Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 912 Should We Use Violence?

Under the influence of pollution, Yu Shijiu "heard" a subtle sound, different from the sound of claws rubbing against the soil—the rustling of feathers brushing against cotton cloth, and... a very soft sigh, as if a sigh of relief had been heard.

Inside the basket, the swallow that had been "sleeping" slowly opened its dark eyes a crack through the gap in the quilt.

Its gaze precisely swept across the long table and landed on Thumbelina, who sat opposite the mole, trembling and looking desperate.

Those small, beady eyes flickered, their expression complex and unreadable. It wasn't entirely concern, but rather a kind of... assessment, and a hint of deeply hidden, cold expectation.

At this moment, the swallow, which should have been the "weakling," suddenly seemed to become another kind of "old field mouse" in control, its eyes seemingly checking whether the "goods" in front of it were intact and whether they were ready to continue the next "journey".

The swallows are there, assessing the "value" after Thumbelina leaves.

The moment this possibility crossed her mind, a cold sweat broke out on He Lingling's back.

...The swallow woke up, and it really was...waiting for the right moment to take Thumbelina away.

Yu Shijiu's gaze remained fixed on Yanzi for a long time.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, concealing the excitement that was gradually surging within them, and continued to poke at the vegetable roots in his bowl as if nothing was wrong.

Swallow... Once you get out, you should be able to chop its head off with an axe, right?

Anyway, he doesn't seem like a good person.

-

The banquet finally drew to a close amidst a false sense of liveliness.

The mole finished the last bowl of "fruit wine," let out a satisfied burp, and patted its round belly.

"Mrs. Field Mouse, you are very hospitable."

It said in a gruff voice, "I am very satisfied with this marriage, and I also like Thumbelina, this beautiful girl, very much."

The old field mouse instantly beamed with joy, clapped its paws, and said:

"That's great! Then it's settled? When is a convenient time for you..."

"Not urgent."

The mole waved its paw, and a red light swept across the people around the table.

"I've come all this way, and I'd like to stay here for a couple of days to properly 'observe' my future wife's character and catch up with you. As for the specifics... we'll need to discuss them slowly, since there are many things needed for a wedding..."

The mole emphasized the words "investigate" and "discuss slowly" in his speech. His gaze seemed to sweep over Yu Shijiu again, as well as his left arm, which was wrapped in strips of cloth but still had an unusual outline, before finally landing on Thumbelina, who had not spoken all along.

It's easy to see that the mole is genuinely "very satisfied" with Thumbelina.

The old field mouse readily agreed: "Of course, of course! You can stay as long as you want! Youhua, Xiaohua, quickly go and prepare the best guest room in our burrow!"

"Yes, Grandma Field Mouse."

Fang Youhua obediently agreed and gestured with her eyes for Yang Hua to walk out of the main room.

Yang Hua, of course, had no intention of staying, so he quickened his pace and followed Fang Youhua out of the main room.

The mole also stood up unsteadily, its body, which was several times larger than the others, once again brought a strong sense of oppression.

For a moment, Xu Han even felt that its head was about to touch the ceiling.

Xu Han scratched his ear and swallowed.

Damn! Why does a mole have to be so tall? Why?!

The mole didn't leave immediately, but instead strolled to the fireplace and looked down at the basket that had been dragged to the corner.

"Is this the injured swallow you mentioned in your letter?"

The mole said, nudging the blanket with its paw.

The swallows under the quilt immediately closed their eyes, resuming their "sleeping" state, their breaths faint.

"Yes, an ugly swallow flew in from the south, got frostbite, and fell here."

The old field mouse nodded hastily, but its eyes betrayed its disdain.

"Thumbelina was kind-hearted and insisted on taking care of it, saying that as long as there was medicine for it, it could fly back to the warm south once its injured wings healed."

As the old field mouse spoke, he gave Thumbelina a meaningful look.

Thumbelina bit her lip tightly, her nails digging into her palm.

"The South..." the mole muttered, then gave a noncommittal sneer. "It's certainly a good thing that my wings are healed. I do have some ointment I got from humans, so I'll have Thumbelina come and get it from me tomorrow."

Thumbelina's pale face faded slightly. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but was interrupted by the mole.

