Shi Yu was silent for a moment.
But the boy seemed to be impatient, his expression suddenly changed, his eyes didn't blink, like a pair of lifeless glass beads: "Brother, it's not good to break your promise, didn't you find my sister?"
When Shi Yu's eyes were quietly gazing at something, it was actually quite deceptive: to others it seemed as if he was looking seriously at the person in front of him, but only the person concerned could feel that the other person was not so much looking at him as simply in a daze.
The boy's long string of words brought him back to his senses. He blinked slowly, his voice calm, "When did I promise to help you find it?"
【……】
[No need to recall what happened earlier. The teacher only asked the little boy who his sister was after he said he wanted to find his sister. She really never said a single good word from beginning to end.]
The boy's entire face turned dark, and a dark ghostly aura spread like thick fog.
Shi Yu climbed over the handrail of the stairs and jumped down just before the black energy attacked him. His feet landed on the other half of the handrail to cushion the impact, and his body landed again.
He looked back at the black fog that was chasing him so closely, and stopped running, letting the surging fog blow his long hair into disarray.
Without seeing the other party move his feet, the boy came down from upstairs like a ghost, his hands were covered with black mist: "Brother."
Shi Yu waited until the other person stopped in front of her before she spoke again: "I thought you would call me sister."
The boy almost stuck to his face: "Brother, what are you talking about?"
“Very few boys have long hair.”
"It's true that you both have long hair, but you don't look alike at all." The boy still had a sweet smile on his face. "How could I be wrong?"
...not at all?
But the reactions of Taoist Priest Lingshan, the owner of the funeral house, and even the ghost of Xu Zhukong clearly did not seem to indicate this.
Shi Yu faced the cold and sharp black fog head-on, and when he turned his head, a bloody cut appeared on the side of his neck.
He lowered his eyes: "Aren't you looking for your sister?"
The boy's hand controlling the ghost energy suddenly paused: "Do you want to help me find it?"
"No need to look for her," Shi Yu said, "She will show up tomorrow at noon."
※
The burial will be at noon tomorrow.
Taoist Priest Lingshan informed several people of this in advance because they would be the ones to carry the coffin.
There is no consensus on when the yin energy is the heaviest in a day. Some say it is midnight, while others say it is noon.
The midnight hour is easy to understand because it is at night; and according to tradition, noon is the time when Yang energy is the heaviest. For this reason, criminals were always executed at noon in ancient times. Over time, the Yin energy of people's deaths accumulated, making noon the time when Yin energy is the heaviest.
As for this question, in Fang Chen's words, its complexity is no less than the philosophical mystery of whether the chicken or the egg came first, and it is not something that a mortal like him can figure out.
The only female player, Hu Qiu, died. After Shi Yu was told by Taoist Priest Lingshan to carry a coffin the next day, she asked this question.
Taoist Priest Lingshan listened, his eyes full of suspicion: "Who is Hu Qiu? Aren't there only four of you who came with me?"
His eyes were clear, and he didn't look like he was deliberately lying. Instead, it seemed as if Hu Qiu had never appeared in the other person's memory.
Cheng Wuye waited until Taoist Lingshan left before he approached him vaguely and said, "When a player dies in the game, all NPC-related memories in the current instance will be cleared."
Shi Yu raised his eyes to look at him.
"Of course, all traces of this player in reality will also be cleared." Cheng Wuye raised the corner of his lip, "Do you know what traces mean? The clothes you wore, the places you lived, the records of your studies and work, all the texts you wrote, all the audios you recorded, and even the memories of you in other people's minds will disappear."
"It's as if you have never existed in this world."
※
In the afternoon, Shi Yu took the initiative to go out for the first time since the day he entered the game.
Leaving the house hung with white banners and wreaths, even the sunlight above my head seemed to become more intense, and the fragmented light hit the puddles that had not yet dried up, like a layer of white noise floating on them.
The village is located in the mountains, but it covers a large area. There are several shops on the downhill road, most of which sell daily necessities such as firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea.
Shi Yu walked into the nearest one, stood in front of the glass counter, and quietly looked at the colorful goods inside.
"Brother." The boy appeared from nowhere and hugged his calf. "When will sister come back?"
Shi Yu was silent for a few seconds, then he put his hand on the other person's forehead and pushed him away: "Stay away from me."
The boy looked up: "Why? Are you afraid of me?"
As soon as Shi Yu let go, the other person's head came closer again, and he pushed him away again. After repeating this several times, he could only maintain the action of pressing against the other person's head.
The boy was very persistent and continued to ask without getting an answer: "Are you afraid of me?"
