“Ten minutes, as expected, we lost ten minutes of memory,” Samael compared the time display in the upper right corner of the system panel and looked around, “The wooden house is also gone.”
He moved his body, and the sound of something breaking came from under his feet.
Samael looked down and saw a small branch under his feet.
He followed the ends of the branch and found that it extended beyond their sight.
Samael asked curiously, “Bai Lixin, was this your doing?”
“Yes,” Bai Lixin took another branch from his backpack and continued laying it out, “There’s still some distance to go. The length of the branches is just right, thanks to the BOSS for this gift.”
Samael and Lin Jue: “…”
Lin Jue shook his slightly dazed head, “I also don’t remember the last ten minutes, but I feel like a lot happened during that time. It would be great if I could remember.”
Bai Lixin straightened up and took out a small rectangular notebook from his backpack. The notebook’s corners were sharp, and it was well-preserved.
“Take off your gloves and try flipping through this notebook directly.”
Lin Jue and Samael took off their gloves, each holding a corner of the notebook, one responsible for flipping the pages, the other acting like a paperweight and holding them down.
The front of the notebook was filled with text, they were a set of rules for a certain copy.
The words were written in a neat regular script, more orderly than printed text.
At first glance, the notebook seemed unremarkable, nothing special.
However, as they flipped through it, familiar yet strange scenes started flashing through their minds like a kaleidoscope.
The wedding scene, the black charcoal people like waves of wheat, the ceremonial bows to heaven and earth, the beautiful bride, the raging fire, the guests fleeing but finding no escape, the tears in the bride’s eye, and her final words, “Lin Xiao, promise to take care of yourself…”
Lin Jue felt a mix of emotions, and various feelings surged through his heart.
He stood in a faze for a long time before those strange emotions gradually faded away.
Thanks to the thick down jacket, mask, and goggles, his uncontrolled emotions earlier were mostly hidden. If Samael had seen them, he would have laughed at him for sure.
Samael: “So that’s the illusion we saw in the wooden house. Now it makes sense why players would attack each other.”
“I was wondering at first. Since they are all experienced players, even if they saw monsters in the illusion, they should have realized that it was an illusion. But if their target was always the wooden door, it makes sense.”
Bai Lixin also took off his gloves, “Let me see too. I still don’t remember what happened inside.”
Samael: “You don’t remember? Then how did you know to show us the notebook?”
Bai Lixin then showed Samael his bent arm. On his down jacket, three words written in black charcoal dust: Notebook.
“It must be a reminder I wrote before I lost my memory.” Bai Lixin flipped through the notebook, paused for a few seconds after turning a few pages, and then put it back in his backpack, “So that’s what happened. I remember now, and I might have more information than you.”
“Based on what Samael just said, we should have seen the same illusion content. You all know I have been to the wooden house once before.”
He said this while taking out a bunch of branches from his backpack and handing them to the other two. They quickly caught on and bent down to lay the branches on the snow.
“Although I lost ten minutes of memory last time, that experience didn’t disappear because of my amnesia. When I entered the illusion again this time, I recalled my previous ten-minute memory. So I didn’t focus on the plot this time and did something else.”
“I found someone to talk to.”
“This village is called Chenjia Village and was built next to a mountain. Because they are near the mountain, Chenjia Village relies on this mountain. They collect mushrooms and fruits when it’s warm and hunt in the mountains when it’s cold. There’s an old banyan tree on the mountain, also surrounded by smaller banyan trees. Chenjia Village calls this mountain Banyan Mountain.”
“You should all know the name ‘Lin Xiao’ by now, right? He is the protagonist of the illusion.”
“That person said Lin Xiao was an orphan. Villagers of Chenjia Village heard a baby’s cry while hunting near the biggest banyan tree. When they approached, they found a baby boy under the tree.”
“They couldn’t leave him to die, so they brought the baby back to Chenjia Village.”