"That's enough for today. I'm tired. Take me to rest."

The mole let out a satisfied burp and said to the old field mouse and Thumbelina.

"..."

Thumbelina swallowed back the words that had just reached her throat.

Fang Youhua had already returned from outside the main room—Yang Hua had gone alone to tidy up the room for the mole to rest in for the night. When the old field mouse glanced over, she immediately stepped forward to lead the way, smiling and gesturing for the mole to follow her.

The mole yawned and followed Fang Youhua out of the main room with heavy steps.

The old field mouse watched the man and the mouse leave, the smile on its face slowly fading.

It turned around, its gaze behind its glasses hardening as it swept over the remaining people.

"Alright, our distinguished guest can rest now. You all should hurry up and clean this place up."

The old field mouse, having lost all the enthusiasm it had shown towards the mole, spoke coldly, completely devoid of its previous "kindness."

"And Thumbelina, you'll be sleeping with me these next few days. Grandma has a few things to tell you."

Thumbelina trembled and looked to Ange for help.

Before Ange could speak, the old field mouse grabbed Thumbelina's wrist without warning, with such force that Thumbelina cried out in pain.

"Hurry up!" the old field mouse urged impatiently, dragging her outside.

“Grandma Field Mouse…” He Lingling said.

"What?" The old field mouse turned around, his eyes icy cold. "I'm disciplining my newly adopted granddaughter, and you guests want to interfere too? Don't forget your identities, and whose kindness you've been able to live this long thanks to."

The allusion in its last sentence left He Lingling speechless, unable to utter the words of advice she had intended.

The old field mouse snorted coldly, then pulled Thumbelina, who kept turning back with tears welling up in her eyes, and disappeared into the underground tunnel.

Only the five "living" members of the team remained in the main room, along with a swallow pretending to sleep in a basket by the fireplace.

There was silence.

The flickering candlelight cast long, twisted shadows of the group on the wall, resembling lurking claws.

"Let's go back to the room and talk about what to do next."

He Lingling broke the silence first, her voice low, "Hurry up and pack."

Upon hearing this, the group quickly got to work and hastily cleaned up the messy table.

No one spoke throughout the entire process; the atmosphere was as oppressive as the calm before a storm.

The itching in Yu Shijiu's left arm became increasingly intense and had spread to his neck.

He could now "hear" more clearly that, with the mole's arrival and the old field mouse's departure, the claws deep within the walls, which had been dormant due to fear of the mole, began to stir again, whispering chaotic messages:

"The guests have checked in..."

"Very good……"

"The pretty ones... will be given to the guests..."

"The gift...the gift needs to be wrapped properly..."

“He’s the same kind of person…his arm…looks strange…”

"..."

These whispers disturbed Yu Shijiu's peace of mind, causing him to move a little too roughly, and a wooden bowl fell to the ground with a loud clatter.

The four of them immediately looked up at him, their eyes filled with even greater worry.

Has Yu Shijiu's pollution... already begun to jeopardize his mobility?

Yu Shijiu himself was somewhat awakened by the noise and bent down to pick up the wooden bowl on the ground.

The remaining four looked at each other, concealing the worry in their eyes.

After finally finishing tidying up, the five people left the main room and returned to their rooms.

As they passed the fork in the road leading to the warehouse and the hidden cave, Yu Shijiu paused slightly.

The severed claw in his pocket, which had remained silent since emerging from the cave, once again emitted a faint warmth pointing towards the cave.

At the same time, a sharp pain shot through his left arm, making his hair stand on end and giving him a strange chill.

In that instant, Yu Shijiu felt as if he were being "watched" by something.

He looked up at the end of the dark passage, where it was pitch black, but the cloying, rotten smell seemed even stronger than before, and there was a faint hint of... despair mixed in?

It was as if... a lurking "monster" sensed the approaching "feast" and became frantic with unease.

Is that... the woman's head that belongs to Thumbelina?

"Let's go." Anjie suddenly reached out and pulled him from behind.

"……Oh."

Yu Shijiu obediently responded and stopped staring into the depths of the cave.

After returning to their room, Chen Yi, who was at the back, turned around and closed the door tightly (even though he knew it would have little effect), and the five of them sat together.

"Can't wait any longer."

