Chapter 272 Happy Cemetery
Aging is a different experience for Qiao Song. She has been like a stone for so many years in the river of life and death. Now it is her first time to be a human being, so any change will be very novel to her.
She was not afraid of getting old, but she was afraid that Shu Ruyue would worry.
She remembered that when she was in school, she scratched her hand when she was fighting with gangsters, but Shu Ruyue could transform herself into an honest official and said that the rivets on the leather jackets worn by the gangsters were too much.
Qiao Song felt that what Shu Ruyue said made sense, so he learned to use tools and evolved from stone to human!
But this time...
"Isn't getting old something everyone will experience?" Qiao Song quickly took a sip of the soup. "Drink the soup while it's hot. It will beautify your skin. Mom, you should eat well too. When we go shopping in the future, people will say we are sisters."
Shu Ruyue finally smiled: "You just find all kinds of ways to coax me into eating."
"Just tell me if it works or not."
“It works.”
Much better than that taciturn and silly son. Li Yuan’s concern is so great that he dares not put any pressure on Shu Ruyue, while Qiao Song’s concern is to force his mother to be obedient.
The two children are completely opposite in this respect. If they were really siblings, Li Yuan would probably be bullied to death.
When Shu Ruyue was thinking about this, she heard the sound of flapping wings from the window. She turned around and saw that it was a crow coming.
The black bird knocked on the window very politely and then flew straight to the dining table.
Shu Ruyue was stunned for a moment, staring blankly at the crow flying onto the table and just staring at her.
She suddenly felt her eyes getting hot. Shu Ruyue had a feeling before that this crow might be her son in disguise. Now, if she was dreaming, did this child come back to see her?
Li Yuan seemed to stay longer today, allowing his mother's trembling hand to gently touch his head.
Shu Ruyue hardly dared to use any strength, and just stroked the crow's shiny black feathers with trembling fingertips: "Son, is that you?"
Li Yuan didn't say anything. He rubbed his mother's palm, then jumped to the opposite side and stood on the back of the chair next to Qiao Song.
Shu Ruyue seemed to have received an answer and kept wiping away tears: "I knew it was you."
She had long felt that there must be a child of hers in this world.
In this beautiful dream, she not only found her child, but also had a daughter.
Qiao Song handed his mother a tissue and glanced at Li Yuan: "How did you have the courage to fly down today? Didn't you just take a look from a distance before?"
Li Yuan didn't say anything, bubbles started coming out of his body:
[The energy in the cemetery is loose, so I can come in more often, but I can't get too close to the living souls.]
Shu Ruyue seemed unable to see the bubbles on Li Yuan's body and thought that Qiao Song was talking to Li Yuan unilaterally.
"Qiao Qiao, this is your brother. Did you know each other when you were little? I used to see you secretly playing with a big bird."
Qiao Song paused as he pinched his fingers: "Did you see everything at that time?"
Shu Ruyue nodded.
At that time, Shu Ruyue was afraid that she must have had a sick dream and that was why she had such an association. Later, as the days passed, she felt more and more that something was wrong. She raised Qiao Song in a virtual world, but she was always thinking about her son from beginning to end. This was not fair to Qiao Song, as Xiao Song was not a substitute for anyone.
It was not until the bird, which looked like his child, flew closer and closer that Shu Ruyue was finally able to confirm that this was his child.
It turns out that Li Yuan and Qiao Song really grew up together.
Qiao Song blinked his eyes and said, "Since you know everything, then it's very simple. Just think of me as having an extra brother and him as having an extra sister."
Anyway, mom always thought she was dreaming, and in a dream, anything is possible.
Qiao Song put his hand on the back of the chair and gently touched Crow's chin with his fingertips: "What brought you here today?"
The crow flapped its wings and almost lost its balance.
Many bubbles with ellipsis appeared above his head, and finally condensed into a large dialog box, talking about business:
[The second wave of tourists will enter the cemetery in 5 days. The flood is rising faster than expected. Maybe in less than half a month, the Happy Cemetery will also be submerged.]
Qiao Song became alert: "I can control the speed of the water flow. It shouldn't flood so quickly in half a month."
The human body she is using now does not allow her to fully acquire her previous powers. She can only roughly control the River of Life and Death, but her calculation ability is much better than when she was the river god, so she does not make mistakes.
[It's not that the water level is rising too fast, it's that the cemetery is sinking on its own initiative. ]
The crow stared at her: [Qiao Song, they know you are coming.]
These guys who have been hiding behind the scenes and trying to manipulate Qiao Song probably know that they don’t have much time and opportunity left.
All the vanguards were killed. They had been hiding in the back for so long, and they understood better than the guys who were coaxed into charging in the front to fight against Qiao Song what they would face once they were found.
I guess even the chance to be reborn will be taken away.
