Chapter 33 Harmony Cinema 6
When entering the movie, Xia Bai felt that Guo Yang, who was holding his calf, let go.
It was his own decision to follow Ma Tongfeng into the film industry. He had no intention of letting others take the risk with him, and he didn't mind if they let go.
Then he felt his calves being hugged again.
He knew who it was without looking back. The arm and hand holding his calf were shaking, and liquid that looked like tears was dripping onto his ankle.
He covered his ears and hid under the chair, trembling, and cried secretly out of fear. He vividly felt what it meant to be "weak, pitiful and helpless" from this child.
Hearing Guo Yang's words, Xia Bai's hand that was about to take out the corpse-suppressing talisman stopped in shock.
Erwa was calling this kid, right? He heard Guo Yang calling him that in the corridor of the cinema.
This timid child who is crying while holding his calf, is this the ceiling of the player’s combat power?
After the shock, it seemed to make some sense.
Erwa was born in Qili Village. People from the Tourism Bureau said that Qili Village was the first place where the anomaly was discovered. In other words, this little Erwa might be the earliest player? A senior player?
But he was holding his head and shaking, he didn't even dare to pull people away, and he was still trembling and crying.
A fool is the player at the top of the standings.
A coward is the combat ceiling among players.
Xia Bai was stunned for a second, then he took out three corpse-suppressing talismans from his pocket, pressed them to his lips, and quickly put them on the ghost hand. When the ghost hand started smoking and shrank, he said to the others, "Jump!"
He immediately let go of Ma Tongfeng's legs, and fell into the lake with the child and Guo Yang behind him.
When the ghost hand shrank, if Ma Tongfeng wanted to escape, he would have a chance, but I don’t know whether he wanted to or not.
As he released his legs, Xia Bai asked him, "Don't you want to find her body and bury her properly?"
After saying this, he fell into the lake. When the lake water was about to rush into his mouth, he immediately closed his mouth and eyes, held the child in one hand, and swam forward desperately.
After two or three minutes, Xia Bai finally emerged from the water. He lifted the child out and pinched his purple face, "Breathe, breathe."
The child opened his eyes tremblingly, glanced at Xia Bai, and immediately looked away, not knowing how to breathe.
Xia Bai: "...Exhale, exhale, you know?"
Without waiting for the child to react, Xia Bai put his index finger on his nose and pressed his thumb on his chin to open up the space for air to flow in and out. Seeing the child breathe a few times, he immediately held him and swam forward again.
At this time, it was dusk in the movie world and the sky was already dim. Under the cover of the shadows of the trees, Xia Bai successfully escaped from the sight of the ghost school beauty.
Generally, the lake on the island is not very big. It is an irregular lake surrounded by uneven woodlands. The woods are safer than the lake and better for hiding from the female ghost. He swam with the child to the nearest tree that extended into the lake and dived into the woods.
It was midsummer in the movie. The forest was not big, but it felt like a tropical rainforest. The trees were tall and the branches were dense and lush. Xia Bai easily found a hiding place.
As soon as he put the child down, the child hid behind a tree.
Xia Bai: “…”
Xia Bai let him hide behind the tree, climbed up the tree skillfully, picked a few wild pears, and threw two behind the tree to the child.
Guo Yang and Ma Tongfeng came over quickly. Guo Yang looked fine, just sitting there gasping for breath. Ma Tongfeng was covered in blood. He had a knife wound on his back, and was grabbed by the ghost hand. He looked very scary now.
There was no drinkable water here, so Xia Bai gave them some pears.
Guo Yang took the pear and only started to eat it after he saw that the child was standing safely against the tree.
Ma Tongfeng took it in his hand but didn't eat it. He lowered his head to breathe, and after a long while, he said, "My worthless life is not worth it."
He was talking to Xia Bai about how he risked his life to save her.
Not worth it.
Xia Bai said that people need to eat and drink water, and said: "There is no distinction between noble and humble human lives."
Ma Tongfeng's numb and empty face finally showed a different expression, which seemed to be pain, but not really.
His life is worthless. Not only others think so, but he himself has thrown away his dignity and lives as if it were a worthless life.
When he was hit by a car when he was a child, the other party paid compensation, but it was not worth it for him to spend so much money on medical treatment, so he became a cripple.
