CH 4.2

There were 25 players yesterday, and only 15 were left after a night of torture.

This was the first level the trial game had set for them, or more accurately, it should have been the first elimination point.

Since there was a first, there should be a second. Surviving the 72 hours didn’t look easy.

Bai Lixin thought as he walked down the woods. He then met two men washing clothes in the river in front of him.

These two men looked to be in their forties, and he hadn’t seen them among the players, so they should be two villager NPCs.

Both men were wearing tattered clothes, and the clothes they were washing in their hands were also in the same condition.

There seemed to be something floating in the river, and Bai Lixin’s chest jerked as he approached.

It was a mass of body parts.

The unidentified bodies were wrapped in tattered clothes as they slowly floated downstream.

The two men seemed to have grown accustomed to a scene that a normal person would have exclaimed as ‘horrific’.

Their limbs were stiff as they rubbed the clothes in their hands, their pale faces numb and unreadable.

One finger drifted into the hand of one of the men by the action of the current. The man picked it up and looked at it suspiciously before throwing it into the water without batting an eye.

Bai Lixin got onto the bridge and watched them from a distance, feeling like something was out of place.

But until he got off the bridge, he couldn’t tell where this sense of misplacement came from.

It was when he entered the village and saw the NPC villagers that were passing by that he finally realized where the feeling came from.

He had not seen any female villagers the entire time.

The villager NPCs coming and going had a very stiff pace, and none had a trace of blood on their faces, even under the blazing sun. They were all as white as paper.

Bai Lixin followed the system’s prompts from yesterday to find the safe house, and froze for a moment when he got a good look at what it was.

The blackened door frame had white strips of cloth pulled from it and a plaque with black letters hung above it.

“Coffin Home.”

The corner of Bai Lixin’s mouth twitched.

He wondered what expressions the people who rushed over here yesterday with such hope had when they saw these two words, and what kind of evil taste this game had.

The door to the Coffin Home was ajar and it made an old “creak” when Bai Lixin gently pushed it.

Bai Lixin stepped in with one foot.

“Are you looking for someone?”

A hoarse voice suddenly rang out.

Bai Lixin turned his head and saw an old woman standing behind the door.

The old woman was dressed in black sackcloth; her back was hunched over, and the whites of her eyes could barely be seen.

Her dark eyes stared straight at Bai Lixin, and she asked again, “Or do you want to identify the corpse?”

Bai Lixin gulped, “Did anyone come here last night?”

The old woman, “Horizontally or vertically?”

Bai Lixin, “Uh, vertically.”

Old woman, “Yes, there were a few.”

Bai Lixin, “Where are they now?”

The old woman pointed to the courtyard full of coffins, “They are all there. Find them yourself; everyone checks for themselves.”

“I’m also looking. Bao’er, bao’er, where are you? Ah-ma has come to look for you. Don’t play hide-and-seek with Ah-ma, come out now.” The old woman had stopped paying attention to Bai Lixin, and she bowed to her as she started walking around the Coffin Home.

With a slight movement in his heart, Bai Lixin walked up to the old woman and said, “Grandma, do you know the curse of the river god?”

The old woman looked up abruptly, her dark eyes staring at Bai Lixin, “The curse of the River God? Of course, I know. Three years to sacrifice a bride. If not, the floods will overflow.”

“Then do you know why there is a curse from the river god?”

The old woman raised her head, a grin on her wrinkled face, “Why? Because the river god’s village did something wrong, and the gods only punish those who do wrong. They sinned so much that they all had to die, all of them.”

A cold breeze blew past, lifting the bangs on the old woman’s forehead and revealing a deep scar.

Bai Lixin asked after her, “What did they do wrong?”

The old woman’s expression drifted for a moment, and her eyes suddenly became vacant. The old woman stopped paying attention to Bai Lixin and turned to mumble, “Bao’er, bao’er, don’t scare Ah-ma, go home and eat.”

[Ding! Congratulations, player. You have found a clue to the truth about the River God’s curse; Progress 2%/100%.]