The only chance she had was that Qiao Song's current status was not high. She was a human being, at best a human player with many chain copies.
The cemetery is not under Qiao Song's jurisdiction. Even if A Guang and Mo Wen come here to make arrangements in advance, they are not yet able to control the place.
Qiao Song has been here for such a long time, but he hasn't even seen these two guys.
[The cemetery is just a portal, a portal connecting the dreams of the living and the dead. It was created to imitate the world you tried to hatch into a human being.]
Before, there was the backup Zootopia created by Chen Long. Seeing that this worked, the guys who supported the old dragon as a puppet simply created an even more outrageous world by themselves - here, they have even opened up half of the entrance to reality.
He is worthy of being the guy who has been hiding quietly in the back for so long.
Qiao Song looked at the dry skin on the back of his hand and thought of someone: "The guys from the Newcomer Alliance have been looking for newcomers with potential over the years, but they haven't developed the guild. They have buried people in the team one after another. They want to kill me but haven't found a chance, right? And their president, I remember, was an old woman."
A very old grandmother.
It’s not like Qiao Song hasn’t seen old men on the Infinite Highway before, but although he appears to be kind and gentle, he alone controls an entire guild that is filled with young people and potential. Such old men are indeed rare.
You Yitong and Miao Tingting rowed away in advance when the River of Life and Death erupted last time. Now the entire road is submerged and the boat can't hold out for this long. They either have to go to land or change to a bigger boat.
A large ship requires a lot of shrine fragments. Qiao Song dares to say that except for someone like Li Yuan who has been planning for many years, has written a bunch of abcd plans, and has been preparing to go home, other players who want to stay will not have the energy to build a large ship.
"So, they actually came to Happy Cemetery as well?"
Qiao Song dipped his finger in water and drew a picture on the table: "Speaking of which, there are not only a group of mentally abnormal players who are missing and whose lives and deaths are unknown, but also some who are mentally normal but disappear into the ground as soon as they come in."
Where have all these people gone?
Even if the flesh melts and only the soul remains, it is impossible for it to disappear out of thin air. Since the cemetery is constantly sinking, it means that the people behind it are very confident. Once the cemetery sinks, they can escape and Qiao Song will not be able to find them.
Qiao Song muttered a few words about where he was hiding. At this time, his mother, who had been silent at the table, suddenly spoke: "Xiao Song, are you looking for someone in this world?"
The daughter had been chatting with her son who had turned into a crow. Although Shu Ruyue didn't understand what they were saying, she was quite receptive to it. She thought it was all a dream, so nothing that happened was strange.
"When mom woke up, she went outside to investigate. There shouldn't be that kind of signal tower building near our community. The information processing center is still an unfinished building in the outside world. It was only renovated in the dream. Xiaosong, are you looking for this place?"
Qiao Song was stunned.
"Mom, are you sure this place only exists in dreams and not outside?"
By verifying information with other players, Qiao Song learned that this dream world almost restored the scenes in the real world 1:1. Even if there were discrepancies, they were at most small objects that were different, such as the food on the supermarket shelves, what brand and packaging it was.
There was no way such a large architectural disorder could occur, especially something so conspicuous.
After Shu Ruyue entered the dream, her memory of that kind of building was even tampered with. If Qiao Song hadn't asked for it, she wouldn't have discovered it.
Moreover, Shu Ruyue is currently the only human who has experienced the advanced dream server. She can perfectly distinguish between dreams and reality, and is willing to believe in Qiao Song in the dream.
She personally brought Qiao Song the first key home.
"Xiao Song, there is a sign at that place. It's called 'Brain Wave and Soul Projection Management Center'."
Before Qiao Song came over today, Shu Ruyue asked the neighbors, but the neighbors in the dream responded very slowly after being questioned, like an unstimulated robot.
Shu Ruyue took the risk of taking a detour to take a look, and finally bought some vegetables from the supermarket nearby and brought them back.
"I have secretly observed that people often come out of that building. Those people who come out are just like the neighbors in my dream. They don't like to talk to others."
Qiao Song had never greeted other people in her dreams before, but she didn't expect her mother to be braver than her.
"Did they see you? Did they attack you?"
Shu Ruyue saw that Qiao Song and Li Yuan were looking at her intently, so she immediately waved her hands and said, "It's okay. I just need to do my job and not make any unusual movements, and they won't notice me."
When Li Yuan was still alive, he studied a lot of games because of his profession. In order not to be too far away from her son's life, Shu Ruyue also followed the trend and downloaded some horror games and played them on the updated TV.
Qiao Song was stunned by Shu Ruyue's NPC role-playing skills: "Mom is amazing."
Jojo gave both thumbs up in respect.
Li Yuan was also a little surprised. He looked at Shu Ruyue's gentle and confident expression, and heard Qiao Song praising his mother's ability but not encouraging her to keep trying:
"This world is quite dangerous. I don't even understand the rules that govern it. Mom, you have to put protecting yourself first."
