Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 865 Adventure

"..." Chen Yi held his breath and reached out to grab the cloth that was strangling his neck. With a forceful tug, his broad fingers tore it open with a snap.

He ripped open the collar that was choking him so much he could hardly breathe.

Xu Han, who was behind him, loosened his grip and quickly reached out to cover Chen Yi's mouth.

He was sweating profusely with anxiety: "Brother Chen! Keep your voice down! There seems to be something watching us outside..."

Chen Yi paused.

The eerie humming outside the door continued, its tone rising and falling, as if pressed against the door panel, carrying a playful, cold, and condescending tone.

Xu Han maintained the position of covering Chen Yi's mouth, not daring to move, even the action of swallowing saliva was stiff.

He felt Chen Yi's breathing become rapid, obviously because he had also heard the chilling noise—then, Xu Han's hand was pulled down by Chen Yi with a little force.

Xu Han: "?!"

List--

Before he could even utter a sound, he saw Chen Yi fumble for and turn on the flashlight that was placed on the edge of the bedside table.

click-

Xu Han squinted as the sudden burst of white light stung his eyes.

Time seemed to stretch out.

After Xu Han's eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness of the flashlight, he saw the tattered fabric on Chen Yi's chest.

Xu Han, who was about to say something, immediately shut up.

...Haha, he just now, just now it seems, just now he accidentally, accidentally tore Brother Chen's clothes?

The beam of the flashlight cast dappled shadows on the torn fabric of Chen Yi's clothes. Xu Han looked at the "evidence" so close at hand, and for a moment, even the eerie humming outside the door seemed less frightening. Instead, he felt a guilty conscience after causing trouble.

"Brother Chen... I didn't mean to..." Xu Han lowered his voice, almost speaking in a whisper.

Chen Yi waved his hand, indicating that it was alright, and his attention was more focused on the outside of the door.

The humming outside seemed to pause for a moment after Chen Yi turned on his flashlight, but then it continued as if nothing had happened, and even... got closer, as if the singing thing had pressed its cheek completely against the door, and the sound was transmitted in with a slight vibration of some kind of wooden structure.

"It...didn't leave?" Xu Han felt his teeth chattering.

Chen Yi didn't answer, but silently moved the flashlight beam towards the door. The pale light illuminated the old door panel, but the shadow under the door crack still stubbornly remained.

"It is listening, and it may also be watching."

Chen Yi's voice was extremely low, carrying an undeniable gravity, "But we can't stay in this stalemate forever. Dawn is approaching, and we need to rest."

"But how are we supposed to sleep like this?" Xu Han said with a mournful face.

Using the light from the bedside flashlight, Chen Yi looked down at his torn collar, then turned to look at Xu Han's pale face, and whispered:

"It's alright, if it could get in, it would have already."

Even so, Chen Yi's own eyes were full of vigilance.

Xu Han nodded quickly.

He knew that whatever was outside the door looked like it couldn't get in, but fear... he couldn't control himself from being afraid...

Hearing the commotion outside, something flashed quickly in Chen Yi's eyes. He pursed his lips, as if he had made a decision.

The next second, before Xu Han could recover from his fear, Chen Yi gently moved his obese body off the bed, wanting to get closer to the door and listen carefully to the sounds outside.

Xu Han, who witnessed this scene, was speechless.

His heart jumped into his throat.

Brother Chen, what are you trying to do?!

The moment Chen Yi approached the door, the humming outside abruptly changed, transforming from distorted, incoherent babbling into something slightly clearer. A few indistinct syllables could be faintly discerned, as if it were saying:

"...Pretty...obedient...beautiful...forever...well-behaved..."

Xu Han, who was lying on the bed in a daze, suddenly covered his mouth to stop himself from screaming.

He looked at Chen Yi, frantically gesturing with his eyes: "Brother Chen! Brother Chen, did you hear that?! That thing outside the door is talking!"

Chen Yi's face also darkened.

Based on his past experience, the scattered sounds coming into the room from outside the door were definitely not just simple intimidation. Thinking deeper... it was actually more like... a declaration of obsession similar to that of an NPC monster.

