Chapter 641
Chapter 641
“I don’t know why, but even after death, my consciousness still lingered, wandering around Rong Mountain and Chenjia Village.”
“The great fire spread to Rong Mountain, turning the entire mountain into a sea of flames.”
“Gradually, I realized that I wasn’t the only lost soul. The souls of Chenjia villagers and my fallen comrades appeared in the dead of night. What was terrifying was that the souls of the invaders also emerged.”
“The villagers and my comrades didn’t seem as conscious as I was. Their souls continued to suffer after death, constantly replaying the moment of their death.”
“Every night, I fought those relentless souls of the invaders, but I was powerless, filled with guilt and frustration.”
“I carved Nine Dragons Carrying A Coffin on my back, hoping to put my fellow countrymen into the coffin and take them away. But the invaders’ souls clung to them tightly, like maggots on bones. It was impossible to shake off and they even forced their way into the coffin.”
“Carrying my comrades on my back, I began to search the world for a way to free them.”
“I traveled many roads and visited countless places, but found no answers.”
“Later, I lost consciousness for a while. I don’t know how long had passed, but when I regained awareness, I discovered that the coffin on my back seemed to be connected to another space.”
“I followed that connection in search of a solution, and eventually, I found a way.”
“I had to make a horn, one that could rally strength and intimidate the enemy.”
“If I could make such a horn, I could shatter the souls of the invaders and allow my comrades to rest in peace.”
“To make such a horn, many parts were needed, and they were scattered across different copies in this space.”
Bai Lixin: “So you started traveling through different copies.”
Lin Xiao nodded: “That’s right. I began searching in various copies. Sometimes I was lucky and found a part, other times I found nothing.”
“I already knew about you before the [Mermaid Laboratory] copy, Bai Lixin.”
Bai Lixin: “…”
“I heard about you from a man. He was a legendary player, just as outstanding as you.” Lin Xiao paused, “I still remember his name—Dijia.”
Bai Lixin: “What did he tell you?”
Lin Xiao clicked his tongue twice: “Calling him a fanatical wife show-off wouldn’t be an exaggeration. We were in a very dangerous situation at the time, actually a near death situation, and he started reminiscing about his life like a flashback. He said that he had a beautiful lover at home and that he absolutely couldn’t die, or else his wife would be left all alone in an empty house. Tsk, tsk, my ears turned red just listening to him.”
Bai Lixin covered his face, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into.
‘Dijia, you shameless fool, could you at least leave me a little dignity?’
‘You are about to die and still thinking about “being left all alone in an empty house”, you are asking for your life!’
Xia Chi looked up at the sky, pretending he hadn’t heard anything.
Bai Lixin interrupted Lin Xiao with embarrassment: “Let’s get back to your main storyline.”
Lin Xiao smiled, “When I heard your name in the Mermaid Laboratory copy, I recognized you. You didn’t enter here by chance, I chose you.”
“Dijia was right. You are indeed excellent, perfectly suited to be my connector.”
“This place is the interior of the Nine Dragons Carrying the Coffin. As you’ve seen, it has already formed a complete small world.”
“Although it’s on my back, I can’t enter here. I can only watch everything happening inside the coffin from a god’s perspective.”
“Unless someone can connect me to the world inside the coffin, I cannot appear within it.”
“You are that person.”
Xia Chi: “Oh, so when my brother discovered that this was the interior of the Nine Dragons Carrying the Coffin, and called your name to the sky, you appeared with that horn.”
Lin Xiao: “That’s right.”
Xia Chi: “Was the first stage also part of your coffin world?”
Lin Xiao: “No, the first stage was a derivative world created by those enemies trying to rise from the ashes. Their desire to invade us never disappeared. They are lurking, waiting for a chance to pounce on us like hyenas.”
“The banyan tree is the lifeblood of Chenjia Village. Those bastards connected it to the ice world and froze it there.”
“My coffin would never easily let such filth in, but they desperately wanted to enter. So, they disguised themselves as you, trying to muddle through and revive the souls of those invaders.”
“The pink-haired player was the first to be skinned. That monster hid his body in the bathroom ceiling and used his form to infiltrate your group. During that time, it used his best skill to lure two players—seduction.”
“But you all are high-level players. Several of you discovered the body, and most of the players’ cores were stable, so they weren’t swayed by the monster’s manipulation.”
“So, the monster set its sights on the leader, Li Li.”
“When you entered the second stage, the pink-haired player found Li Li and forcibly skinned him, taking his place.”
“Thanks to Li Li’s efforts in the first stage, it made its manipulation in the second stage much easier.”
Xia Chi: “If the fake Li Li’s core was Pink Hair, then who was the Pink Hair we saw later?”
Lin Xiao: “There is more than one invader waiting to pounce. Such a good skin, many monsters were eager to have it.”
Bai Lixin: “If I’m not mistaken, the two players who were with Pink Hair were also skinned, right?”
Lin Xiao: “Yes.”
Xia Chi: “Are they dead?”
Lin Xiao: “Dead.”
Xia Chi: “What about Li Li?”
