Chapter 124 The Road Home (3)
When Bai Ye arrived at the hospital, his mother was leaning against his uncle's chest, her eyes vacant, as if she had lost her soul.
His heart skipped a beat; he was terrified.
"Huijuan, Xiaotian is here." Li Da patted his sister's shoulder and helped her up.
He turned his head and sighed as he looked at his nephew, "Your uncle is useless, and your father..."
"uncle!"
Bai Ye interrupted the other person, forcing a smile, "Where is my dad now?"
"The doctor won't let us see your dad, saying he's being resuscitated, but I clearly saw there were no doctors left in the resuscitation room."
Compared to Li Huijuan, who was completely distraught, Li Da remained relatively calm and recounted in detail to his nephew everything he had witnessed and the obstacles he had encountered along the way.
After hearing this, Bai Ye neither called the police nor sought out the relevant doctors to argue with them, let alone try to get his father's body back.
He sat on the cold bench, pondering the rationale behind the whole thing.
Because the blood routine test results were abnormal, the doctor requested that the patient's various physical indicators be re-examined, but did not explain exactly what the problem was, which is quite strange.
It is even more unreasonable to forcibly take away a patient without the family's consent, or even to obstruct the family.
The emergency room was locked, and no critical condition notice was issued. It was highly likely that the patient had lost vital signs, yet the family was not notified at all. This is completely impossible.
But what Bai Ye couldn't understand the most was that the other patients in the same ward seemed to have no idea what was going on.
It is true that people are indifferent in today's society, but as onlookers or bystanders, shouldn't we at least have some reaction?
This applies to patients in hospitals, and it also applies to nurses on duty.
They would even greet you with a smile.
Bai Ye looked up at the corridor and saw people coming and going, all chatting and laughing, but their laughter looked awkward no matter how you looked at it.
It looks like an NPC, so fake.
"Xiao Tian, your dad is... why are you just sitting there without moving!"
Li Huijuan finally came to her senses. Seeing that her son was unmoved, she was both angry and anxious, and couldn't help but pat his back.
Bai Ye suddenly turned his head to look at his mother. Her face was so familiar, yet the rich expressions on it were so unfamiliar.
His mother was a very strong and reserved person who rarely showed her emotions.
Even when faced with a cataclysmic event, he would simply turn his back and sob to himself.
Now, however, he's baring his teeth and brandishing his claws, like a hysterical madman.
"Mom, you look terrible crying." Bai Ye's eyes were unusually calm.
Li Huijuan was stunned and didn't know how to respond to those words.
While still in a daze, Bai Ye had already stood up. "I'll handle my father's matter. I'll go see Grandma first."
The old lady is still in the ICU. The doctors have declared her critically ill several times and said in advance that she might not survive 48 hours.
But strangely enough, Bai Ye had barely arrived and hadn't even seen the old lady when he was informed that she had already left.
"He passed away peacefully, without suffering from illness. Please accept our deepest condolences, family members." The medical staff said apologetically.
Bai Ye spent two days and one night in the hospital, retrieved her father's body from the emergency room, and then issued death certificates for the two family members.
Finally, they took the person home.
His mother didn't go home; instead, she went back to her parents' home with his uncle.
Before leaving, Uncle Li Da said, "Your mother is not quite right in the head. She probably won't be able to handle going home. I'll take her back first, and then send her back in a couple of days when she's calmed down."
Bai Ye nodded and watched the two leave.
After that, the funeral arrangements, including the mourning ceremony, the burial procession, cremation, and burial...
Bai Ye handled everything single-handedly. Despite knowing nothing about it, he managed to get things done surprisingly smoothly.
All the elders in the village came to help, as if their own family members had died.
The most terrifying thing is that when someone took the ashes to the cemetery, this group of people actually started fighting.
Bai Ye stood outside the crowd, watching this scene, and felt only absurdity.
"Xiao Tian, did you really agree to those beasts?" Aunt Bai Xiaohua stood beside her, holding her father's ashes in her arms, which had just been dug out of the ground.
She couldn't understand how the only man in the family could be so indifferent.
Grandpa's grave was dug up, but it seems like it doesn't matter.
Grandma was hit and killed, but no one is investigating.
The father was murdered, and at the hospital, this child didn't dare utter a single word.