Because he was a useless cripple, he was bullied and laughed at from the time he dropped out of elementary school to the society.
He is not worthy of standing up straight. Fawning humbly, begging for mercy on his knees, and rolling around like a scoundrel are his daily routine in life.
Even if you die one day, all your bedding will be thrown away.
Really cheap.
The only time he really didn't want others to take his life seriously was when someone tried desperately to save him.
Xia Bai stared at his expression for a few seconds, blinked, and suddenly leaned over and stuffed a pear in his hand, and asked him in a low voice: "Uncle, if you die, can you give me your body? I can take you home."
Guo Yang: “…”
Don’t think he can’t hear you if you speak so softly!
Guo Yang had been comforting himself by thinking that Xia Bai wanted his corpse because there must be something about his body that attracted him, just like when he later wanted Erwa's, Erwa's body was the strongest, and he possessed the strongest physical skills among all the players.
Unexpectedly, he even wanted people who were around fifty years old and had no skills.
He really never refuses anyone who comes to him. He takes one whenever he sees one.
Seeing his attitude, Guo Yang reasonably suspected that his first invitation to his corpse was also fake.
First time of hell!
Just now he saw Xia Bai rushing towards him without hesitation, why should he be moved? Was Xia Bai just afraid that his body would be injured?
He can't see his shining soul at all!
Ma Tongfeng's attitude was very different from his. He looked at Xia Bai and murmured, "Go home? Take me home?"
Originally, he and He Jiaxiu were going home.
On a night with bleak autumn wind and rustling windows, the iron pot beside the bed was filled with steaming pear juice and the light was warm. They spent the whole night discussing what kind of house to build when they got home, what vegetables to plant in the yard, and how to spend their old age there and have roots to settle down.
It was he who suggested a date before going home. It was him who suggested a date even though he knew it was not safe outside.
They could never go home again.
Ma Tongfeng's eyes turned red again. He quickly grabbed Xia Bai and said, "Can we go with Jiaxiu? Can you take both of us home together?"
He was very strong and it hurt Xia Bai's arm a little. Xia Bai looked at his sad and tearful face, pursed her lips and shook her head.
It's too late.
If he had asked earlier, when He Jiaxiu was still alive, it would have been better.
But there are no ifs.
"Feel sorry."
Ma Tongfeng's hand slid down Xia Bai's arm.
A gust of wind blew by, and the shadows of the trees slid across their faces, dim and silent.
Guo Yang rubbed his head and called out "Er Wa". He carefully walked to the tree next to him and handed the pear to him in a very servile manner. "Er Wa, I was a little loud just now. Please don't mind it."
Xia Bai looked over and asked, "Is Erwa the student in the photo of Qili Village Primary School?"
Even Ma Tongfeng, who was disheartened, looked up in shock.
When Xia Bai mentioned him, the pair of white pants behind the tree hid slightly.
"That's right, he is the kid from Qili Primary School who was drawn into the game, and he's the only one who survived the game." Guo Yang said helplessly, looking at the tiny bit of white visible behind the tree, his young face full of fatherly sorrow and worry.
Xia Bai didn't understand where his sadness and worry came from, "Have you known him for a long time?"
"Of course!" Guo Yang said, "I know every member of their assault team very well!"
“…”
"Let me tell you, Qili Village is the earliest recorded and confirmed game arrival event. The reason we can be sure of it is because of Erwa," said Guo Yang.
Originally he didn't want to say too much, but thinking of Erwa wanting to get close to Xia Bai in the corridor but not daring to, and secretly looking at him, Guo Yang still said a little more for his idol. Anyway, Erwa's identity was almost public in the player exchange center.
"After the students of Qili Village Primary School disappeared without a trace, no useful clues were found. The Tourism Management Bureau found Erwa hiding in a corner of the school on the fourth day after they disappeared."
"The Tourism Management Bureau found out some information about Erwa in Qili Village. Erwa's mother had a child before Erwa, but that child died during childbirth. She couldn't let it go, so she called him Erwa."
Because her first child did not survive, she was particularly looking forward to the second child and was very careful. Everything was normal in the first three months, but in the fourth month, she suddenly began to have frequent convulsions.
