Chapter 24 Mom Loves You (3)
Lin Chujiu ran for her life!
She didn't remember how long she ran, only that the road she walked on changed from an old, broken cement road to a wide, sandy road, and that sandy road seemed to have no end.
While they were running on the cement road, the strange creature behind them kept chasing her, and several times it even almost touched her hair.
But when they got to the sandy road, for some reason, it seemed like no strange creatures were chasing her anymore.
At first, I could still hear eerie screams coming from behind, but then I couldn't hear them anymore.
Lin Chujiu instinctively felt that this might be a more dangerous place, so she slowed her pace and cautiously moved forward.
The subsequent drop in adrenaline left her feeling exhausted.
She had just run for her life, and now that she had come to her senses, she found that her stomach was in excruciating pain, her body ached, she tasted a metallic flavor in her mouth, and her trachea was also in great pain.
"Ahem." Lin Chujiu couldn't help but cough twice.
The further she walked, the slower her pace became, and the more open the surrounding environment became. Finally, she arrived at an abandoned vegetable market.
Why can we tell that it's abandoned?
Because the environment here is dilapidated and looks lifeless.
The tricycles parked by the roadside were covered in rust, indicating that they were stalls; the fixed wooden stakes had sand on one side and black marks from insects on the other; the camouflage cloth used as the roof had long faded, and the tattered threads fluttered in the wind, like a string of summoning banners demanding the death of intruders.
Lin Chujiu wanted to turn back, but a voice in her heart told her to go in and take a look.
Lin Chujiu thought that there was still a group of strange creatures blocking her way, and that going back would only mean certain death, and she would also starve to death on the way. So after thinking about it, she decided to set foot in this place anyway.
Perhaps, the way out lies here.
Lin Chujiu explored many stalls but found nothing. Finally, he walked to a stall and saw a black mark on the ground behind it.
She remembered something, but couldn't quite grasp it.
Lin Chujiu was a little irritated, feeling that her ability to capture inspiration had declined significantly.
For some reason, she always encounters this situation after entering the dungeon. Perhaps she needs more practice.
Lin Chujiu placed her hand on the wooden stake marking the stall, preparing to squat down and rest for a bit.
She lowered her head, her bangs, matted with sweat, drooping over her eyes, making her look somewhat dejected.
She was exhausted. The intense running that had just taken her to the limit had left her with a sore, aching muscle all over as if it had been hammered.
My heart was pounding so hard, it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.
But just a second before she was about to sit down—
Everything around us began to change rapidly!
The colors on the camouflage cloth are running again, dyeing the very ends and growing into a complete patch; the sand on the wooden stakes has fallen, revealing the old stakes glistening with sweat; the mottled rust is also fading and thinning...
What unfolds around me is a brand new world.
No, to be honest, it's not brand new. It's a slightly old but lively market.
Lin Chujiu stared at everything in shock, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets. She stared blankly at everything, and then, due to the momentum, she fell to the ground.
"Jiu Jiu, what are you doing here? Didn't I tell you not to come over?"
The woman next to her scolded her.
Lin Chujiu looked over—
The woman next to me looked vaguely familiar, her face overlapping with my mother's warm smile when I first arrived, only she was a little thinner than my mother before.
This is... Lin Chujiu was dumbfounded. She sat on the ground, at a loss, not knowing what to do.
The mother next to her wiped her hands with an apron and came to help Lin Chujiu.
Lin Chujiu was helped up in a daze, not yet understanding the situation.
"Why are you sitting on the ground? Did you fall? Let Mom see if you're hurt."
The woman scolded her, but her voice was full of worry and heartache.
Feeling her mother scrutinizing her, Lin Chujiu's mind gradually cleared.
She looked down at her mother, who was examining her, and a guess formed in her mind.
Has she traveled to the past?
Or perhaps, that mother is still alive, butchering pigs at the market every day in the past?
How did she end up here?
Lin Chujiu mentally called for the horror live stream room and told it to turn on the bullet comments.
The comments appeared just as she had expected.
She breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she was still in the instance. She had thought she had unknowingly failed to complete the instance and been teleported somewhere else.
The viewers in the live stream weren't surprised by what Lin Chujiu had gone through, and patiently explained things to her in the chat:
[Jiu Jiu, this is an illusion, a normal situation that may occur in dungeons. Don't be afraid. The key is to find the cause of the illusion. Once you find it, you can clear the dungeon.]
However, the death rate in this illusion is generally quite high. Many people wait until the end of the dungeon without finding the cause of the hallucination, and are eventually killed by the increasingly powerful dungeon boss.
Why say these things at a time like this? Can't you see that Jiu Jiu is having a tough time? Don't say such discouraging things and ruin her mood, okay?
Illusion?
Lin Chujiu was a little confused. She didn't know about this thing yet. It seemed that she hadn't done enough research.
However, the audience's hints also pointed out the key point: this illusion actually has a way out. As long as the cause of this environment is found, all the problems will be solved.
But what exactly caused this illusion?
While she was still in a daze, her mother had finished examining her and found nothing seriously wrong. She waved her hand in front of Lin Chujiu:
"What are you doing? Has this child fallen and hurt himself?" the mother whispered, her voice filled with unconcealed worry.
Lin Chujiu had just subconsciously clenched her hand when her mother didn't notice the burns on it.
Lin Chujiu snapped out of her daze and looked at her mother.
My mother was wearing a faded blue short-sleeved shirt with a dirty red plaid apron over it, which had some bloodstains on it.
But the hands that had just touched her were now completely clean.
Lin Chujiu felt a pang of sadness. Her lips moved, and she spoke in a hoarse voice:
“It’s okay, Mom. I came to see you. I was tired from walking, so I just wanted to sit down and rest for a while. I didn’t fall.”
After hearing her words, her mother burst out laughing and said, "Silly child, if you have too much to say, just ask your mother to get you a stool. Don't sit on the floor."
Lin Chujiu felt a lump in her throat and nodded.
Mom sighed and found a small folding stool for her under the wooden board of the stall. The stool was actually a bit dirty, with dust accumulated from not being used for a long time. Mom took out a rag and wiped it clean before letting her sit on it.
Lin Chujiu sat on the stool somewhat awkwardly, not knowing what her daughter would usually do for her mother when she came over.
But it was only at this moment that she had a chance to look at the meat stall in front of her.
The wooden board beneath the meat was wiped clean, and the meat itself displayed an enticing color, awaiting customers.
Some of the stalls nearby had also "come back to life." The stall owners who appeared out of nowhere warmly greeted passersby and enthusiastically promoted their goods to every customer who was willing to stop. They looked almost no different from ordinary people.
The time that was just moments ago so still and lifeless is now so vibrant and alive.
Lin Chujiu felt as if she had been transported to another world.
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