“Since he was found in the forest at dawn, they named him ‘Lin Xiao’.”
“Lin Xiao didn’t have a fixed home. The whole Chenjia Village was his family. He grew up eating meals from different families, so everyone in the village was his family.”
Lin Jue’s heart stirred, “What happened next?”
Bai Lixin: “Later, that person said Lin Xiao met a woman he liked. They received the villagers’ blessings, and many people attended their wedding.”
Lin Jue: “What happened next?”
Bai Lixin: “I don’t know what happened next. I was in a hallucination, and the person I could communicate with was also experiencing that time. He was just a guest at the wedding and didn’t know the ending.”
“During the wedding, a fire suddenly broke out, turning the happy event into a funeral. It seemed no one escaped,” Lin Jue murmured. “Including the bride.”
“…” Bai Lixin: “Maybe that’s how it was.”
“I also left out a part.” Bai Lixin brushed the dust off his down jacket. “That person said when the people of Chenjia Village found Lin Xiao, half of his body was buried in the soil. They took Lin Xiao back because of a legend. The legend says that once a mountain gains spirituality, it gains life and will produce a mountain god. The people of Chenjia Village believed Lin Xiao was a gift from the mountain, an incarnation of the mountain god, so every household cherished him greatly.”
Lin Jue immediately thought of the still burning banyan trees. He looked up and realized that as they talked, the long tree branch path they created had already reached the edge of the glacier graveyard.
Samael: “Bai Lixin, where is your bell?”
Bai Lixin’s hand flipped lightly in the air, and a small copper bell lay quietly in his palm.
The tall man pointed at the bell, “Didn’t you say this bell has the character ‘Chen’ on it?”
Bai Lixin: “Yes, it should be from Chenjia Village. Last time, I wasn’t injured in the illusion because of this bell.”
“The bell kept ringing, and each time it rang, I became a bit more clear-headed.”
“I relied on this bell to break free from the illusion and laid a section of the branch path in advance.”
Lin Jue: “I also heard the bell in the illusion.”
Samael: “Me too, but I wasn’t too emotionally affected so I wasn’t thinking about breaking the door.”
“Seriously, Samael.” Lin Jue gave Samael a sidelong glance. “Such a beautiful bride, how could you have the heart to just let her be consumed by the flames?”
Samael said disdainfully, “So what? I’ve seen too many fires to be moved. Bai Lixin, have you figured out who gave you the bell?”
Bai Lixin: “Yes, I know who gave me the bell.”
Lin Jue: “Who?”
Bai Lixin: “It was the only surviving player from the first group of six.”
Lin Jue and Samael exclaimed in unison, “It was him?”
Samael: “If he had this prop, does that indirectly prove he isn’t a player? But why did he give it to you?”
Bai Lixin: “Maybe because I gave him a few pieces of bread to stave off hunger. So he wanted to help me and gave me the bell.”
Lin Jue: “Give me a jade pendant and I’ll give you a peach in return. This NPC doesn’t seem to have a bad heart.”
Samael: “Not necessarily. If that’s the case, why didn’t he save the other players the first time? Since he came wearing a player’s down jacket, it proves the original owner of the jacket likely met a grim fate. What was his purpose in infiltrating our player group? Except for him, all five players are dead. Only his word remains so we can’t know right from wrong. What’s worse, could he have killed those five players to silence them?”
Bai Lixin: “I have the same doubts.”
Lin Jue: “Where do you plan to start investigating?”
Bai Lixin: “Where to start? Of course, by asking him directly. Didn’t he follow us here?”
“Since he’s here, there’s no need to hide.”
Behind a huge banyan tree not far away, a rustling sound of fabric mingled with the crunching of footsteps on snow, and a person in a thick down jacket emerged.
The man walked silently and then knelt down with a thud, “Please, save Chenjia Village.”
The three had just finished laying the branch path. Bai Lixin took out the last bit from his backpack and handed it to the other two.
