Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 945 The Living and the Dead

The old woman was the last to step into the mud.

The moment she stepped inside, Yu Shijiu saw the wriggling marks on her neck suddenly stiffen, then break off and disappear inch by inch.

The old woman's cloudy eyes stared at the bus, and the corner of her mouth seemed to twitch extremely slowly, as if it were a release, or a deeper curse, before she was pulled into the mud by the bony hand and disappeared.

In just a few dozen seconds, the strange passengers who got off the bus all disappeared into the dark red mud and scattered white bones.

The bus remained parked, its doors open, letting in a chilling wind that made everyone's hearts freeze.

The driver's emotionless voice rang in everyone's ears once again:

“Buried Bones Slope, five passengers disembarking.”

"It can still go on..."

His voice paused, as if he were calculating, or as if he were waiting.

"...Five new passengers..."

The carriage was deathly silent.

Yu Shijiu and the other four had solemn expressions.

Five down, five up.

Just now, a man in a suit and four strange passengers got off, making a total of five.

In just over a minute, Anjie had already eaten four or five compressed biscuits and took a sip of water from the bottle.

"Isn't that man a living person?"

Anjie frowned.

"The driver said that only the dead can go down Burial Slope, which means that living people will die if they go down there, right?"

Yu Shijiu, feeling a bit hungry, licked her lips and spoke first.

“…” Anjie remained silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

It seems that whether the people getting off are dead or alive, it doesn't change the number of new passengers getting on.

The driver said "five more," so... there are also five spots available to get on the bus.

But who will get these five new spots?

Outside the train, the Burial Mound Slope platform remained empty and desolate, with only the mournful sound of the cold wind whistling through the mud.

But as time passed, faintly, deep within that dark red mud, at the edge of the dim halo cast by the streetlights, something paler seemed to be slowly wriggling and rising upwards.

Lin Hai's voice came after the others confirmed it, carrying a barely perceptible panting and... a strange excitement.

"Five spots... Interesting. It seems the seats become more precious as the season progresses."

Hearing Lin Hai's words behind them, Yu Shijiu and the other four exchanged glances, their eyes flickering.

Xu Han had already started replenishing his lost stamina with the items he was using – he had a considerable number of items he was reluctant to use until the very last moment in this guild competition dungeon.

Xu Han felt a pang of heartache just thinking about it.

Waaaaah... These items are so precious, so hard to get, so hard to buy... waaaah...

Anjie and Chen Yi resisted the urge to turn around, their gazes remaining fixed on the Burial Slope platform outside the car.

Yu Shijiu didn't have any thoughts of whether she could bear it or not, and turned around to look at the back seats.

The hooded passenger next to Lin Hai had already lowered his head again, the brim of the hood obscuring everything, but Yu Shijiu still noticed something was wrong.

The hoodie passenger had already taken the thing out of his mouth, but the eerie smile that stretched to his ears seemed even deeper. If you looked at it for a while, you might even have the illusion that the other person was right in front of you, smiling at you.

Mulanzhi and three other male players surrounded Lin Hai, warily watching the five "alive" people and the open car door.

Noticing Yu Shijiu's gaze shift over, Mu Lanzhi's hand tightened slightly.

There is still a gap in strength between them. After all, so far, only He Lingling and Xu Han from the "Living" side have used their innate skills, while their "Echo"...

Mulan Zhi pursed her lips, concealing the worry in her eyes.

—Only three people in "Echoes" possess innate skills.

She, Lin Hai, and Li Ye.

Li Ye is the male player whose hands produce fire, while Ma Ming and Meng Lang haven't activated their talent skills yet.

If the five "alive" people really wanted to die together... Mulanzhi was somewhat bewildered.

She didn't understand why Lin Hai insisted on perishing together with the five "living" people right from the start.

Why don't they just work independently and earn some points first?

Why do we have to act so quickly?

Despite her lack of understanding, Mulanzhi still chose to obey Lin Hai's orders.

Whether it's her, Li Ye, Ma Ming, or Meng Lang, they're all the same.

Lin Hai is the captain and the core force of "Echo". No matter what Lin Hai wants to do, they must listen to him. Only a guild team that is united as one can survive in Dawn Game for a long time.

Yu Shijiu had no idea what Mulanzhi was thinking, so he looked away.

He lowered his head and pressed down on the few hairs peeking out from the wound on his left arm, his gaze shifting between the dark red mud and the forest outside the car door.

A few seconds later, Yu Shijiu seemed to realize something and whispered to An Jie beside him:

"Sister An, just now... when that couple spoke up, what were the driver's and passengers' reactions?"

Anjie pressed her still throbbing temples:

“I suspect they took advantage of the rules on the bus. The process of a passenger asking if they want to get off and the driver answering... seems to have a high priority and can even briefly interfere with other processes.”

He Lingling's face appeared even paler under her green coat, and she added:

"It's not just interference... it's more like resetting the state of part of the carriage. Passengers who weren't actually alive were forced to get off at their stops by the rules. Because they got off, Lin Hai's deliberate guidance was also interrupted..."

He Lingling actually wanted to mention the floor that Yu Shijiu had accidentally scratched—

"The floor has been restored."

Chen Yi looked at the damaged area of ​​the floor that Yu Shijiu had scratched and suddenly said.

"..." He Lingling was silent for a few seconds, "Refresh and fix?"

Because the passengers have disembarked, the floor refreshes and resets, a common scene in game dungeons.

Chen Yi hesitated before nodding, "Perhaps."

"Hey, hey, why are we discussing this now?"

Xu Han interrupted their conversation, nervously glancing out of the car door, and said in a low voice:

"Why don't you guys think about whether the five new people who get on the bus later... will be alive or dead?"

"..."

He Lingling and An Jie glanced at Xu Han but didn't say anything.

Yu Shijiu winked at him, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping herself.

Chen Yi sighed helplessly: "I'm afraid it won't be a 'person'. Burial Slope... that name, and what's in that mud... it doesn't look like anything good could come up here..."

As if to confirm his words, outside the car door, the dark red mud began to churn violently again.

Soon, five human-shaped skeletons, varying in their condition and covered in mud, slowly rose from the dark red mud.

Some of them were reduced to half a skeleton with a few bits of rotting flesh hanging from it, while others looked as if they had been haphazardly pieced together, their limbs twisted. The only thing they had in common was that their empty eye sockets were all "looking" at the open bus door.

The driver seemed impatient and kept urging on in a hoarse voice:

"Hurry up, those who want to get on the bus, hurry up, it's almost time to leave."