rustling of the leaves, made Bai Lixin and Xia Chi both feel dizzy, and the next moment they lost consciousness.

Their bodies were shaken awake violently.

Bai Lixin opened his eyes drowsily, and saw Song Yuantian’s worried face.

Seeing him wake up, Song Yuantian let out a sigh of relief, “You finally woke up. Just now, you and Xia Chi suddenly passed out while walking, and no matter how I called you, you wouldn’t wake up.”

Xia Chi was still in a daze, his face a mask of pain.

Bai Lixin’s temples were still faintly throbbing. He looked up at the banyan tree above, only to find that the sky was already bright, with the sun hanging directly overhead.

There were only 11 hours left on the countdown in the upper right corner, meaning he and Xia Chi had been unconscious for four hours.

Bai Lixin touched the spot where the roots met the ground, but his palm no longer felt the heartbeat.

Then, he jumped up to the branches of the banyan tree where the leaves swayed in the breeze, but there was nothing else…

It was as if everything they had heard and felt just now was nothing but a fleeting illusion.