The humming from the hole outside the wooden door continued, interspersed with fragmented words, like a dull knife repeatedly cutting into the nerves of the two people in the room.

Chen Yi was alright, but Xu Han felt his scalp tingle and a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

He didn't know why he was so scared. Logically, he shouldn't be so scared... What was it that was making him afraid?

This doesn't seem right... He hasn't done anything wrong, has he? He couldn't possibly be that timid...

Despite the inexplicable fear surging within him, Xu Han tightly covered his mouth, staring wide-eyed and daring not to utter a sound.

Time passed slowly in agony. After an unknown amount of time, the humming outside the door finally faded away, as if it had shifted its focus.

Chen Yi, standing near the wooden door, silently lowered his head, watching the thick shadow beneath the door crack as it slowly moved back a little.

Chen Yi remained silent.

He waited patiently until the outside world was completely silent and the heavy shadows had completely dissipated before he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

For a moment, only the heavy breathing of the two people remained in the room.

"Did they...did they leave?"

Xu Han was almost exhausted from holding his breath, his back was soaked with cold sweat, and he pressed on to ask.

Chen Yi remained vigilant, his eyes fixed on the door, and slowly nodded:

"They must have... left."

Xu Han gasped for breath, his face pale and covered in cold sweat, leaning tightly against the edge of the bed.

"My God...this is even scarier than a monster barging in..."

This kind of psychological attack, which resembles intimidation, is even more terrifying.

Chen Yi also breathed a sigh of relief, but his brows remained furrowed.

He walked to the door, listened carefully, and only after confirming that there was no further movement outside did he whisper:

"Are the words it mentions...connected to the events we've experienced?"

"!!!"

Xu Han suddenly became excited, his mind rapidly replaying the storyline from entering the game instance to the present, and quickly said:

"Yes, yes, yes! There definitely is! Let me think, let me think first! I think there must be something about Thumbelina! Brother Chen, think about it, words like obedient, sensible, and beautiful—aren't these the words used to describe Thumbelina in the original story?!"

"……possible."

Chen Yi walked back to the bedside, looked at the collar that Xu Han had torn at his chest, shook his head helplessly, and whispered:

"It seems that the words mentioned in the humming outside the door are key clues. Let's rest first, and then exchange information about tonight's events after we meet up with Sister An and the others tomorrow."

Xu Han opened his mouth, his mind a jumbled mess of memories, like a tangled rag. He nodded and responded softly.

"...Okay, let's rest first."

...At the same time, in Yu Shijiu and Thumbelina's room.

When the scraping sounds and humming outside the door began, Thumbelina, who had been resting her chin on her hand, leaning on the table and swinging her legs, was startled, and her whole body tensed up instantly.

Thumbelina held her breath, her right hand quietly grasping the flashlight that Yu Shijiu had given her before she fell asleep, which was placed beside her.

She subconsciously stood up, grabbed a flashlight, and quickly ran to the bedside. She gently placed it on Yu Shijiu's arm, which was outside the blanket, as if this could bring a faint sense of security to herself and the sleeping Yu Shijiu.

Yu Shijiu frowned restlessly in his sleep. He seemed to sense the danger outside, but his deep sleep prevented him from waking up for the time being.

"..."

Thumbelina trembled as she listened to the eerie humming coming from outside the door, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

...No...outside the door...the sounds outside the door...are becoming more and more familiar.

why?

Why does it feel familiar to me?

Thumbelina couldn't quite understand why she felt a sense of familiarity.

Clearly, from birth until now, whether singing to her mother's gratified laughter or singing on the lotus flower where a toad imprisoned her... she had never uttered such a humming sound.

Thumbelina felt a headache coming on, and she involuntarily tightened her grip on Yu Shijiu's arm, her mind filled with all sorts of grotesque, twisted, and painful images.

Those "sisters" whose arms, legs, and heads were cruelly broken by their "mother," those corpses buried in the soil that turned into nutrients and eventually became a pile of rotten mud... and also, those flowerpots that keep bleeding in their sleep and the "sisters'" incessant, shrill screams day and night...