Lin Jue was more anxious than Bai Lixin. As soon as the man knelt, he immediately asked, “What’s your name?”
The man remained kneeling, “My name is Chen Dazhuang.”
Samael: “Chen Dazhuang, stand up.”
Chen Dazhuang: “No, I won’t get up unless you agree to my request!”
Samael said coldly, “You’re blocking our way. If you want to kneel, go kneel to the side.”
Chen Dazhuang stopped speaking, awkwardly got up, and moved aside.
He was about to kneel again when he noticed that the three had already moved two meters ahead in the blink of an eye.
Chen Dazhuang hesitated for a moment, then hurriedly followed, “I know you are not ordinary people. Only you can save the people of Chenjia Village. I beg you.”
Lin Jue: “What happened in Chenjia Village? Why do you need our help?”
Chen Dazhuang: “Because Brother Lin Xiao was a heartless man. Despite having a wife, he still got entangled with another woman that he shouldn’t have thoughts about. The entire Chenjia Village was buried with him.”
The burning banyan tree was right in front of them. Hearing this, Bai Lixin paused in his movements, “Explain further.”
Lin Jue frowned, “What do you mean by entangled with another woman he shouldn’t have thoughts about?”
Chen Dazhuang: “Brother Lin Xiao was the child of the mountain god. With his status, his marriage was not something he could decide on his own. In the end, he would have to return to the embrace of the mountain god.”
“But Brother Lin Xiao wanted to marry a woman, regardless of Chenjia Village’s opposition. He even turned against the entire village for that woman.”
“Before their wedding, many villagers tried to persuade him to break off the engagement, but Brother Lin Xiao drove them all away.”
“As a result, the mountain god’s wrath descended, igniting Banyan Mountain and burning down Chenjia Village.”
Lin Jue: “Why can’t a couple decide their own matters? If Lin Xiao couldn’t decide, then who was he supposed to marry?”
Chen Dazhuang: “The mountain god, of course!”
“He was chosen by the mountain god, which is why he could survive in the forest where wolves, tigers and leopards roam. When he was one year old, the elders of our village took him to the mountain god’s temple and betrothed him to the mountain god. The mountain god is Brother Lin Xiao’s wife, and Brother Lin Xiao is the mountain god’s husband. How can a married man take another wife? It’s a great disrespect to the mountain god! The mountain god would naturally not forgive him.”
“So your mountain god burned down the entire mountain in anger?” Lin Jue found it absurd. “What feudal rubbish! You forced a one-year-old child to marry a mountain, and you think it’s justified? Did your village care for Lin Xiao back then just to gain the mountain god’s favor and gifts?”
Chen Dazhuang hurriedly waved his hands, “No, no, the people of Chenjia Village treated Brother Lin Xiao well simply because they liked him.”
“But Brother Lin Xiao repaid kindness with enmity because he defied the mountain god.”
“If we had known things would turn out like this, we wouldn’t have saved Brother Lin Xiao in the first place.”
“Why should our kindness be repaid with annihilation? We are unwilling to accept this.”
“Besides, I just want to ask you to save Chenjia Village. I don’t want revenge on Brother Lin Xiao.”
Bai Lixin: “…”
On Lin Xiao’s back was a tattoo of nine dragons carrying a coffin.
He had said it contained his wife’s child.
And he had said he was a sinner.
According to Chen Dazhuang’s story, it all matched.
Lin Xiao married the mountain god, so the mountain god was his wife.
The villagers of Chenjia Village lived off Banyan Mountain, so weren’t they the mountain god’s children?
He called himself a sinner because his momentary mistake killed the entire village?
So, Lin Xiao was now atoning for his sins, trying to save the people of Chenjia Village?
But his Mermaid Heart was gone.
He could no longer resurrect anyone.
What’s more, the activation effect of the Mermaid Heart is limited—from the very beginning, lives whose bodies have been burned cannot be resurrected.
