bookcurios Chapter 818 Shirk
Chapter 818 Shirk
Both male players in Eye of All Things have been assimilated.
By those toads.
"..." Yu Shijiu let out a soft breath, staring intently at the two male players not far away who were trying to swat away the mosquitoes around them, his gaze constantly wandering over their distorted faces and eyes.
Although it was a bit far away and not very clear, Yu Shijiu could clearly sense that their self-awareness still existed.
They haven't been completely assimilated yet; their pupils are churning as they try to resist the speed at which they are being assimilated by the toad.
For a moment, Yu Shijiu could even feel the fear and anger in their hearts, as well as... an overwhelming despair.
Yu Shijiu had no intention of helping.
Putting aside the fact that they are in competition with each other, even if they weren't, their situation is beyond saving.
Yu Shijiu didn't want to cause trouble.
He watched silently as the two male players struggled in the distance, their blood-red tongues dripping as they ate mosquitoes, their throats emitting sounds that grew increasingly like toads, without even blinking.
Until the two assimilated male players suddenly went limp as if they had eaten their fill, their long, blood-red tongues slapped onto the lotus flower's stamen, sticky and trembling in place.
Yu Shijiu blinked slowly, and before the two of them could belatedly look over, she suddenly lay down, closed her eyes, and pretended to be asleep.
Thud!
It was the sound of something suddenly jumping into the water.
slam-la-
Something began to disturb the calm surface of the water, and the splashing and flowing sound broke the tranquility that belonged only to this pond.
Yu Shijiu closed his eyes and suddenly felt cold all over his body, with goosebumps rising all over his skin.
The next second, he smelled a thick, bloody odor getting closer and closer.
Yu Shijiu didn't make a sound or open her eyes. She just lay motionless in the flower stamen with her eyes closed and her breathing even.
Inside the live stream plaza, countless players stared at the boy on the screen, who was pretending to be asleep with his eyes closed, and they all subconsciously gasped.
On the screen, Yu Shijiu, with her eyes closed, had no idea that a male player who had been assimilated was squatting next to her head.
The two male players, who were half-human and half-toad, had their long, thin tongues hanging down, and their bulging eyes darting around in their sockets, as if checking whether Yu Shijiu was asleep.
Lu Chusheng's heart skipped a beat.
Even though he knew that this situation posed no threat to Yu Shijiu, he still couldn't help but feel a little worried.
"My God," Lu Chusheng heard Wang Rui gasp behind him, "Yu Shijiu's composure is really something! If it were me, I would definitely be so scared that my whole body would freeze and my breathing would become rapid... and then I would be discovered by these two toad people and die immediately."
Kang Shaojie lowered his voice and sneered, "Then how about you go into a game instance too?"
Wang Rui's voice suddenly rose: "What game am I supposed to play? I'm a freeloader! Do you even understand what a high-ranking freeloader in our inspection team is? Without me, who would be able to send you timely tips?"
"...Come on, Dawn Games has been updated, hasn't it? They won't be able to send hints anymore—"
"Shut up!"
"..."
He could hear the rustling conversations between Kang Wang and the other man behind him, but Lu Chusheng ignored them. His cold gaze quickly and precisely found Yu Shijiu's wrist exposed outside the petal-covered quilt on the big screen.
On Yu Shijiu's pale, slender wrist, she wore a cinnabar bracelet that shimmered red under the moonlight.
"..."
Lu Chusheng's restless heart slowly calmed down.
Nothing will happen.
If a dangerous situation arises where the player has no time to fight back or use items, the cinnabar bracelet will protect Yu Shijiu.
I shouldn't be so worried.
Yu Shijiu had the ability to protect himself and escape unscathed, but he couldn't, and he couldn't... He had always regarded the other party as that little boy locked in the sanatorium.
In the audience, Zhou Yuanyang stroked the red-legged centipede wrapped around his wrist, his light gray eyes darting around before landing on the hand of Yu Shijiu wearing the cinnabar bracelet on the screen.
They actually gave all of this away?
A glint of light flashed in Zhou Yuanyang's eyes, which gradually transformed into strange and complex fragments of light.
Lu Chusheng... just how much do you value Yu Shijiu?
Does he value me the same way he did back then?
----------
The stench of blood surrounding Yu Shijiu lasted for nearly an hour.
