Infinite Flow: Becoming a God in a Nightmare Game

Chapter 123 Number 7

As night fell, the moonlight flickered under the cover of dark clouds.

Lu Xue had already fallen into a deep sleep, with Lin Wanchu lying on her left and Chi Miaomiao lying on her right.

Jiang Qi half-closed his eyes, glanced at Lu Zhi through his fine eyelashes, and then, overcome with drowsiness, fell into a deep sleep.

Lu Zhi's almost pale fingers caressed Jiang Qi's earlobe.

Jiang Qi's hair was wispy and messy, making him look less sharp than usual.

His eyes remained closed, covered by fine eyelashes, and he made no further movement.

Lu Zhi's voice was low and husky, "Goodnight, brother, sweet dreams."

Last night was a rare peaceful night; no players died, at least not on the surface. Perhaps some were replaced by Shadow Ghosts, but no player has noticed yet.

Xiao Tang and another female player belonged to Qin Senjing's team.

Qin Senjing's death was used as a wedding dress; with her gone, only the two of them were left to shoulder the heavy burden.

Using human skin as a wedding dress, are they really going to let them kill people and skin them alive?

Although killing is common in the nightmare game, neither of them dared to do it.

So the two of them were already overwhelmed with the mission and had no idea how to complete it, but they would die if they didn't complete the mission!

So the two of them went to the village early in the morning to find a suitable person to make the wedding dress.

Only Jiang Qi and his group of five, unlike the other players who were busy and overwhelmed, had a unique style: they all slept until late morning.

It was rare for Jiang Qi to sleep for so long in the dungeon. He stretched lazily, his joints cracking, and let out a long yawn.

Beneath the loose-fitting clothes, a relatively sturdy, narrow waist dangled.

Lu Zhi had been awake for a while and was leaning against the headboard staring at his brother.

"Brother, did you sleep well last night?"

Jiang Qi's voice was indifferent, with a slight nasal tone, as he softly hummed in agreement.

"It's time to go out."

Inside the stilted house, only the marked players remained. Jiang Qi and Lu Zhi set off for the graveyard.

The burial mound was located in a somewhat remote area. Jiang Qi followed the signs and almost got lost along the winding path.

After walking through a desolate area, there were scattered fragments of bones, some human and some animal, in the grass.

Following the signs, the road was overgrown with thorns. It was silent, except for the mournful howling of the wind.

Parting the withered grass, the road suddenly opened up.

What came into view was the cemetery that Lin Wanchu had mentioned.

The place was desolate, with flocks of crows perched on distant trees. The gloomy weather today was depressing.

Some of the graves were covered with weeds, exuding a suffocating atmosphere of death.

There are few intact graves; most have been destroyed.

Jiang Qi looked around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

These graves were all built a long time ago; there were no new graves among them.

It wasn't that Jiang Qi was thinking the worst, but in such a large village, there were more elderly people than young and middle-aged people.

A slight noise came from behind a clump of grass. Jiang Qi tensed up and looked warily in the direction of the sound.

Lu Zhi heard it too, but he could hear it more clearly.

The footsteps on the withered grass were slow, indicating that the newcomers posed little threat to them.

A figure appeared and disappeared, and a pair of withered hands parted the dry grass. She was slightly taken aback when she saw someone there.

She usually only comes to this cemetery on the back hill by herself, but she never expected to run into two unexpected people today.

Today she was wearing a clean and tidy gray Chinese-style long gown and a simple straw hat, which made her look dignified and rustic.

On her right wrist was a basket woven from bamboo strips, filled with carefully prepared offerings.

The basket contained a bunch of fresh incense sticks, emitting a faint fragrance, a stack of yellow paper money, as well as delicate steamed buns, fruit, and a small jar of peach blossom wine.

She was the old woman we met at the beginning, and also the younger sister of the one in the baby tower.

She ignored Jiang Qi and Lu Zhi, and slowly walked past them with her back hunched.

We came to a small corner. The grave was small, but it was very clean and there were no weeds around it.

The old man gently placed the basket on the ground, then carefully took out each offering and placed them one by one in front of the tombstone.

She lit the incense and candles, clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and began to pray with slightly parted lips.

The voice was faint, but filled with sorrow.

Sister, I've come to see you, but the weather isn't very good today.

Then, with trembling hands, she burned the paper money one by one. The flames flickered in the wind, and the smoke rose and swirled, carrying her blessings and longing straight to the sky.

She knelt in front of the tombstone, her gaze fixed on the flickering flames, a serene expression on her face.

Whenever an NPC arrives, Jiang Qi still needs to extract some information from them.

As the old man slowly got up, Jiang Qi spoke with a sincere expression and a perfectly measured tone of doubt.

"Grandma, may I ask you a question?"

"We stumbled upon this place by chance. Some of the graves are covered with piles of stones, which we've never seen before, so we're a bit curious. Is this a custom of the Miao Gu villages?"

The old woman seemed to be in a bad mood, but she still patiently answered the questions from the stranger.