Just when Bai Lixin was about to continue asking questions, a surprise suddenly came from behind him, “Brother Xin!”

Bai Lixin turned around and saw Xia Chi, who had an A-luck value, standing on the dirt road not far away and looking at him with a surprised expression, “Great, you’re still alive!”

The “500% Force Value” on top of his head was so bright that it was blinding.

Bai Lixin turned back to look at the village, but the old woman was already missing.

“I couldn’t get down last night, so I found a cave on the mountain to spend the night. Are you all okay?”

Xia Chi nodded vigorously, “We’re all fine, everyone’s around here.”

Bai Lixin, “Then let’s talk as we go.”

Having come down 20 hours earlier, Xia Chi was already familiar with the village, and he led Bai Lixin through it with a somewhat gloomy expression, “Brother, 10 people died last night.”

Bai Lixin pursed his lips, “I know.”

Xia Chi, “We are all fine, we were actually lucky at the time. Liang Xi, Zhou Guang, and Li Cancan were being chased by a monster, but when it was about to catch up with them, the monster seemed to be called away by a companion. Not only us, but all the monsters left. You heard that voice too, right?”

Bai Lixin, “I heard it.” I could still hear the surround sound.

Xia Chi, “We thought we’d be fine when we got to the safe house, but something happened to Li Cancan just as we came down.”

“As soon as she came down, she started running a high fever, then she fell unconscious. Two other female players were also in the same situation, so we can only leave the three female players in the house for now.”

“Liang Xi’s luck is good. The character he drew is [Doctor], and he also gained the doctor’s exclusive skill [Heal]. His healing skills are too good. It not only healed our minor wounds, but it also allowed us to regain our strength. However, it didn’t work on Li Cancan at all.”

“Then Liang Xi met an old woman who told him that there was a herb on the mountain that could cure a high fever like theirs.”

“Now everyone is arguing about whether to go up the mountain to collect the herbs. I saw that nothing would come of it anytime soon, so I left to see if I might run into you.”

“In addition, we found out that there isn’t a single female in this village except for that old lady. As the only female NPC in the whole village, she must be different!”

Bai Lixin remembered the 2% just now, “So what did you guys ask her?”

Xia Chi shook his head, “Her persona is crazy and she wants to find “bao’er” as soon as a critical question comes up.”

Bai Lixin remembered that the old lady was indeed looking for her baby and mused, “It seems we have to help her find her baby’s whereabouts first.”

Bai Lixin was a bit curious about what Xia Chi, who had an A luck value, had drawn: “Xia Chi, what character did you draw?”

Xia Chi gave a slight pause, “Most of us drew the role of [Villager], it’s me who got a bit lucky and got a life force boost.”

Xia Chi abruptly stopped speaking.

Above the two men’s heads, “500%” and “-95%” were neatly lined up there.

It clearly didn’t say anything, but it looked like it said everything.

………

On the barrage screen of the live broadcast.

[Hahahaha, I’m laughing my ass off. Baby Bai is so miserable, is this the charm of F-?]

[Bai Lixin, as only god of bad luck in the whole game, of course he has to be different.]

[Comrades, who have cleared this game, what is the truth about the river god’s curse? Asking for spoilers.]

[I got this as a bonus question back then, and I was just glad to have survived.]

[How did you survive? I still find it difficult to understand up to now.]

[Yeah, I’m curious too, tell us about it.]

[There’s nothing to tell. As long as you’re willing to sacrifice your teammates to survive, the question is solved.]

[…I think I know the solution to this question.]

[I know it too.]

[Maybe there’s another way.]

[It would only be painful if I found out that there was another way.]

The live broadcast was suddenly wrapped in a gloomy atmosphere.

Sacrifice…sacrifice.

The title had told everyone that the curse would not come true as long as the sacrifice was completed.

Saving the lives of these three sick female players was effectively saving the lives of the other players.

But what kind of torment was it to watch the people you had just saved being pushed back into the abyss of death?

A few seconds later, the barrage got another message posted.

[At that time.. the female player who was sacrificed had drawn the role of [Saint].]