The "sisters" kept crying, and kept crying and crying...

Why are they crying? They're crying... "Poor Thumbelina, run away... run away... run away... anywhere... as long as you can survive, as long as you can survive... run away, run away..."

Thumbelina felt that she was hearing more and more of the songs of her "sisters" in her ears. She lay on the bed with some unease, holding Yu Shijiu's hand tightly, and pressed her forehead against the back of Yu Shijiu's hand with trembling hands.

"Wake up... wake up... wake up, Shi Jiu... sob... sob... Shi Jiu... please... please... please wake up quickly... I really... really, really beg you... please..."

Thumbelina felt like she was going crazy.

With a hoarse voice and her eyes closed, she begged Yu Shijiu to wake up from her sleep, completely unaware that her fingernails had dug deep into Yu Shijiu's flesh.

Yu Shijiu frowned slightly as he slept.

—In a dream.

Yu Shijiu was walking through a dark and chaotic passageway where only the faint light of blood could be seen.

He turned his head to look at the "passage walls" around him, which were shrouded in mist and made it impossible to see anything, and raised an eyebrow.

Where am I right now?

Am I dreaming again? Or have I already woken up, and the dungeon's storyline is starting to change again?

Yu Shijiu was confused about his current situation, but he understood one thing very well: he had to leave this area as soon as possible.

This hallucinatory "passage" was filled only with the pungent smell of blood that made one dizzy, along with a faint earthy odor, giving Yu Shijiu the feeling that he was being buried alive.

Probably not?

The old field mouse's house was originally underground, wasn't it?

It's normal for the ground to have an earthy smell...

Without much hesitation, Yu Shijiu strode toward the red light at the end of the "passage". He walked faster and faster, and just as he was about to get close to the red light, Yu Shijiu's feet suddenly tightened. He subconsciously looked down and saw a woman's head completely covered by black hair.

"Help...save me..."

The woman, whose face was obscured, clung tightly to his leg, blood-red tears streaming down her face, which was covered by black hair, quickly soaking Yu Shijiu's trousers.

Yu Shijiu: "..."

He looked down at the woman's head, which was tightly clutching his calves and refusing to let go. His gaze lingered for a second on her hands, which were clearly fragmented and "grown" from the sticky, damp mud beneath her feet.

"excuse me."

Yu Shijiu politely asked, "Where do your hands come from?"

The woman stopped crying for a while after he asked her question before slowly raising her face, which was covered by her black hair, and repeating blankly.

"My hands...my hands...yes...yes...where are my hands...where are my hands? My...my hands...my hands...my legs...my body...where are my hands?"

"My hand...can you see it...can you see mine?"

Yu Shijiu: "?"

He looked at the two arms that were wrapping around his calves with increasing force, remained silent for a few seconds, and then continued:

"Isn't this your hand? Can't you see it?"

The woman seemed completely oblivious to his voice, continuing to repeat that her hands, legs, and body were missing.

Yu Shijiu patiently asked a couple more questions.

After receiving only a nonsensical response from the woman, Yu Shijiu tilted her head back, took a deep breath, and exhaled.

“…You were the one who didn’t answer my question first,” Yu Shijiu said politely but sadly, as an axe appeared in his hand. “Then I’ll have to resort to other methods. I’m sorry.”

Before the woman could react, a fierce axe gust of wind slashed down from mid-air!

The woman's pupils, hidden beneath her black hair, suddenly contracted. She instinctively tried to back away, but the axe still struck her hard between the eyebrows.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!!!!"

A sharp, agonizing scream echoed throughout the deep red and black "tunnel." For a moment, Yu Shijiu even felt as if his eardrums had been pierced.

"……hiss."

Yu Shijiu felt an unbelievable softness where his axe had struck. He wrinkled his nose, enduring the stinging pain in his eardrums, and looked down at the woman's head he had chopped down—

In the next instant, Yu Shijiu quickly took several steps back.

laugh--!!!!