During this time, Yu Shijiu even heard the sound of blood, or perhaps water dripping onto his face.
He remained motionless, his breathing so even that he actually started to feel drowsy when the two male players jumped into the water.
Yu Shijiu disliked going against his nature. He turned over, tucked his head into the flower petal blanket to block out the strong smell of blood around him, and then fell into a deep sleep.
I slept soundly until the next day.
When Yu Shijiu woke up, it was already bright daylight. He squinted at the sunlight that was streaming in through the gaps in the grass, just like yesterday. He slowly stretched before sitting up.
The first thing he did was check if there was any blood around him.
The next second, Yu Shijiu's expression suddenly froze.
Because... the flower stamens and petals around him, which should have had bloodstains or at least water stains, were so clean that there wasn't a trace left.
what happened?
How could there be nothing there? This is impossible, this is clearly impossible—
Yu Shijiu suddenly looked up in the direction of the two male players who had acted strangely last night, her pupils shrinking sharply.
A sudden, inexplicable sense of dread gripped Yu Shijiu's mind. He stared in disbelief at the two still plump and tender lotus flowers, and also saw two people standing among them, bending over and talking quietly with the players on the lotus flowers beside them.
The two male players looked perfectly normal: honest, quiet, and even with a hint of submissiveness in their eyes—completely the opposite of what Yu Shijiu had seen them last night.
Shouldn't they... already be... dead?
Suddenly, Yu Shijiu fell into deep thought—was what he saw last night all an illusion, or was it all a dream?
Because I discussed being assimilated by toads with Anjie and the others before going to sleep?
But Yu Shijiu felt something was off. He slapped his head hard and frowned.
"Shi Jiu?"
Xu Han's shouts came from next door, and Yu Shijiu subconsciously turned his head—"Why are you slapping your head?"
Xu Han looked at him in surprise, "Does your head hurt? Or did some bugs bite you?"
As Xu Han spoke, looking like he was about to cry, he pulled up his sleeve and complained to Yu Shijiu:
"I can't take it anymore! This pond is teeming with mosquitoes and all sorts of tiny insects I can't even name! I'm going to be bitten to death!!"
"..." Yu Shijiu saw several red bumps on Xu Han's arm caused by mosquito and insect bites, and her chaotic thoughts suddenly stopped.
Last night... the arms of those two male players seemed to have developed a lot of dense, grayish-brown bumps—
"Sister Fang."
Not far away, two male players scratched their arms and asked Fang Youhua, who had just woken up, somewhat hesitantly.
"We got bitten by a lot of bugs last night. Do you have any Tiger Balm or mosquito repellent?"
"..." Fang Youhua was still a little dazed after waking up. Hearing this, she looked at Yang Hua on the lotus flower on the other side and asked, "Xiao Hua, did you bring it?"
"Yes, I actually brought it with me."
Yang Hua quickly handed the medicated oil to one of the male players, smiling as she said:
"Brother Hao, are you guys blood type B? I heard that people with blood type B are more prone to mosquito bites?"
The male player who was called "Brother Hao" looked a little stiff, and it took him several seconds to nod.
"It seems so. So, mosquito bites are related to blood type?"
"Everyone says that," Yang Hua said with a smile and a shrug, "but it doesn't seem to have any scientific basis, does it?"
"Is it true that people with type O blood attract mosquitoes more than those with type B blood?"
Qi Wei also tried to ease the tension, "Liu Zhong, I've seen you've been bitten quite a few times. What's your blood type?"
Liu Zhong lowered his head somewhat awkwardly: "I haven't been tested. Maybe it's type B or type O?"
"..."
The pond wasn't very big to begin with, and Yang Hua and the others didn't deliberately lower their voices, so Yu Shijiu heard everything clearly and also saw the mosquito bites on the arms of the two male players.
Huge, very large, flesh-colored reddish mosquito bites covered their arms, making Liu Zhong and Hao Ge scratch incessantly.
After they scratched and broke the mosquito bites, a clear liquid with streaks of blood oozed out, which they quickly wiped away.
"..." Yu Shijiu felt somewhat uncomfortable watching this, and her doubts about whether the two of them had been assimilated were growing.
"Shi Jiu! Shi Jiu!!! Yu Shi Jiu!!"
Xu Han's repeated calls pulled Yu Shijiu back from his daze, and he subconsciously nodded in response.
"Huh? Brother Han, did you just call me?"
