mesbooks Chapter 938 Huailu Station
Chapter 938 Huailu Station
"Have one of these."
Chen Yi handed the candy to Xu Han and instructed him:
"This is an item I obtained before. Eating it will free you from all active or passive mental pollution. You should feel better after eating it."
Xu Han took the candy, her hands trembling as she carefully peeled off the foil, then tilted her head back and stuffed the candy into her mouth.
The moment the sweetness exploded in his mouth, Xu Han's trembling, feeling as if he were being watched, vanished almost instantly.
"efficient!"
Xu Han exclaimed in delight, "Brother Chen, the candy you gave me really worked! I feel all warm all over now..."
Chen Yi breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, that's good..."
He was genuinely afraid that if Xu Han kept trembling like this, he might "scare him to death."
He Lingling, sitting next to me, had her eyes closed, her huge black pupils trembling slightly beneath her eyelids.
She was struggling to filter the increasingly thick, gray-black "mist" in the air with her "Ghost Eyes".
The mist, just like before, was slowly but surely spreading throughout the carriage, centered on the back row where Lin Hai was, especially seeping towards the five of them.
Lin Hai has gone mad!
He Lingling suddenly opened her eyes, her throat bobbing, and she swallowed back the surging, metallic taste.
"The activity of the black fog has increased again."
He Lingling whispered what she saw with her "Ghost Eyes," cold sweat beading on her forehead.
"Lin Hai didn't attack directly, but he really seemed to have gone mad; he was actually... trying to feed them."
He Lingling squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: "...He used those 'things' in this car that we still don't know what they are, and the emotions emanating from everyone...especially fear."
fear.
Xu Han's fear, Chen Yi's worries, the mental burden brought about by her being forced to keep "Ghost Eye" active, and even the irritability and anger that An Jie and Yu Shijiu had been forcibly suppressing... all became nutrients for the invisible black mist to grow stronger.
The pollution on Yu Shijiu's left arm, which subtly resonated with the environment of the carriage, was like a lighthouse in the night, attracting the fog to swirl around him.
Yu Shijiu himself also sensed it.
As the remaining four members of "Echo" boarded the bus, the beast claw wrapped under the cloth strip on Tili's left arm no longer caused just a stinging pain, but rather a strange tingling sensation, as if—
It's as if countless tiny tentacles are slowly growing under the fur, yearning to come into contact with the equally cold and filthy existence outside.
This forced Yu Shijiu to devote more energy to suppressing them.
For a moment, Yu Shijiu even began to repeatedly recall the rough texture of Thumbelina's straw bracelet and the warmth of the sunlight in his mind, in order to resist the cold attraction emanating from deep within his left arm.
"..." Yu Shijiu was extremely annoyed. Just as he was about to secretly cut his left arm, Chen Yi suddenly stood up and sat down next to him.
At the same time, He Lingling immediately stood up and quickly sat down in the seat that belonged to Chen Yi.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye and went unnoticed by the other passengers in the carriage.
Of course, the five players of "Echo" must have seen it, but they didn't say anything and sat quietly in their seats without moving.
"Have a candy."
Chen Yi took out the same candy that he had just given to Xu Han, the one that cleansed mental pollution, and handed it to Yu Shijiu.
Yu Shijiu, who had already half-drawn his dagger: "..."
He immediately stuffed the half-drawn dagger back into his system inventory and turned to reveal an obedient expression.
"Okay, thank you, Brother Chen."
"..." Chen Yi pretended not to see him putting the dagger back and said with a smile, "Eat up, eat up, no need to thank me, what are you thanking me for, it's nothing valuable."
God knows how scared he was when he glanced at Yu Shijiu and noticed the "annoyance" on her face.
Shi Jiu is indeed a very good child. He is obedient, sensible, well-behaved, kind, and helpful... but he also likes to self-harm!
Even though Yu Shijiu rarely self-harms now... Chen Yi is still afraid.
So he quickly gave a look to He Lingling, who was sitting next to him. She understood perfectly, and the seat change was completed very smoothly in three seconds, no, in two seconds.
Yu Shijiu took the candy, unwrapped the foil, and put it in his mouth.