Shi Yu looked at him silently for a while, and finally, perhaps because he was annoyed by the noise or because his slow reflexes had just finished running, he replied, "Don't be afraid."
Boy: "Then why do you always not want me to get close to you?"
Shi Yu said calmly, "You smell terrible."
For a moment, the boy really subconsciously wanted to smell his own body, but in the end he just asked: "What smells bad? The smell of blood or the smell of corpse?"
【？ 】
[I am now certain that this child is abnormal.]
The boy was totally unaware, his face was flushed, his smile even made dimples appear on his cheeks, and his voice, which had not yet reached the voice change stage, was clear and crisp: "Where does it smell bad?"
Shi Yu was wrapped in his cold and stiff arms. He lowered his eyes and looked at him for a while before saying, "It smells like medicine."
The boy was stunned: "What?"
Shi Yu repeated, "You smell too much like herbs."
moment.
The boy suddenly grinned: "Brother."
Shi Yu said nothing.
The shop owner came out from the back room of the shop. When the other party saw him, her eyes lit up: "Little girl, are you here to buy something? Why haven't I seen you before? Are you new here?"
Shi Yu looked at him silently and said, "No."
The shop owner was stunned: "You... are a boy?"
"Um."
There are many youngests in the village, and the relatives can be found all over the mountain. The shopkeeper was not embarrassed when he recognized the wrong person. He just exposed it and asked, "What are you doing standing here alone?"
Shi Yu listened to this, looked down at the smiling boy in front of him, then looked up at the shop owner: "Am I standing here alone?"
"Yes." The shop owner said, "You are not looking at anything and asking no one. Aren't you uncomfortable standing here? Let me find you a chair..."
The owner went in mumbling.
Shi Yu lowered his eyes and looked at the boy in front of him who was pulling at his thighs. His palm was still on his forehead. The touch of his hand was cold and lifeless: "Others can't see you."
The boy's mouth opened wider and wider, until it reached his ears. His open mouth almost divided his entire head into two parts, with the scalp, eyes and nose hanging in the air on the upper part, and the chin and neck grounded on the ground on the lower part.
His voice was clear and crisp: "Of course they can't see it."
The last syllable of his voice was rising: "How else can I follow my brother - well."
A lollipop was stuffed into the mouth.
The boy blinked blankly.
Shi Yu loosened his grip on the lollipop stick and said, "Shut up."
The boy shut up obediently.
Shi Yu took out a coin from his pocket and put it on the glass counter. This time he didn't have to use much force to push the man away, then turned and walked out of the shop.
※
In the room, Taoist Priest Lingshan was performing a ritual, and the triangular flags he was waving made a rustling sound.
Cheng Wuye leaned against the door sill, tossing a small tin can up and down, watching the people busy in the kitchen.
Lu Nan used a fan to fan the small clay pot. In the hot summer weather, he was sweating in front of the fire. He could only talk to him to divert his attention: "Brother Cheng, have you thought of a way to get out of this game?"
Cheng Wuye's eyes were always on the small tin can, and he didn't answer his question.
Lu Nan probably had a psychological trauma from the first day. He felt cold in his heart when he didn't get an answer to the question he asked. He turned around abruptly and asked, "Brother Cheng?"
Cheng Wuye glanced at him lightly and said, "Fan the fire well."
"……oh."
After waiting for the food to be cooked, Lu Nan took the pot off the fire with a wet rag, poured the water into the sand bowl beside him through the small opening, covered the bowl, and turned around: "Brother Cheng."
Cheng Wuye didn't respond.
Lu Nan couldn't help but raise his voice a little: "Brother Cheng."
Cheng Wuye looked at him and said, "If you have something to say, just tell me."
Lu Nan picked at the corner of his clothes and opened his mouth: "The Taoist priest told me to take this to the owner's room."
Cheng Wuye: "Don't dare?"
Lu Nan's hands froze and his face felt a little hot.
The owner of the house was the organizer of the funeral. He was old and eccentric. Even though he had worked as a helper in the other party's house for so long, he would definitely be like a mouse seeing a cat when he saw the other party on a normal day and would run away directly.
Besides, he still hasn't recovered from what happened last night.
But now he really doesn't have the courage to go directly into the other person's room to meet him.
He had originally opened his mouth to ask him to help him this time, and even prepared an excuse to be rejected. But now, before he could gather enough nerve to open his mouth, the other party spoke again: "Give it to me."
Lu Nan was stunned: "Brother Cheng?"
Cheng Wuye glanced at him and said, "I'll go and see you off. Don't you understand?"
