Skull Kingdom (2 in 1)
Gu Lin didn't sleep for too long and was awakened by a shrill and terrified scream outside the house.
The cub climbed up with a gurgle, his snow-white face full of confusion and his thick long eyelashes blinking.
In the skeleton house, besides Gu Lin, there was only the boss in the double hat.
He lay on his side on the other bed with his eyes closed, as if he was completely unaffected and not woken up.
Even when lying down to rest, the double-hat guy still wears two hats.
No one knew where Su Qiao and Song Ran had gone and they were not in the house.
The shrill screams outside continued, but Gu Lin was sensible and well-behaved and did not wake up his brother Maomao.
He sat on the bed for a while, then used all four limbs to crawl on the bed, crawled to the edge of the bed, and climbed down by himself.
After Tu Lu got out of bed, Gu Lin was still not wearing shoes. He found his own shoes and put them on his little feet.
Gu Lin can put on his shoes by himself, but his hands are too small and his movements are inevitably clumsy.
After putting on his shoes, Gu Lin kicked his feet on the spot, and did not forget to put on his Ultraman backpack, then ran out.
As soon as they saw Gu Lin wake up, the skulls pretending to be dead on the wall became active again, and kept calling the fat baby to pat their heads.
Gu Lin had already run out.
Behind him, the big guy in the double hat slowly opened his eyes, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the small figure of the little guy running away.
The shoes on my feet seem to be worn backwards.
*
Several skeleton houses were connected together. All the players heard the screams and came outside.
Su Qiao and Song Ran were also there, standing with the other players, looking at a male player rolling on the ground in horror.
Gu Lin, carrying an Ultraman backpack, walked between Su Qiao and Song Ran and stood obediently, holding Su Qiao with one hand and Song Ran with the other.
Su Qiao and Song Ran were startled by the sudden soft touch on their hands. Then they looked down and saw a little ball of hair on the top of its head. The little flower was still there, swaying.
Gu Lin tilted his head back, smiled and said, "Sister, Uncle Song Ran."
Su Qiao: "..."
Song Ran: “…”
How did you wake up and run out?
Su Qiao rubbed the kid's head and smoothed his fur.
Song Ran picked up the kid and lifted him up high.
After Gu Lin came out, the guy in the double-layer hat also left the house and stood at the back of the crowd, still with that lazy look.
Zhou Lu was standing next to Song Ran. When he saw the little player, he unconsciously turned his gaze over and looked at him.
Gu Lin felt his gaze and called him sweetly: "Brother Passerby A."
Zhou Lu: “…” is fine too.
Su Qiao and Song Ran couldn't help laughing.
Next to Zhou Lu were the other three members of the Deep Sea Society. When they saw Gu Lin, they all glanced at him unconsciously.
But soon, everyone's attention shifted back to the male player who was screaming in front of them.
The male player rolled on the ground, screaming heartbreakingly.
The skin and flesh on his skull were broken open alive, and his hair and scalp were slowly peeled off, and a green plant broke out of the skin of his skull.
The male player raised his hand and wanted to scratch his scalp, but he didn't know where to start. The pain made him scream continuously.
And the hand he raised turned from human flesh to white bones in the blink of an eye.
The skeletonization process was very fast, starting from his two hands and spreading upwards at a speed visible to the naked eye. Soon, his entire arms turned into white bones.
Then came the neck and cheeks. Within two minutes, the male player was transformed from a living person into a skeleton.
After turning into a skeleton, the male player stopped screaming.
He raised his hands in the air and moved his finger bones, making a crackling sound as the bones collided.
“What’s going on?”
A player said in a trembling voice, frightened by the scene before him.
All the players looked unhappy.
The black-robed skeleton said that he would completely turn into a skeleton on the sixth day, but he must have already turned into a skeleton before that. Judging from the player in front of him who has completely turned into a skeleton, the speed of skeletonization may vary from person to person.
They don't have that much time and they may turn into skeletons at any time.
The male player who turned into a complete skeleton lost his sense of pain and could no longer feel pain.
The green plant above his head was still growing. Perhaps because he thought it was growing too slowly, the male player simply forced the plant to grow faster by pulling it up a few centimeters.