Shu Ruyue immediately smiled gently: "Okay, then I will make soup for you next time. I am very good at it now, and I often make soup for myself when I go out."
Qiao Song immediately went into praise mode again, praising Shu Ruyue for being good at taking care of herself. His words were similar to early childhood education psychology, encouraging and praising at the same time.
Li Yuan suddenly felt that the relationships in their family seemed a little complicated, with elders, juniors and peers all in a mess.
"Mom, even if you come to this world in the future, don't go out easily. We will go home to find you by ourselves. Then my brother and I will go out to take a look."
When Li Yuan was grabbed from the back of the chair, he realized that his brother was referring to him.
Li Yuan: ...
Qiao Song felt the crow in his arms struggle for a few seconds, and finally let him pinch its mouth and take it out of the house as if it was kidnapped.
"Come on, let's calculate the time. It's almost time for me to wake up. Let's go and take a look."
In this world, only players can see the speech bubbles on Li Yuan. It was completely unnecessary for Qiao Song to pinch his mouth. It was obviously intentional.
Li Yuan looked at the smiling Qiao Song with a sad look on his face for a while, and finally spread his wings and flew away, with a huge bubble floating on his body:
[I'll go check out the situation first, you watch out for the surroundings. ]
Qiao Song knew without Li Yuan's reminder that the secrets of this world were no smaller than the River of Life and Death.
A world where the living and the dead can meet in dreams, how is this possible?
Brain Wave and Soul Projection Management Center...Qiao Song silently recited the name.
What she learned in school was entirely based on the memories of several passengers on the ship. It can only be said that it was fortunate that the old principal was there, otherwise even if Li Yuan and Annie were both top students, there would be no way to create teaching materials suitable for children starting from elementary school.
Therefore, most of the knowledge that Qiao Song obtained would not exceed the highest level of these people. At most, it was the combination of these people's skills, life techniques, and career experiences that made her successful.
As for brain waves, what Qiao Song could think of was similar to what Li Yuan could think of.
Could it be that those guys behind the scenes want to use scientific methods to project the soul directly into reality?
Qiao Song himself was curious.
Can science conquer death?
She walked through the streets, observing the wandering souls around. Most of them were the same as before. There were pure dead people who sent messages to the living in their dreams, and there were also living people who had been too unlucky recently and whose mental state took a sharp turn for the worse. They mistakenly entered this world and then went crazy in their dreams.
The crows have a low presence and can occasionally become invisible, so while Li Yuan goes to explore the way, Qiao Song has more time to analyze slowly.
Just as my mother said, the number of dazed ghosts increased along the way.
There was a faint glow of death on them, but they did not communicate with any living souls, and it seemed that they had no intention of sending messages in dreams.
Moreover, unlike some living people who go crazy in dreams, they mechanically circle around certain places, much like earthbound spirits. The light on their bodies shows that they still have some distance to go before reincarnation, and they should not be so confused.
The closer a person is to reincarnation, the more all of his memories, skills, and everything from his previous life will be washed away. He will become like a blank sheet of paper, floating lightly up to the sky.
These people are empty, with nothing on their bodies, yet too heavy to fly, like a kite with a string that has been hollowed out of its flesh and blood, with only a skin and a skeleton left to support it, fixed in place.
It was like a plant that had been deliberately ripened and had its most precious things picked out, and then was left to rot in the ground, leaving only an empty shell.
Qiao Song inexplicably made a lot of associations, and his worst guess at the moment was whether that was how those missing people were dealt with?
Soon, the strange square building in her field of vision was getting closer and closer.
From a distance, this thing looks a bit like a computer mainframe, and the water pipes coiled outside are like wires, one after another. In terms of architectural aesthetics, it is not particularly good, but hidden among a bunch of urban skyscrapers, and mixed with a 1:1 demolition area and old city area with reality, this building does not look out of place.
It can even be considered a weird style, but it has personality.
Qiao Song walked on the sidewalk near the green belt. Under the cover of trees, he could see that people were constantly entering and leaving the building.
Moreover, similar to what Shu Ruyue had concluded before, the number of people coming out was far greater than the number of people going in.
Most of the people who went in had their backs to her, so she couldn't see clearly.
It was obvious that those that came out were almost all empty shells of souls.
Qiao Song looked at it for a while, and his brows furrowed more and more.
The memories, skills, and everything that could distinguish these souls from one another are gone.
They were thrown out by the Brain Wave and Soul Projection Management Center like pieces of bleached paper.
Qiao Song looked up at the shade of the trees, but there was no shadow of the crow.
Did Li Yuan leave without saying goodbye? She seemed to be unable to smell him.
Opposite, on the upper floor of the Brain Wave and Soul Projection Management Center, a white figure stood in front of the glass window and looked outside for a while.