"This is just a custom of 'encircling the soul' that has been passed down in our Miao Gu village. It's just a funeral custom, nothing special."

"Our ancestors believed that the ghosts of the dead would wander the world and harm the living."

"So we cremate the dead in the village, bury their ashes underground, pile up soil to form a tomb, and then pile stones around the tomb."

"This is a custom that has been passed down from generation to generation."

"We emphasize the distinction between genders. Men are surrounded by nine pieces, and women by seven pieces, which signifies that the spirit of the deceased is enclosed in the tomb."

"On the one hand, to prevent it from wandering out and being harmed by the devil. On the other hand, to prevent it from harming others."

"Alright, I've told you everything. If there's nothing else, I'll be going."

The old man carefully packed up his basket and left without looking back.

Her figure appeared exceptionally lonely, her steps slow and heavy.

Jiang Qi didn't say anything more, but silently counted the stones piled on the grave.

He only glanced at it briefly; he hadn't covered the entire area yet.

Jiang Qi and Lu Zhi each divided the area, and the scattered graves looked as if they had been deliberately damaged.

Jiang Qi observed very carefully this time, counting the stones on every single grave.

Almost simultaneously, Jiang Qi and Lu Zhi both stopped counting.

Strangely, each grave was surrounded by seven stones of moderate size.

Are all the dead in the Miao Gu village women? That doesn't seem right.

When asked about Lu Zhi's situation, Lu Zhi said the same thing as Jiang Qi: each grave was surrounded by seven stones.

“Lu Zhi, let’s count the grave mounds again. We can tell whether the deceased was male or female from the tombstones. Let’s pile the scattered stones on top. Ask me if you don’t understand anything.”

"Okay, brother, don't tire yourself out."

Jiang Qi put the scattered stones back in their original positions one by one, including four female graves and three male graves.

All the stones have been moved, except for the last male grave, but no matter how they are arranged, three stones are still missing.

It doesn't necessarily have to be nine pieces. The stones were divided equally, and each grave mound was divided into seven pieces, no more and no less.

Lu Zhi didn't have any extra stones to fill the gap on his side either; there were also seven stones, and each grave had seven stones.

The development of events repeatedly pointed to the number 7, which made Jiang Qi think of a possibility.

Without warning, large raindrops fell from the dark, cloud-covered sky and landed squarely on Jiang Qi's arm.

The sudden chill and slight pain sent a shiver down Jiang Qi's spine.

He looked up at the sky and saw that the already dark clouds looked even lower now, as if a torrential downpour was about to erupt at any moment.

My heart skipped a beat; I realized I had to cancel another plan for today.

He looked around, and something seemed to be stirring in the shadows.

Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Qi grabbed Lu Zhi's wrist and quickly left the cemetery.

The raindrops grew denser, pattering against their bodies.

Their pace quickened involuntarily, almost as they jogged towards the stilted house.

Upon entering the stilted house, a warm and welcoming atmosphere immediately greets you.

The building was dimly lit, and kerosene lamps had been lit at some point. The wooden floors and stairs emitted a faint woody fragrance.

The sound of rain raged outside the stilted house. Jiang Qi and Lu Zhi walked up the ancient staircase to the second floor of the stilted house.

Several more players came running from a distance.

Their clothes were almost completely soaked.

At this moment, Lin Wanchu sat down by the window and gazed at the rain scene outside through the crack in the window.

Raindrops pattered against the windowpane, splashing up tiny water droplets; it seemed as if only the sound and breath of rain remained in the world.

The air was thick with the earthy smell of soil.

Jiang Qi and Lu Zhi weren't much better off; they were all wet and sticky, which was very uncomfortable.

Therefore, Jiang Qi went back to his room first to change into clean clothes, and Lu Zhi followed him.

Jiang Qi raised his hand to check the time; the hour hand pointed to exactly three o'clock in the afternoon.

After Jiang Qi and Lu Zhi changed their clothes and came out, Lin Wanchu spoke calmly.

"Today, I obtained information about a deceased player."

"It wasn't the one that left the white fingerprints, it was another one."

"I learned his name was Yuan Qi from other players. For the rest of the information, I asked my all-knowing viewers in my live stream."

"Uh, his awakened talent, well... it's hard to describe, anyway, his reputation isn't very good."

"Let me show you."

Lin Wanchu swiped a few times on her panel, and the live stream chat appeared.

"Does anyone know Yuan Qi? If so, I can offer a generous reward."

Many replies below revealed Yuan Qi's personal information, even his romantic history.

"Wow, this is the first time a big shot has asked us for help. Give me a minute, I'll go dig it out for you right away."

"Yuan Qi, that name sounds familiar. Isn't that the infamous player?"

"As far as I know, Yuan Qi is a playboy, very lecherous, and indiscriminate in his sexuality. His talent is [paired replication], one begets two, two begets four, four begets six, and so on."

"I remember he had his eye on a beautiful NPC before, and not being satisfied, he used his talent to create a copy of her."

"Hmm~ This talent really suits his nature."

"Tsk, he changes his appearance every time he enters a dungeon, no wonder we can't recognize him."