"It was eclampsia. She had to stop the pregnancy because she couldn't provide enough nutrition for the baby in her belly. But the mother who had lost a child was unwilling to do so. She was determined to give birth to this child at all costs. She died. She succeeded."
"When Erwa was born, he weighed only two kilograms. He was rushed to the emergency surgery room right after birth. He suffered a lot and was on the verge of death several times. All the family savings were spent. His family couldn't bear it any longer and threw him into a wheat field. Unexpectedly, he survived."
"But he is in very poor health. He has always been much thinner than his peers and is very timid. He is like a newborn bird facing a strange world. He is easily frightened."
Xia Bai looked at the few little fingers sticking out from behind the tree. He noticed the boy in the photo because he was too small. Even a first grader shouldn't be that small.
"In fact, he was not a student of Qili Village Primary School. No one allowed him to go to school. He was not even old enough to be in the first grade at the time. He just secretly went to watch them do radio gymnastics and was drawn into the game."
"The people from the Alien Management Bureau took him back, and no matter how they asked him, they could only say the word 'game'."
"Later, in order to get more information from him, a researcher recreated the scene based on the photo taken by the reporter at night, and used fake ghost hands to pull his neck and hair upwards."
Xia Bai's face showed no expression. Ma Tongfeng frowned tightly, "And then?"
"After Erwa had been crying for three hours, the institute was reduced to ruins, and the Hongchong Mountain where the institute was located had a tremor equivalent to a 7.8-magnitude earthquake."
Guo Yang once again recalled the shock he felt when he first saw the photo.
He heard that some pregnant women's blood vessels will become thinner during eclampsia. This was also the case with Erwa's mother and Erwa's mother after she was born. He heard that even now, nurses still have difficulty finding his blood vessels when giving him an injection.
It is such tiny and fragile blood vessels that connect to countless roots underground, growing into endless power and terrifying vitality, just like the mountains in the village where he was born.
Xia Bai was stunned. "Erwa is the third tree planter on the points ranking list?"
Guo Yang nodded. "Yes, although he rarely uses his abilities, every member of the attack team will bring him along when they enter the game to train him. He is the player who has entered the game the most times among all the players, so his points are relatively high."
It turns out that he is the star of the assault team, not only because he appeared in the game science promotional video of the Game Management Bureau, but also because he appeared in the game many times and many players have seen him.
Xia Bai: "Train him?"
"After leaving the research institute, Erwa became even more timid. He was afraid of everyone who approached him," said Guo Yang.
"His problem is not only that he is timid, but also that as a powerful player, he has no basic understanding of society and games, and even lacks basic common sense. After all, he lives in such a closed mountain village and has never been to school."
"What's even more troublesome is that he never uses his supernatural powers. He only uses them when he is in fear and danger of dying."
"The members of the assault team often took turns to help him understand the world, increase his knowledge, and train his courage, and guide him to use his supernatural powers in the game. After three years, the effect can be said to be zero, but it is very limited."
Xia Bai said stiffly, "The way they guide him to use his supernatural powers is not to constantly put him in danger, right?"
Guo Yang opened his mouth to refute, but was not allowed to say that to the members of the assault team, so he closed his mouth again.
He said sullenly, "The researcher was punished at that time, so the people in the assault team would definitely not stimulate Erwa that much. However, he would only use his superpowers when he was extremely scared or in extreme danger, so they had to stimulate him appropriately."
They really did, and this was the only solution they had.
Guo Yang, who has been paying attention to the assault team and the game for such a long time, was unable to explain to them in a few words how important Erwa's special abilities were to their society. The games were appearing more and more frequently, and in the near future, a city might fall overnight.
If someone brings Erwa into the game, they can only force themselves to cold-bloodedly, actively or passively put him in danger, and guide him to use his supernatural powers in the excitement of danger.
After Guo Yang finished saying this, he turned around and saw Erwa secretly and carefully peeking at Xia Bai.
He thought again of the way Erwa looked at Xia Bai in the corridor of the cinema.
Over the years, he had been in danger and fear countless times, and only Xia Bai saved him immediately.
Guo Yang was in a very complicated mood.
He said to Xia Bai: "Erwa is really timid. When he saw you being dragged into the movie, he hugged your legs and tried to pull you back."
Erwa immediately lowered his head and dodged.
Xia Bai said: "But Erwa seems to be very afraid of me."