"Who else should I call if not you?"
Xu Han had already lowered his sleeves to cover the mosquito bites, and looked at Yu Shijiu with a puzzled expression, asking suspiciously:
"But you, why are you so groggy as soon as you wake up? What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare last night?"
"..." Yu Shijiu was stunned. Thinking of the two assimilated toad people she had seen or dreamed about last night, she forgot to respond for a moment.
"Oh my god, no way," Xu Han exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief, "You actually had a nightmare? What kind of nightmare? It couldn't be about us, could it? Quick, tell me, I need to hear it to be on the safe side..."
Yu Shijiu was silent for a few seconds, then hesitated for a moment and whispered:
"...No, not really. But, hey Han-ge, aren't the mosquito bites on your arm itchy anymore?"
Xu Han, whose topic had been changed, subconsciously scratched his arm through his clothes, then shook his head and nodded.
"It's alright, the itching isn't as bad after applying the medicated oil, I can bear it. What's wrong? Why are you suddenly asking me this?"
"Oh, it's nothing, I just wanted to ask you, do you think what they did was normal?"
Yu Shijiu raised his chin and looked meaningfully at the location where Hao Ge and Liu Zhong were.
"What? Is what they do normal or not?"
Xu Han turned his head following Yu Shijiu's gaze, and then saw Liu Zhong and the other man frantically scratching the bumps on their arms.
"..." Xu Han was momentarily speechless. "What are they doing? Is it that itchy?"
"do not know."
Yu Shijiu shook his head honestly, "I wasn't bitten."
Xu Han: "...Shi Jiu, you didn't actually need to say that—"
[Congratulations to the guild "Alive" for currently leading in exploration progress among all players.]
[Current guild "alive" exploration progress: 18%]
[Guild "Eye of All Things" exploration progress 5%]
The sudden sound of the system's female voice interrupted Xu Han's mutterings. The two exchanged a glance and looked at the location where An Jie and Chen Yi were.
Over there, An Jie looked up and nodded to Fang Youhua and the others who were also looking over in surprise, then turned to Yu Shijiu, Xu Han, and He Lingling and smiled.
Chen Yi was the same, except that he looked somewhat listless, as if he hadn't slept well the night before.
Yu Shijiu subconsciously glanced at Chen Yi a few more times, feeling that the other person seemed to have gained weight again.
Is it swelling from just waking up?
Yu Shijiu was a little confused, but he still waved to An and Chen and gave them his signature obedient smile.
He Lingling slowly combed her messy long hair with her hands, then casually tied it into two low pigtails and draped them over her shoulders before lazily yawning.
too tired.
Last night she had a dream where she couldn't see the images clearly. She could only vaguely see a group of things that looked like people but weren't quite human jumping around in a pond and making noise... He Lingling reasonably suspected that the toads were disturbing her dream.
This is outrageous! How can these toads even enter players' dreams and harass them?
This is already far beyond the standard, isn't it?
Thinking of this, He Lingling sighed and lazily looked up and called out to An Jie.
"Sister An, you're amazing! We're making such a fast pace, we should be able to get through this part of the story soon, right?"
Anjie cheerfully replied, "It'll only take one day, very soon."
He Lingling asked that question intentionally, of course.
As the only prophetic player in "Living," she must ensure her own safety—you can call her selfish, but that's what Sister An herself said.
Anjie said, "Lingling, if necessary, take all the credit for any breakthroughs in the game's dungeons and just keep yourself out of it. That's what you really need to do."
This method won't be used many times, of course. Once players who follow He Lingling see it, they will definitely pay attention to her next time.
But with so many small screens densely packed together in the live broadcast plaza... it's hard to say how long they can really cover it up.
For example, right now—He Lingling can feel Fang Youhua's probing gaze on her.
After all, she had collaborated with Fang Youhua several times, and even almost joined the "Eye of All Things" guild.
It was inevitable that Fang Youhua would become suspicious of her—after all, her innate skill "Ghost Eye" could explore the past and future when necessary.
Indeed, the greater one's strength, the more tasks one has to undertake...
He Lingling pretended not to notice Fang Youhua's gaze, and after receiving a response from An Jie, she took out bread crumbs and drinking water and began to eat.
They'd better fill their bellies before the toads bring back "food".
Who knows if the "good stuff" they bring back is actually edible?