After being stunned for a moment, Lu Nan burst into tears of gratitude, and could only try his best to keep a straight face: "Thank you, thank you brother!"
Across the backyard is the mourning hall.
Shi Yu got rid of the clingy boy and met Cheng Wuye face to face as soon as she entered the house.
The other party quickly called him: "Sorry, help me take it down, I'll tie my shoelaces."
Shi Yu lowered his eyes to look at his untied shoelaces, remained silent for a few seconds, and reached out to take the porcelain plate that was used to support the bowl.
Cheng Wuye squatted down.
Shi Yu stood quietly by the side.
Cheng Wuye quickly tied the knot and explained, "This is what the owner wants. I don't know what it's used for yet, and I don't know if it has anything to do with the background of the dungeon."
Shi Yu said nothing.
Cheng Wuye stood up and took the plate from him: "Uncover it now before it's delivered."
Before Shi Yu could react, the other party had already raised his hand to open the lid of the bowl, and the rich aroma of the boiled medicinal soup mixed with steam rose up.
It formed into a huge hammer and hit the back of my head hard. For a moment, even my heartbeat seemed to stop.
Cheng Wuye said: "What do you think..."
Shi Yu walked out of the mourning hall, his legs went weak and he fell on the cold tile floor of the washroom, and he vomited.
The blood in my body was running cold. The chaotic and rapid heartbeat vibrated in my eardrums, creating a huge echo that was almost deafening, turning all the sounds in my ears into a blank space like noise.
He held onto the edge of the pool, his fingers clenched until they turned white. His throat had been burned by stomach acid, and even breathing made him feel a burning pain.
The faucet was running, and his collar and cuffs were all soaked with water from washing. He took a handful of water to rinse his mouth, washed his hands, and his hands were shaking violently when he turned off the faucet.
After finally regaining some strength, Shi Yu stood up with the help of the wall. As he walked out of the door, he had to stop.
Cheng Wuye was standing outside the door. When he saw him come out, he subconsciously reached out his hand: "Are you okay?"
Shi Yu lowered his eyes and looked at the hand on his wrist: "Let go."
Cheng Wuye frowned: "Are you okay? I just heard outside..."
Shi Yu's eyes moved from his hands to his face, meeting his eyes under his hair. His voice was clear but a little hoarse: "Didn't you do that on purpose?"
【？ ？ ？】
【What's the meaning? 】
Cheng Wuye opened his mouth and said, "I didn't expect your reaction to the drug would be so severe."
Shi Yu's face was expressionless: "So you are right to test me?"
Cheng Wuye was silent for a moment: "I must check all possible unexpected factors."
"On the first day, you locked the ghost that attacked you at night into a coffin, and revealed the rule that the coffin in the dungeon had a restraining effect on ghosts. On the second morning, I went to the kitchen to check on the number of remaining players who were playing the role of helpers, and I found you there too. You were one step ahead of me. In the afternoon, I faked my injury to fool everyone, but you were the only one who could tell that I was pretending." Cheng Wuye looked at him, "I woke up last night, just when the ghost's aura was attacking me three inches in front of me."
【Ah, this? 】
[So Cheng Wuye actually heard every word of the whole process of Master guiding Xu Zhukong into the coffin last night? ]
[Even if he was pretending to sleep, his eyelashes, fingers, and even chest movement would definitely be different from being truly asleep. How could none of the many sisters in the live broadcast room realize that he was pretending to sleep? What’s wrong with this generation of netizens?! ]
"Shi Yu." Cheng Wuye pronounced his name word by word, "Your qualities are not like those of an ordinary newcomer at all."
Shi Yu raised her eyes calmly: "So?"
Cheng Wuye paused.
"Just because I mentioned to you once before that the medicine tasted bad, you took the decoction to test it?"
He didn't say anything, which was equivalent to his consent.
Shi Yu asked again: "Now that you have finished testing, can you let go?"
Cheng Wuye was stunned for a moment.
In his expectation, after being troubled like this by his temptation, he would get angry and beat or scold the other party, which would be the least of his anger. But he never expected that the other party would react like this.
There was neither the anger of being plotted against nor the pain of physiological reaction. Even though the person standing in front of him was the culprit who had caused him so much trouble, he could not find the slightest emotion that could be classified as disgust. There was a desolate and dull look in his eyes that was almost dead.
Shi Yu tried to break him from pulling her, but her fingertips were pale and her cuffs were stained with cold water.
He called out, "Cheng Wuye."
Cheng Wuye's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Shi Yu slowly raised his eyes, his gaze calm and unperturbed: "Since you think I'm not an ordinary newcomer, then I warn you, stay away from me."
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