And what about the mentally unstable mother? They don't even care about her anymore?
“Xiao Tian, you’ve been away for several years, and you’ve changed a lot.” Bai Xiaohua said with some resentment.
Bai Ye glanced at her aunt beside her and suddenly said, "Give me Grandpa's ashes too. I'll empty them out later and put them together with Grandma's."
"What are you trying to do?" Bai Xiaohua asked, puzzled.
“I think it’s good; Grandpa and Grandma should be buried together.”
"No need, these two boxes are enough."
Bai Ye nodded again, "Then I'll listen to you, Aunt."
However, when it came time to put the urn in, Bai Ye snatched it away and opened the lid.
Bai Xiaohua screamed in terror behind him, but the young man in front of her ignored her and even reached inside, rummaging through the urn.
Human bones were scattered all over the ground, and the area around the three connected tombstones was littered with broken bones.
Not only Bai Xiaohua, but the other villagers who had "kindly" come to see her off also backed away, their faces filled with fear.
Not content with opening Grandpa's urn, Bai Ye also dismantled Grandma's and Dad's urns.
I carefully examined each of the three boxes and finally found the pattern I wanted.
Like the box used for duty and spot checks in the critical zone, its internal structure has not changed.
"Strange, you've blurred my memories, but forgotten the most important point." Bai Ye held three urns, his smile serene.
The long-silent mechanical sound finally rang out.
[Human player, why are you unmoved by this?]
[Strange] I don't understand. This player clearly values his family the most, but when he sees his family, even deceased family members, suffer a great disaster, he shows no emotional fluctuation.
Fear, anger, disgust, hatred...
Why is the worst aspect of humanity not mentioned?
Bai Ye laughed out loud, even with a hint of pitifulness [weird], "You're a machine, aren't you? You don't understand humans."
【What's the meaning? 】
"Human beings can suffer great calamities at the same time, even one after another, but one thing must be justified."
[Is it reasonable?]
"Yes, so-called rationality can be naturally formed or artificially created. But the people who suffer all of this must believe the facts before their eyes. As a machine, you only want to amplify all the malice infinitely and ignore all the irrationality in order to accelerate the players' collapse. Little do you know that the process of accelerating is precisely what exposes the root of the problem."
People can have bad luck, but they can't have bad luck without any "foundation".
Not to mention those bizarre creatures that impersonate humans, automatically acquiring human external emotions, yet completely unaware of the evolution of their internal emotions.
“The general manager wouldn’t give a red envelope out of kindness; my mother would never cry in front of me no matter how hard things are; my uncle isn’t the type to step in and take responsibility; my uncle-in-law has never been involved in my family’s affairs; the village chief is a bit greedy but cowardly; and the village party secretary is a principled and upright person…”
Bai Ye meticulously recounts the characteristics of everyone around her and the attitudes they should have when these things happen.
As the "lie" was exposed, the surrounding environment began to recede, flowing away from Bai Ye as quickly as water.
In the end, all that was left was an urn he was holding in his arms.
Looking closer, he realized that he was in a dark, muddy swamp.
Strangely, the black pool doesn't sink; instead, you can stand firmly on it.
"Dad, you're awake!" Bai Jin's voice rang out.
Bai Ye turned her head and saw her daughter standing not far away, with the old lady Yao Tao beside her.
"Aunt Yao."
Bai Ye was pleasantly surprised to see familiar faces.
He went over, wanting to bring his daughter back, but the old woman held her captive.
"Aunt Yao, what do you mean by this?" Bai Ye asked, puzzled.
The old woman turned her head and glanced at the black pool. "The stinky thing is about to crawl out. White Hair, bring out your rules for passing the level."
"What?"
"Suppress this disgusting thing."
"Why should we?" Bai Ye shook his head, even finding it amusing. "Where did you all get this sense of entitlement, wanting whatever you want without considering the feelings of us players? If you're so capable, then just take it!"
"The rules for clearing the gate cannot be stolen; the laws of the world do not allow it."
"who?"
Bai Ye quickly turned around, and this time, he saw the former Supreme Prosecutor.
The old man still had the same expression as before, and his tone was very gentle. “Human players, the strange world should exist independently and have no connection with your original world. But human malice arises everywhere and spreads wantonly, and has unknowingly infiltrated the strange world. This is your own fault. It is understandable to use the rules for clearing the game that you humans have established to repair the strange world.”