When Xia Bai called Erwa, the little feet behind the tree took small steps forward.
Guo Yang: "He is very timid to begin with, and will he become even more timid if he falls in love?"
Xia Bai didn't understand either.
No solution.
After briefly talking about Erwa during the break, Guo Yang said, "Should we go watch [the movie]? Don't miss the key plot."
Ma Tongfeng finally spoke again, "I want to find Jiaxiu's body first."
They all knew that the islanders were cannibals, and they had brought back the bodies of the people they had killed before. It was almost dark now, and if they didn't hurry, they might not be able to find He Jiaxiu's body. Even if they went there now, they might not be able to find it.
Guo Yang sighed sadly, "Actually, I also want to find Ling Changye's body and bury him properly."
After all, he was his idol, and a hero who fought for all mankind in his heart. He couldn't accept that he was eaten by such a group of barbaric people. Even if he died, it should be done with dignity.
Xia Bai thought of the perfect corpse he picked out and sewn up from the pile of corpses in the orthopedic hospital, and then thought of the scene of him being torn to pieces and eaten by barbarians, and he felt unhappy.
How could you treat a corpse like that?
Even if he had not been spiritually corrupted by the movie, Xia Bai would still be angry when he saw the plot targeting him.
He also supported the search for the two bodies.
Guo Yang added: "But won't we miss too much of the movie plot? And we don't have a bird's eye view anymore. We may have to see it from three perspectives: the expedition team, the islanders, and the ghost school beauty. And the ghost school beauty is so scary... It's so difficult."
Xia Bai lowered his eyes. It was so difficult.
It's difficult for them, and it's difficult for him too.
The three attempts to invite corpses all failed, and the successive setbacks forced Xia Bai to rethink his method of signing corpses.
His direct question would indeed arouse suspicion. Given his strange and absurd soul skills, no one would easily agree to his request. Just like Guo Yang said, who knows if after agreeing to his request, he would turn the other person into a corpse or cause his own death.
He had thought before that if he extended the invitation to the person when he was dying, the situation might be better, but it was still not safe.
He himself knows that he cherishes corpses and will not do anything to them. In his opinion, this matter is generally beneficial to both parties, but the other party may not think so. This is essentially similar to the fact that cadaver teachers in major medical schools are insufficient. It is said that many people who were willing to donate their corpses will regret it before they die.
Keeping the body intact and clean when entering reincarnation is a deeply rooted idea in many people. No one wants to hand over his or her body to someone he or she doesn't know, not knowing what the other person will do with the body.
What's more, their current situation is indeed difficult. The ghost school beauty is not someone that any of them can fight against, except Erwa, and Erwa can't use any skills.
Xia Bai reached into his pocket and touched the corpse-suppressing talisman and corpse-controlling talisman inside.
On the afternoon he decided to be a support volunteer, he went home and took the corpse-suppressing talisman and corpse-controlling talisman with him. Every time he went out to play the game, he would carry enough with him just in case.
They are precious, especially the Corpse Taming Talisman, but they are consumables, and his skills are growth-type skills. As long as they are cultivated a little, they will be more useful than the Corpse Taming Talisman.
Xia Bai made a decision, "Shall we split up?"
Guo Yang: “That’s what I thought too.”
"How about this..." He looked at Ma Tongfeng.
Ma Tongfeng said: "You can just call me Lao Ma."
He looks like he is 50 years old. People who have been ravaged by the vicissitudes of life always look older. It is unknown how old he actually is.
Guo Yang said: "Old Ma, you have never entered the game, so just choose the safest side and follow the expedition team. While watching their actions, look for No. 1's body."
Ma Tongfeng had no objection.
Guo Yang said: "Xia Bai, you follow the islanders, and I'll go with the school beauty?"
Xia Bai: "I can also be with the ghost school beauty."
They all know that the ghost school beauty is the most terrifying, resentful ghost.
Guo Yang laughed, "Don't worry, I have a way to save my life. If things really don't work, I can still escape."
Xia Bai glanced at him. He only knew that Guo Yang had a black dagger, which seemed to be a prop with skills. He said this as if he had others.