At this moment, this new skeleton looked like a large mobile potted plant with a green grassland on its head.
Male player: “Hey, turning into a skeleton is pretty good.”
Players: “…”
As long as you are happy.
The green grassland above is also nice.
Gu Lin looked at the green plant on the male player's head, raised his little hand to touch the small flower on his own head, and said in a baby voice in surprise: "He has grass growing on his head!"
The male player who can’t see the top of his head: “…”
Oh, is his head covered with grass?
Isn't that green?
Male player: “…………”
Before turning into a skeleton, the male player didn't dare touch his head. After turning into a skeleton, although he pulled the green plant up a few centimeters, it had turned into the finger bones of the skeleton and he couldn't feel what it was at all.
The male player instantly felt like he had lost his parents. He found an empty space nearby, sat down on the ground, and started pulling the grass on his head.
As it pulled the grass, it grew wildly and it was impossible to pull it all off.
The players looked at it pulling the grass on its head and felt that it looked pitiful, yet a little funny.
Not long after the male player turned into a skeleton, the black-robed skeleton came over again.
After coming over, it first glanced at the cub in its arms.
Gu Lin called out obediently: "Uncle Skeleton."
When the black-robed skeleton heard the words "Uncle Skeleton", his eyes softened a little.
Then it looked at the newly-made skeleton and said with a strange laugh: "This skeleton is of a good variety. The faster it transforms into a skeleton, the higher the chance of being chosen for sacrifice. Everyone hurry up."
Players: “…”
Is sacrifice something worth vying for?
Everyone looked gloomy and had nothing to say.
The black-robed skeleton said: "Okay, now I'll take you to the Black Swamp."
Hearing this, everyone looked at each other in confusion.
Zhou Ludao: "If we go now, won't it be the next day?"
The black-robed skeleton smiled at everyone and said: "Isn't this already the second day?"
Players: “!”
The time was displayed on the live broadcast panel. Everyone checked the time. It had only been seven hours since they entered the dungeon...
Wait, seven hours.
Thinking of Skull Island's admiration for the number 7, could it be that...
Zhou Lu: “How many hours a day do you spend?”
Black Robe Skeleton: "Seven hours, of course."
Players: “…”
Of course, there are 24 hours in a day, right?
As if he could see everyone's confusion, the man in black robe chuckled and said, "7 is our lucky number. We believe that 7 will bring us luck and blessings, so our day is seven hours long."
"We don't have the sun, so we can't tell the difference between day and night. Of course, we can't follow the law of the sun rising in the east and setting in the west to determine the length of a day."
The players were startled.
If there are only seven hours in a day, their seven-day mission time is actually only 49 hours, which is only about two days.
Everyone thought there was still plenty of time. Although they were nervous, they were not that nervous subconsciously and felt that there was still plenty of time.
However, now, one day has passed and there are less than 42 hours left.
"Oh my god, we're going to die in less than 42 hours."
"Be confident. You will be completely transformed into a skeleton on the sixth day. That's 35 hours at most."
“…”
Time suddenly became tight.
Everyone's heart was shrouded in a dark cloud, their faces became solemn, and they could no longer smile.
*
The players followed the black-robed skeleton to the Black Swamp.
Gu Lin was held by Song Ran, and Su Qiao walked beside them.
After walking for a while, Su Qiao suddenly realized something was wrong.
She looked down at Gu Lin's small feet and saw that the shoes on her feet were worn backwards.
Su Qiao was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Tuanzi, who put your shoes on you?"
Gu Lin was eating a lollipop, lifted his feet, and said, "The baby put it on himself."
Song Ran also looked down and saw that Gu Lin's shoes were worn properly, unless they were worn backwards.
Babies this young like to put their shoes on backwards, which is very uniform.
Su Qiao smiled and shook his head, then changed his shoes back for him.
Soon we arrived at Black Swamp.
The Black Swamp is endless, like a black sea, but the swamp is more viscous.
The shores of the Black Swamp are covered with bright red roses.
These roses are extremely gorgeous, as if they had drunk the blood of living people, and are so red that they seem to be dripping with blood.
The black swamp is endless and the rose fields are endless.