Bai Ye frowned but remained silent.
Bai Jin was being held by the old lady and was already getting impatient, constantly trying to run away.
"Dad, don't listen to their nonsense, it's all fake!"
"noob?"
Bai Ye was somewhat dazed. Looking at the strange figures in front of him, he began to feel uncertain.
Is Bai Jin real?
Is Aunt Yao really real?
Is the Supreme Prosecutor really a person?
If the previous environment could be fake, then why can't everything in front of us be fake?
"I remember, when I pushed open that door, Wenyan and the others walked two or three steps ahead of me. We should have been able to stay together."
"The white brocade fell from above at just the right time, but what if it was fake?"
“From the very beginning, none of it was real…”
Bai Ye closed her eyes and began to recall the path she had walked, wondering where the changes had begun.
Until my thoughts returned to the convenience store, and I saw the shop owner's face in my memory.
He suddenly woke up with a start.
"Congratulations on being the first human player to leave the Void." The shopkeeper lay in a rocking chair; the small shop was still dilapidated.
Bai Ye looked around; there were no other companions.
He immediately turned to look across the room, "Boss, where are my other partners?"
"They? Just like you, they experience the evil of the world, feel the falsehood of the world, and search for the truth of their true selves."
Bai Ye looked puzzled, but as he watched, his eyes gradually filled with terror.
He couldn't help but step back, pointing at the "person" in front of him, "You are the Nine Venerables, that top-tier weirdo!"
"Hmm? How did you figure that out?"
"All items and cards, all the health and damage values in the game, and all the series-related expenses are actually related to your little shop. Even renting a room to use a healing pod, or using exercise equipment to activate strength, the final flow of Ghost Coins all happens in your little shop."
Details of the White Night Memories: the item cards and the dungeon game cards are made of the same material.
The dungeon lobby is directly connected to the eerie convenience store, which can appear at any time during the dungeon.
There are urns in the convenience store. Although it's unknown where they are buried, they must be connected to the intensive care unit. Perhaps the entire convenience store is a giant nutrient pool.
"The most dangerous place is the safest place. Boss, you're 'living' right under the noses of all the players. We've all made the mistake of being blind to our own vulnerability."
"Clap clap clap—"
The shop owner couldn't help but applaud, feeling even more that the human player in front of him was incredibly insightful.
"I really like players like you. It would be great if you could become one of my kind."
"impossible!"
Bai Ye's face turned ugly. "Release all my companions immediately."
“That won’t work. They can’t distinguish between truth and falsehood, and if they fall into the evil of the world, they can only become nourishment.”
"you……"
"They demolished it so quickly. All the dungeon games I built have been torn down."
Suddenly, the shop owner stood up, raised his hand, and the shop vanished into thin air.
Bai Ye stood in Night Moon Town, or rather, in a pitch-black environment.
He was suspended in this darkness, the only light in his eyes being the entire skyscraper that had been completely demolished, leaving only golden threads wrapped around it.
The building is so tall that its top is nowhere in sight, and its enormous golden color shines brightly, making it look like a golden pagoda.
Bai Ye was stunned and hadn't reacted yet when the shop owner took to the air and flew straight to the top of the building.
Almost simultaneously, a small figure fell from a great height.
This time, Bai Ye could see clearly that it was Bai Jin.
Whether it was real or fake, he instinctively stepped forward and caught the person.
"Little Bai, are you hurt?" Bai Ye looked into his arms, secretly observing.
Bai Jin shook her head and hugged Bai Ye's neck tightly. "Dad, I almost touched the laws of the world up there."
"Um?"
"Something is arbitrarily altering the laws of the world, and an old woman is fighting with that thing."
"Grandma? Is that Aunt Yao?"
"I think so. Oh, by the way, I saw one of the most bizarre creatures fly up there."
"That's the shop owner, he's Jiuzun."
"But it's so strange, Dad. I smelled a faint fragrance on that Nine Venerables."
Bai Jin tilted her head, her eyes filled with confusion, "Dad, didn't you say that the Nine Venerables were the culprit? If a top-level supernatural being is evil, then he (or she) should smell of rot and stench."
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