Guo Yang added: "The islanders are not having an easy time either. No matter how scary the school ghost is, there is only one of them, while there are a group of islanders. Moreover, Gu Quankun's companion has skills, so he can only flee when facing the islanders. The islanders may be more powerful than we thought. You have to be careful, and don't show mercy when you encounter danger."
Xia Bai: "No."
Guo Yang: "What's wrong?"
Xia Bai: "You are wrong to think so. You can't just kill people casually."
A chill crept up Guo Yang's spine, and he came back to his senses and reacted.
It is obvious that the two camps are now hostile: the islanders, the expedition team and the ghost school beauty.
They complete the game to figure out the story in the movie. If they do something to the islanders and the power of the two sides shifts, will the direction of the movie remain the same? Where can they go to watch the original movie story?
This little broken game is full of dead ends, and the way out is elusive and hard to find.
Xia Bai: "We are just here to watch the movie. We cannot affect the direction of the plot. We should try to be bystanders while ensuring safety."
The last blush of red in the dark sky disappeared. The sultry heat on the island, which had been scorching all day, was broken by the evening breeze. A refreshing coolness brushed against the face. Everything was real, as if it were somewhere in their world.
For a while, they really thought this place was the real world.
It's all too real, but it's not a movie world they can change.
Guo Yang looked at Xia Bai's dazed face again and nodded seriously, "You're right, we should all be careful. This forest will be our base camp. If we can't find the other party, we'll come here."
After assigning the tasks, they immediately took action. Before leaving, Guo Yang pulled Erwa out from behind the tree, intending to let Erwa go with him. He was still worried about Erwa following the weird Xia Bai.
Several people walked out of the forest together, with Xia Bai walking on the far left.
Erwa's hand moved from Guo Yang's right trouser leg to his left trouser leg. As soon as he met Xia Bai's gaze, he immediately straightened his short legs and took small steps to the right.
Xia Bai: “…”
Darkness was the best cover. After parting at the edge of the woods, Xia Bai relied on the map of the island he learned from watching movies and sneaked into the place where the islanders lived quietly in the dim light of the night.
The speed of time in the movie world is different from that in the outside world. A 10-minute shot could be a day in the movie world, or it could be a few minutes. When Xia Bai arrived, the fight between the expedition team and the islanders over the islanders cannibalizing their classmates had just ended.
Naturally, these college students in the expedition team were no match for these barbaric islanders. Three of them died and they fled quickly.
Taking advantage of the opportunity when the islanders went to chase them, Xia Bai quietly ran to the three college students who had just died and pasted a corpse-controlling talisman behind each of their heads.
He saw some half-eaten corpses and some freshly disemboweled corpses of the islanders, so he took a photo of them all.
Afraid of being discovered, he hid after posting the posters.
The moment the corpse-controlling talisman was pasted on, a faint light appeared, and Xia Bai's mind seemed to have established a connection with them, and he automatically understood how to communicate with the corpse.
While marveling at his grandfather's truly terrifying skills, he controlled the corpses in his mind and hid the intact and broken bodies.
He stayed behind to clean up the aftermath, picking up their dropped organs and cleaning up the bloodstains they left along the way.
Hearing the sound of the islanders returning from afar, he immediately hid behind two large water tanks.
"Where's the body? Why is the body gone?"
"It must be those sinister and cunning foreigners! They stole the bodies of our companions while we were away!"
"Go! Go and see if the six sacrifices are still there!"
Xia Bai saw two islanders running into the middle thatched hut through the gap between the two bathtubs.
"Yes! The clan leader and the others are still here!"
"Pull them out now. They are chosen by God. Tie them to the altar first."
Then Xia Bai saw them dragging several corpses out of the hut. When he saw the middle-aged woman No. 1, he knew that these were the players who died in the movie.
Behind He Jiaxiu was a familiar face, Ling Changye, the man he had stitched up in the orthopedics department.
Even though his blood had almost drained out like the others, he still stood out from the other corpses. His height and length were one reason, but he didn't look as stiff and gray as the other corpses, and instead looked like his family's god of joy.
Xia Bai swallowed his saliva. It was indeed the best corpse.
His mind was completely attracted by Ling Changye's body. He looked at him from head to toe, from feet to hands, and then he saw his ring finger tremble.
A question mark popped up on Xia Bai’s dazed head.
The author has something to say:
Xia Bai: You are indeed the man I like (×) Corpse ()
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