Like Xu Han, a strange warmth accompanied by a burst of sweet taste in her mouth slid down her throat and quickly washed over her cold limbs.
Instantly, he felt the restless tingling sensation in his left arm lessen considerably, and even the faint murmurs in his ears began to become blurry and distant.
"..."
Yu Shijiu let out a soft breath and gave Chen Yi a genuinely obedient smile.
"The candy really works, Brother Chen."
Chen Yi patted his shoulder, his chubby face showing relief, and whispered:
"Let's try to suppress it for as long as possible. Lin Hai's actions are becoming more and more obvious."
Chen Yi also felt that Lin Hai seemed to have gone mad.
The game has only just begun, and he's already determined to make a complete mess of things inside the bus, utterly disregarding the safety of everyone on board... Has Lin Hai really gone mad?
As if to confirm Chen Yi's guess, there was movement at the back of the carriage just after he finished speaking.
It was next to Lin Hai, the "passenger" whose head was always down and whose face was not visible, who suddenly moved his shoulder very slightly.
The "passenger," whose face was obscured, merely twitched his shoulder almost imperceptibly, yet it instantly made He Lingling, who had been keeping a close eye on everything happening around them, tense up.
"another……"
He Lingling's lips moved, but her voice was almost drowned out by the sound of the bus's engine.
"The one next to Lin Hai... is also in the process of 'waking up'."
The "wake-up" she refers to means that passengers are likely to look up, and may even randomly choose a player to sit next to them.
Just like the woman in the floral dress who suddenly appeared and sat next to Yu Shijiu at the beginning.
Upon hearing He Lingling's words, An Jie stopped fiddling with her joints.
She tilted her head slightly, her gaze sweeping across the back row like a razor's edge.
Lin Hai, who had reunited with his teammates, seemed to notice her gaze. He turned his head and, through the dim, swaying light and rows of seats, slowly curled the corners of his lips towards An Jie.
That smile held no warmth, only a cold, all-encompassing amusement, and a hint of... vague expectation.
Anjie frowned at the smile on Lin Hai's face.
What is he expecting?
Are you hoping we'll lose control?
Or are they hoping something else will happen on this car?
Her thoughts were in turmoil. Anjie withdrew her gaze and stopped paying attention to Lin Hai, but her heart suddenly sank.
...Lin Hai was calm, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was fearless.
This inevitably made Anjie think about things—for example, the hidden rules in the bus they were on, and the strangely downcast passengers around them… Lin Hai, no, the five members of the “Echo” guild, seemed to know much more than they did.
why?
How do Lin Hai and his group know so much?
This is the Guild Tournament dungeon, which is adapted from the memories of the participating players.
Anjie's scattered thoughts suddenly stopped.
She unconsciously cracked her knuckles, and a certain guess gradually took shape in her mind.
Could it be that this instance was actually created by extracting the memories of one of the five players from "Echoes"...?
Anjie's heart pounded, and she clenched her fists tightly to suppress the urge to turn back.
...Wait, wait a little longer, and then talk to Lingling about this possibility amidst the noise of passengers getting off or getting on at the next stop.
The bus continued its journey through the seemingly endless rainy night.
The darkness outside the car window remained thick and impenetrable, with only two dim beams of light from the headlights illuminating the rain that kept rushing towards us and being swept away by the wipers, as well as the occasional distorted, dark shadows of withered trees that flashed by in the surrounding darkness.
The dense shadows of the trees made this bus look like it wasn't heading into the city...
Yu Shijiu leaned against the car window and looked out, his tongue swirling around the gradually shrinking candy, squinting at the tree shadows that looked somewhat distorted and ferocious in the darkness.
With so many trees... should we drive into the mountains or into the village?
Yu Shijiu was curious about where the next stop would be.
Time slowly passed amidst the oppressive atmosphere of the rainy night.
In the front row, the couple, Xiaojuan and her boyfriend, seemed unable to fall asleep after the fright and brief nap.
The two huddled together, nervously observing everything in the carriage, especially the passengers around them who were pretending to sleep with their heads down, and the four people who had just boarded in the last row, all dressed in matching purple outfits.
Xiaojuan's boyfriend lowered his voice and whispered to his girlfriend:
"Those people behind... they look a bit strange."