These roses form the "coastline" of the Black Swamp. They bloom in the land of death, but they bloom passionately and dazzlingly.
All the players were amazed by the rose coastline in front of them.
Some players couldn't help but ask: "What will happen if I sink into the Black Swamp?"
The black-robed skeleton stood with his hands behind his back: "It will turn into sand."
Player: "...What does desertification mean?"
This is not the first time this term has been mentioned.
The black-robed skeleton looked at the endless black swamp. After a long while, he sighed and said, "The lifespan of a skeleton is very long, but it will turn into sand and shatter like quicksand. A skeleton that turns into sand will not die, but it will never be able to piece together a complete skeleton. Its consciousness will remain in these sand-turned skeleton fragments, and its consciousness will be fragmented."
“But they are still alive.”
"Once the skeleton turns to sand, it will no longer remember who it is and will not be able to find its way home."
“…”
The black-robed skeleton paused for a moment, revealing a hint of sadness in his tone: "Desertification is the fate that every skeleton fears the most, and it is also the fate we cannot escape."
“Isn’t it terrifying to survive in this way?”
As he spoke, the black-robed skeleton turned around, and then the sadness disappeared, leaving a confused look on the skeleton's face.
Everyone looked puzzled, followed its line of sight, and were all stunned.
Then, there were sounds of people gasping for air one after another.
The human cub had fallen from Song Ran's arms at some point and was now lying on the beach that had been transformed into a desertified skeleton behind everyone.
The little cub stretched out his body, with his legs stretched straight, and fluttering his feet from time to time, playing leisurely by himself.
Everyone: “!”
Gu Lin was lying there playing with sand, still talking to the skeleton that had turned into gravel.
Sand: "Hey, hey, who are you and why are you so small?"
Gu Lin grabbed sand with his little hands to build a house, and answered crisply: "My name is Gu Lin, who are you?"
Sand: "I don't know, why am I here?"
Gu Lin was surprised and asked: "Hey, you are sand, how can you talk?"
"Oh, I can't remember anything."
"We are just sand, we can't talk, please stop talking, shh."
Hearing "Shh", Gu Lin also raised his short fingers: "Shh."
The players watching this scene were stunned.
The man in black robe looked at the baby lying on the ground without any concern for whether it was clean or not, and said, "These gravels are the skeleton bones after being decomposed by the sand. After a long period of sedimentation, they became these gravels."
After a pause, he said something even more terrifying: "But they are still conscious, they are not dead yet."
“…”
The man in black robe squatted down and grabbed a handful of gravel from the ground, but his hands were only bones without flesh and blood, and the gaps between his fingers were too big, so the gravel quickly slipped through his fingers.
"Don't worry, when you sink into the Black Swamp, you will be able to experience the desertification for yourself."
Players: “…”
I would really thank you.
*
The Black Swamp is like a thick black sea, with roses as the dividing line and fine gravel on the shore.
The double-hatted boss glanced at the dark sky. At first glance, the sky seemed to be as dark as the Black Swamp.
After a while, the big guy in the double hat withdrew his gaze and looked at the little cub who was playing intently.
Song Ran clicked his tongue twice: "We can't keep this baby anymore."
Gu Lin had good hearing. When he heard Song Ran's words, he immediately turned around and said, "Baby, you can still have it after you wash it."
Song Ran compromised immediately: "Okay, okay, I can keep it after I wash it."
Gu Lin turned back to his little body and continued to play with the sand and chat with the sand.
"Although my memory is not very good and I can't remember who I am, I am on Skull Island every day, so I remember some things after the desertification."
"The skeleton can be broken into millions of pieces and can be reassembled. If an arm, leg or head is missing, the skeleton can still regenerate."
"Regeneration consumes more energy than recombination, so recombination is generally chosen."
Gu Lin said: "Then why don't you regroup?"
"Alas, the limit of the skeleton's reorganization and regeneration is the critical value of sandification. Once this critical value is exceeded, it will turn into sand and cannot be reorganized anymore. Sandification will crush the skeleton into pieces beyond the limit."
Gu Lin's voice revealed a little disappointment, and he felt sorry for them: "Then you can only be sand."
"My dear, if you stay on the island, you will soon become a skeleton, a little skeleton, and all the animals will become skeletons.