The suit he was wearing was obviously new and did not match his usual style. Coupled with his sullen face, he looked particularly abnormal and gloomy.
"You Yitong, the boss wants you to come over."
A lazy voice came from behind.
You Yitong turned around and looked at Miao Tingting, who was covered in wounds but lying on the sofa playing with insects as if nothing had happened: "After failing so many times, you seem to be in a good mood."
Miao Tingting sneered: "I'm not as talented as you in this area. I just stole a period of life. This doesn't match your profession very well."
The veins on You Yitong's forehead jumped. Miao Tingting almost thought that this man was going to get angry and attack, but You Yitong actually held back.
His expression had returned to his previous state, wearing a suit and looking humorous. You Yitong looked like he was wearing a mask welded to his face, speaking harmlessly and bluntly:
"Miao Tingting, thieves and magicians are very similar. Of course, I prefer people to call me a magician. You'd better pray that I fail, or I will steal your most precious things, skills, props, and even memories."
You Yitong walked to the end of the room, and soon turned back to look at Miao Tingting who was still playing with insects on the sofa: "I will go in to do the test, and the security will be handed over to you. You'd better keep a close eye on the outside, there are already living souls nearby."
He didn't say whether the living people were players or people in real life, but it would definitely not be a good thing if this building was noticed.
Miao Tingting was stunned. She didn't care about the pain from the torn wounds on her body and quickly got up from the sofa.
She cut her wrists, and soon countless black shadows appeared in her translucent body, flowing along her blood vessels, and finally crawled out of the wound and flowed to the ground.
A complete monitoring network was generated in Miao Tingting's consciousness, and her abilities had evolved rapidly compared to before.
The price is that she is the only one standing here.
It doesn’t matter. As long as she is the one who gets the status of heir in the end, I can still return the things I picked from the database to my companions.
She is different from You Yitong. The other is alone, so she can go crazy without restraint.
Miao Tingting knew that if there was ever a security problem, the boss would simply make her a part of the building's defense system.
Just like she did with her former team members.
There was a flash of resentment in her eyes. Miao Tingting's poisonous insect could only cover the area where the building was located. The outside belonged to the realm of dreams, and the inside was full of matter composed of human collective consciousness, which she could not shake at all.
This magical dream world has not been fully constructed and opened for long. Logically, the Happy Cemetery is the only entrance.
Are those players so fast that they got here so early?
When Miao Tingting started to monitor the outside world out of suspicion, Qiao Song was actually not close to the building at all. In her arms, there was a feather left by a crow that was slowly burning.
Qiao Song realized that something was wrong and left the area without any hesitation.
You Yitong didn't see Qiao Song's face at that time, she only saw a familiar figure between the green belts, and she felt her mood getting worse.
The corridors of the Soul Projection Management Center are all translucent, and You Yitong can easily see the humans floating in the water tanks one after another underground.
That was a whimsical but successful crazy experiment that their president had conducted over the years, an experiment to project souls into an artificial river of life and death.
The most miraculous thing about the Infinite Highway is that it extracts and strengthens the players' previous skills, turning them into something that can be added points like a game skill book.
There's no better place to experiment.
A figure in a white coat was standing among the bubbling experimental tanks.
When You Yitong walked down the stairs, the other party was holding a burning crow feather in his hand.
"What a pity that he got away again. He is such a lucky boy that he got most of the inheritance and yet was not trapped by the river."
If Qiao Song were here at this moment, he would probably be able to recognize this woman in a white coat and with silver hair as the president of the Newcomer Alliance whom she had met at a rally in the parking lot before.
But compared to that time, the woman now looks a little too young.
On the Infinite Highway, she was an old woman so old that half of her body was buried in a coffin, but here, in this world she had prepared for many years, her soul remained in its youngest state.
You Yitong looked at the burnt feather with an unfriendly look: "That guy is trying to invade here again?"
The Newcomer Alliance leader clapped his hands indifferently and said, "He can't come in for the time being. Li Yuan doesn't even look like a human being like Qiao Song right now."
When You Yitong heard the name mentioned by the president, his expression shrank. The president didn't care about his reaction, but took out a cup of solution.
"The old fellow from Black Iron has provided a lot of interesting information. Read the target's log information and try to steal two graves."
A hand wearing a white glove took the cup of solution with a roaring human face on it.
"I see."
You Yitong swallowed the pile of unknown things in one gulp and couldn't help but emphasize: "That's not stealing, it's taking over someone else's body."
The woman looked at him with a smile: "One word doesn't determine anything. You just want to completely get rid of your identity as a thief. Don't be so tense all the time. You have to know that what we are doing now is a cross-century research on the reconstruction of life."
"Only if you succeed can you get rid of those shameful identities of yours, go back for a long time, and live your life again."
"You Yitong, don't let us down."
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