Lin Xiao: “Li Li was skinned, but he didn’t die. Those people used forceful methods to keep him alive. Not because the monster was merciful, but because Li Li was still useful.”
Xia Chi: “The death contract. So when we heard the system prompt on the first rainstorm that four players had died, it was actually these skinned players?”
Lin Xiao: “That’s correct.”
Xia Chi: “One more thing, what was the deal with the bride Lin Jue saw in the dark wooden house?”
Lin Xiao: “It was just an illusion, a trick used by those monsters to mess with people’s minds.”
Xia Chi: “Damn those monsters are so cunning and vicious, they deserve nothing less than death!”
Lin Xiao: “Death is too easy for them.”
Hearing this, Xia Chi understood the whole story.
He sighed, feeling a mix of emotions—admiration for the fearlessness of the Chenjia villagers, sympathy for their plight, respect for Lin Xiao’s perseverance, and hatred for the cruelty of the invaders.
“Bai Lixin, now that my comrades are free, I’m ready to leave this game world and take them back to Chenjia Village.”
Bai Lixin: “What will happen to Li Cangshan?”
Lin Xiao smiled faintly, “In the real world, the treasure is fake. But in the infinite game, the resurrection prop is real.”
“If nothing goes wrong, this should be our last meeting. To thank you for your help, I will leave you with a gift before I go.”
“This gift will reach you in a few hours. I wish you all the best.”
“Goodbye.”
Bai Lixin slowly opened his eyes and found himself sleeping against the trunk of the banyan tree.
Xia Chi was sleeping beside him, his brows furrowed, and he was just waking up too.
At some point, red banyan flowers had fallen all over them, spreading out like a red velvet blanket.
He stretched his arm out from the thick sea of banyan flowers and found a jade seal in his palm.
…
When the two went down the mountain and returned to Chenjia Village, there are still 3 hours left on the game countdown.
The village road was lively, filled with people, and lined with many tables displaying all sorts of items.
There were books.
There were snacks like egg rolls and cakes, instant coffee, milk tea, and steaming dumplings.
There were house models, spaceship and rocket models, documentary photos, and even spacesuits.
Some tables were covered with high-tech products—phones, radios, laptops, tablets, and more.
It was no exaggeration to say that this was a modern museum exhibition.
High-level players really have everything in their backpacks.
The players were hawking their goods enthusiastically.
“Uncle Chen, yes, I’m calling you! Come have some dumplings… they’re soft and won’t break your teeth! Hey, stop pretending, you already know we’re not from around here. Come on, be honest, check out stuff from our era.”
“What is this? Haha, this thing is something big. It’s called a spacesuit. Many years from now, we’ll be going into space!”
“Why would I lie? It’s true! If you don’t believe me, check out these videos.”
“And what is this? This is a cell phone, and this here is a video, showing real scenes from reality. Don’t believe it? Come on, let’s record one and see.”
High Ponytail raised her phone high and flashed a sweet smile at the camera.
Beside her, a girl dressed in coarse cloth with bright, curious eyes looked at her reflection in the camera and mimicked her, revealing a gleaming smile.
“Click.” The beautiful scene was frozen in that instant.
The girl widened her eyes, “Wow, it really captured it. Miss, you’re really pretty.”
High Ponytail: “You’re even more beautiful!”
The girl smiled shyly, “It’s wonderful. This country not only has a future, but life in the future is so good. It’s really wonderful. You all are the hope of this country.”
High Ponytail’s eyes reddened, “That’s because of you. Without you, there wouldn’t be a future. So, you are the future, you are the hope.”
Xia Chi wiped his tears, “I swear, I’m going to cry to death. Brother, are my tears that worthless?”
“Turns out all our nine years of compulsory education weren’t for nothing. Everyone realized that this copy is connected to reality. They were so eager to leave because they wanted to fulfill the regrets of the Chenjia villagers. I misunderstood them. I’m such an idiot.”
“Thanks to Huaxia’s education system, I’ll never skip class again.”
Bai Lixin spotted Father Chen and Mother Chen in the crowd. They were standing in front of a table filled with delicious food, their eyes fixed on it, Adam’s apples bobbing, but they hesitated to pick up their chopsticks.
He walked over, took out a firm, large ham from his backpack, and stuffed it into their hands. “Eat it. I have plenty of good food. I’ll put it all in your house later.”
Father Chen and Mother Chen looked at each other, then Mother Chen handed the ham back to Bai Lixin, “What are you saying? We’ve lived off hunting for years, we’ve never lacked meat.”
“I also have vegetables and fruit, as well as rice and dry food.” Bai Lixin pushed the ham back into their hands. “Do you really think I don’t know? There’s only a little food left at home. You were reluctant to eat it and gave it all to us. Father may look strong, but his stomach is full of grass and tree bark. He doesn’t even have the strength to chop wood, let alone hunt. The beasts have devoured everything on the mountain, so there’s no prey left. Am I not your son? Are you really going to act like strangers with your son’s things?”
Father Chen and Mother Chen looked at Bai Lixin, then at the ham in their hands.
Their throats bobbed again. Finally, they couldn’t hold back and began wolfing down on the ham.