"Oh, besides plants, we have one living thing here that won't turn into a skeleton."
Gu Lin's baby voice: "What is that?"
"Butterfly."
"Butterflies don't turn into skeletons. You can go to Skull Valley to see butterflies. There are a lot of butterflies. They are very beautiful. This is the only thing I remember after I turned into a skeleton."
"My dear, after you have seen the butterfly, can you come back and tell me if it is still as beautiful as before?"
Gu Lin: "Well, I will go to see the butterflies! I will come back and tell you!"
Gu Lin likes to hum songs when he is in a good mood. When he was chatting with Shazi, he couldn't help humming.
"Baby, what are you humming?"
Gu Lin tilted his head: "Little Star, how come you have never heard of it?"
"You sing really well."
"Yes, the singing is really good. We are all blessed with good hearing."
"We have heard it before but have forgotten it. Please sing it for us again!"
Gu Lin liked people praising his singing, so he immediately sang for Shazi.
9527 and the aunt in the live broadcast room felt ashamed when they heard the others praising them with their eyes closed.
Maybe I have been brainwashed too much, so I thought the kid sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" pretty well, even though it was so out of tune that it was not recognizable as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" at all.
*
The other players didn’t have the leisure time like Gu Lin did; they were all discussing the mission.
There is not much time left, and we must find a way to lift the curse as soon as possible.
Lu Quanming has the most experience and has played the most copies. At this time, many players are secretly following his lead.
At this time, the remaining nineteen players were divided into two small groups, one of which was headed by Lu Quanming.
The other is a small group of six people with Gu Lin as the bond, the double-hatted boss, Song Ran, Su Qiao, Wu Jin and Wu Lan, five people and one child.
Lu Quanming really enjoyed the feeling of being admired, with an arrogant look on his face.
The players around him were discussing it actively.
Ling Xing chewed gum with a look of disdain on his face: "Since they won't die, let them all die."
Zhou Lu hehe: "It's easy to say, there are so many skeletons, they form a kingdom, how can we kill them?"
Ling Xing rolled his eyes: "Idiot."
Zhou Lu: "Then you are really smart."
Ling Xing: “…”
Ling Yue smiled, her temperament gentle and kind: "In fact, as long as one skeleton dies, the skeleton curse will be lifted. There is no need to find all the skeletons to verify, nor is it necessary to kill all the skeletons. As long as one skeleton dies, the skeleton curse of immortality will be broken."
As soon as she said this, the other players looked at her.
After hearing Ling Yue's words, Lu Quanming nodded in approval: "A Yue is right. Besides bickering, you two should also learn something."
Ling Xing and Zhou Lu's faces froze.
Ling Xing curled up the corners of her lips, her expression like a little girl, but her tone was full of viciousness: "So, we just need to catch a skeleton and figure out how to kill it."
*
At the same time, on Gu Lin's side, five adults gathered in a circle, looking at the little cub in the middle who was concentrating on playing with sand.
While others are actively doing their tasks, they are taking their kids for a walk.
After playing for a while, Gu Lin's stomach started to growl.
He patted the sand off his little hands. He didn't want to play anymore and just wanted to eat.
Gu Lin got up from the ground. His overalls were covered with sand and his body was dirty, but his skin was white and tender, looking both dirty and clean.
Song Ran just shook his head and said he couldn't take it anymore.
Wu Lan smiled and said, "My dear, I will buy you a one-click cleaning agent from the system mall, and then buy you a new set of clothes."
Su Qiao: "There are still such things in the system mall"
Wu Lan smiled and nodded.
The next second, the dirty little kid in front of him was completely transformed, and the overalls turned into a simple cotton T-shirt and knee-length cotton and linen shorts.
The baby who has changed his clothes is adorable, soft and tender, and is like a snow-white and clean porcelain doll.
When Gu Lin changed his clothes, a bottle of milk appeared in his arms, which he drank.
Gu Lin was a polite kid, and he thanked her sweetly: "Thank you, sister."
Wu Lan: “You’re welcome.”
The little cute baby is so good-looking, every move he makes is adorable. Even when he doesn’t do anything, everyone is so cute that their faces are bleeding.