Ange spoke first, her tone resolute, "The mole is going to stay and wait to get married, the old field mouse is obviously tightening its grip on Thumbelina, and the swallow has woken up but is pretending to be asleep. I suspect that its injuries are almost healed, and it is just waiting for the right moment to take Thumbelina away. We don't have much time left."

“But Fang Youhua and the others live close to the Mole, and with our reception duties, it’s hard for us to avoid their actions,” Chen Yi replied, frowning.

"Then let's include them too."

Yu Shijiu moved his left arm, and a sickeningly soft rubbing sound came from under the strip of cloth. His eyes shone brightly in the dim, yellowish light.

"The mole seems to have a bit of a liking for me, its 'kin'? This is an opportunity, before it fully figurees out whether I'm really one of its kind, and before the old field mouse and the swallow are ready—"

"What are you going to do?"

He Lingling interrupted Yu Shijiu, her eyes fixed on him.

Yu Shijiu tugged at the corners of his mouth, revealing a docile smile:

"Sister Lingling, don't look at me like that, it scares me a little."

He Lingling: "...Stop being coquettish, let's get down to business."

Upon hearing this, Yu Shijiu sighed immediately: "Sigh, as expected, Sister Lingling is too smart. It's actually very simple. Since the core of this cycle is 'sending off the bride' and 'marrying the bride,' then we can make the 'bride' disappear, or... make the party that 'marries the bride' no longer receive gifts, right?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, and smiled:

"I think tonight I can 'visit' the most distinguished guest in the burrow, Mr. Mole, and see just how 'wealthy' and 'etiquette-conscious' he really is."

"My goodness! Are you crazy?!"

Xu Han almost jumped up, and said in a shocked whisper, "You're going alone? Your arm... no, you definitely can't do it alone!"

Xu Han was extremely worried. He was furious and also a little uneasy—his talent skill was only effective on wounds. Although it did have a slight "purification" effect, it was practically the same as having no effect at all.

"It is because of my arm that I have this opportunity."

Yu Shijiu interrupted him, raised her left arm, and said calmly:

“I can sense the fear those ‘claws’ have towards the mole, and I can also sense… they seem a little ‘friendly’ towards me? Or perhaps, suspicious? These ‘claws’ shouldn’t be very intelligent, not much different from an old field mouse. Using this, perhaps I can create chaos and get closer to the mole…”

"..."

Although Yu Shijiu's words were somewhat alarming, the four of them had to admit that, at this point, they might really have to do as Yu Shijiu suggested to successfully pass the level.

They've already wasted a lot of time on this guild tournament dungeon.

Anjie lowered her eyes and thought seriously for a moment, a fierce glint flashing in her eyes, and said:

"So it's best to force them to act in advance, rather than slowly boiling the frog in water and waiting for Thumbelina to run away from her wedding again and for the swallow to take her to the next fire pit after she has recovered."

"That's a bit too risky."

Chen Yi hesitated for a moment, "Perhaps we should reconsider, at least try with Thumbelina first..."

"Thumbelina is being watched by the old field mouse. How can we get close to her?"

Ange retorted in a deep voice, "Furthermore, do you really think that after the failures of those 'Thumbelina' projects, the old field mouse won't be on even tighter guard this time? That thing in the hidden cave... do you really think it's just background information?"

Her words reminded everyone of the bones scattered on the ground, the bracelets, and the horrifying, blood-dripping, enormous chunks of flesh and severed necks on the ceiling.

Although they hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, just hearing Yu Shijiu describe the scene... made them all feel cold and their hearts filled with horror.

He Lingling closed her eyes.

Reason told her that Yu Shijiu's plan had a very low success rate and was almost suicidal.

But her intuition, and the terrifying truth she pieced together, screamed at her a dangerous truth—following the rules in this instance would most likely lead to certain death; the essence of this instance was to force players to frantically run away from desperate situations.

Keep running away, run away from your wedding, and then leave this instance completely.

For a moment, He Lingling even imagined what she would do if she were Thumbelina, and her heart pounded.

"I agree with Shi Jiu's proposal."

He Lingling slowly opened her eyes, her voice becoming somewhat hoarse, but her pronunciation was exceptionally clear.

She said, "But we can't let Shi Jiu go alone."