"You, you mustn't...don't look...don't look..."
Xiao Juan buried her face in his chest, her voice muffled.
"Ah Hao, let's... let's get off at the next stop, okay? No matter where the next stop is, let's get off first... let's get off first, okay?"
"But this is the middle of nowhere..."
Her boyfriend, Ahao, seemed hesitant, his gaze constantly sweeping across the unsettling dark, rainy night outside the window. He couldn't help but say:
"We're unfamiliar with this place... Wouldn't it be a bit inappropriate to get off the bus so abruptly?"
Their whispers weren't very noticeable in the quiet carriage, but Yu Shijiu could hear them clearly.
He keenly noticed that when Xiao Juan said "get off the bus," several passengers around her, who had their heads down, seemed to subtly turn their necks at a tiny angle, producing a dull cracking sound as their bones twisted.
Yu Shijiu blinked.
It wasn't his imagination.
These "things" seem to be very sensitive to words like "get off the bus," "arrive at the station," and "go home."
Is it related to the name of this instance?
The journey home...
Yu Shijiu silently repeated the two words in his mind and licked his lips slightly.
Hmm... I'm a little thirsty. I wonder if the water in my system inventory is drinkable.
Yu Shijiu suddenly realized that he could get water to drink.
Who travels by car without bringing their own water?
Just as Yu Shijiu bent down to get water—"Next stop..."
The driver's hoarse voice suddenly rang out again, interrupting the whispers of the couple in the front row and breaking the tense balance in the carriage.
"...Huailu Station".
"Those who need to get off should prepare in advance."
Huailu Station?
Yu Shijiu, holding a bottle of mineral water, and Chen Yi, who was beside him, both looked up at the window.
It was still the same thick, impenetrable darkness as before, with no sign in sight.
But the driver seemed to slow down again.
As the bus moved slowly, He Lingling suddenly covered her eyes, letting out a muffled groan that she tried her best to suppress.
Xu Han, who was sitting next to her, was startled and quickly went to help her.
"What's wrong? Why is it suddenly so difficult—"
Xu Han's voice stopped abruptly, and his tone became trembling.
"He, He Lingling...you, you..."
In Xu Han's eyes, He Lingling, who looked up at him, had become somewhat strange.
The edges of He Lingling's already enormous black pupils twitched as if alive, looking as if they were about to leap out of their sockets—
Xu Han was startled by his own imagination and tightened his grip on He Lingling's arm slightly.
Are you... are you alright?
He Lingling ignored Xu Han's question. In her suddenly expanded field of vision, the concentration of the "black fog" in the entire carriage suddenly soared, especially...
Especially the black mist emanating from where the five people in the back row were.
The black mist surrounding the five of them had almost condensed into thick, black ribbons, drifting slowly in the air, clearly targeting the key figures within the carriage—
Yu Shijiu, that couple, and even... the direction from the driver's seat.
"He's testing the waters..."
He Lingling gritted her teeth and squeezed out the words, "Lin Hai is trying to control those 'black mists'...testing the rules...or rather, triggering the rules..."
Triggering rules?
What rules?
What are the rules for this car?
Xu Han was completely bewildered and whispered, "What? What rules? We haven't found any rules yet?"
From the moment they entered the instance to the series of inexplicable "strange events," so far only these "passengers" who kept their heads down and didn't speak seemed a bit scary—but based on what happened at Jingyin Station, these "passengers" would actually regain their "life" after arriving at the station.
Vitality... that is, a living person.
Questions swirled in Xu Han's mind. He swallowed hard and looked cautiously at He Lingling, whose face showed pain.
"How about I... how about I treat your injuries?"
He Lingling: "..."
He Lingling shook her head. "Not for now. I can manage."
Xu Han hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
He stared at He Lingling's pupils, which were beginning to dilate, and the red bloodstains at the corners of her eyes, which were even starting to crack, and hesitated.
He Lingling doesn't seem as "resilient" as she claims...
But He Lingling refused, and Xu Han had no choice but to secretly hold He Lingling's hand, making a decision in his heart—
If He Lingling's eyes explode in a moment, he will immediately activate his talent skill!