*
After returning from the Black Swamp, Song Ran hugged Gu Lin and asked him to pat the skull on the wall.
Gu Lin clapped his hands, and after a while, he patted his little head.
What's so good about taking pictures of heads? I really don't understand these skulls.
The skulls that were patted on the head by the fat baby were all very happy and grinning.
Song Ran brought Gu Lin back and said, "Fat baby, I'm patting you on the head. Tell me, who is the Skeleton Elder?"
The skull didn't play dead this time and answered properly: "The elder skeleton is the one who carried the fat baby here yesterday."
The word "yesterday" made everyone feel dazed.
For them, it was just a few hours ago, but for Skull Island, a day had passed.
Another skull added: "The elder skull should be the oldest one among the skulls that have not yet turned into sand, if I remember correctly."
"You remembered correctly, the Skeleton Elder is indeed the oldest of all the skeletons. However, it won't be long before the Skeleton Elder turns to sand."
Song Ran: “When will the desertification occur?”
The skull thought for a moment and said, "It will probably only take the next two days."
“…”
Fortunately I asked early, otherwise it would have turned into desert.
The few of them did not dare to delay and immediately picked up the baby and went to the Skeleton Forest to look for the Skeleton Elder.
Gu Lin pointed with his little hand and led the way for everyone, and soon they arrived at the skeleton forest.
Everyone couldn't help but give a thumbs up to the kid, for he could recognize the road at such a young age.
The trees in the Skeleton Forest are much taller and more luxuriant than those in other places. The ground is covered with thick fallen leaves, and underneath the leaves are densely packed with skulls.
Looking around, there was no sign of the Skeleton Elder.
Gu Lin cupped his hands together, put them to his mouth like a small trumpet, and shouted in a crisp voice: "Grandpa Elder!"
As soon as Gu Lin finished speaking, a rustling sound came from under a tree, and the Skeleton Elder popped his head out from under the fallen leaves.
The Skeleton Elder was sitting under a tree at this time, his body covered with fallen leaves. He leaned against the tree with his eyes closed, not moving a single movement.
Hearing Gu Lin's call, it shook off the fallen leaves on its body and opened its eyes.
Seeing the Skeleton Elder, several people walked over on the fallen leaves.
Thinking of the skulls under the fallen leaves, everyone felt sad except the double-hatted boss who remained as usual.
They soon arrived in front of the Skeleton Elder. They looked at the dejected old skeleton half lying under the tree and didn't know how to start talking for a moment.
This picture looks inexplicably sad, a kind of lonely sadness.
Is it really living if we live this way?
Gu Lin struggled to get out of Song Ran's arms.
Song Ran put him on the ground.
Gu Lin looked at the Skeleton Elder and said, "Grandpa Elder, why are you sitting here?"
The Skeleton Elder looked at Gu Lin for a while, recognized the little baby, and said with a smile: "I'm waiting for the sand to turn."
Hearing it say this, several people felt a little emotional.
Wu Jin said: "Skeleton Elder, we would like to ask you if you know the source of the Skeleton Curse."
The Skeleton Elder looked like he was about to die just now, but at this moment he stood up from the ground in an instant, his body still quite strong.
“…”
Everyone looked at it in surprise.
The Skeleton Elder's eyes flashed with a strange light: "Then you have asked the right person."
After hearing what it said, everyone looked relieved and their spirits lifted.
It seems that this skeleton elder does know the source of the curse.
Suddenly, everyone looked at the Skeleton Elder with burning eyes.
Skeleton Elder: "No hurry, let me think about it. It's almost desertified and my memory is not very good."
Several people smiled and said: "We are not in a hurry, you can think about it slowly."
The Skeleton Elder nodded: "Okay, I'll think about it slowly."
Several people: "..."
Don't be too slow either.
As a result, half an hour passed while the Skeleton Elder was thinking about this.
The smiles on several people's faces became stiff and they couldn't laugh anymore.
The Skeleton Elder seemed to be devastated as well, holding his head: "Ahhh"
It held its head and paced back and forth, humming “ah”. After a long time, it was still humming “ah” and walking.
Everyone: “…”
Or... let's just forget it.
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