The mountain path was a dirt trail formed by countless footsteps. Though rugged, it was clearly defined.
It was early winter, and most of the trees on the mountain had shed their leaves.
Only the banyan tree at the mountain’s peak remained lush and thriving. Bai Lixin stood halfway up the mountain and looked up. The thick, emerald-green leaves that overlapped like a giant open umbrella, were vibrant and full of life. The branches and leaves grew freely, enveloping the entire mountaintop.
Under the warm winter sun, half of the mountain was green and lush, while the other half was barren and sparse. From a distance, it seemed as though the banyan tree had absorbed all the vitality of the forest.
Bai Lixin found an excuse to shake off Father Chen and Chen Dazhuang, and quietly followed the two corpse bearers from afar. The mountain path was steep, and as he followed them higher and higher, the surroundings gradually transformed from sparse, withered trees to dense, vibrant green. Only then did the group stop.
Afraid of being discovered, Bai Lixin didn’t get too close. He crouched in the bushes, quietly observing the people’s actions.
The largest banyan tree dominated the mountain peak, its trunk as thick as a wall, with a diameter of ten meters.
Bai Lixin peeked around the trunk. On one side, the banyan tree faced Chenjia Village; on the other side, it overlooked countless small mounds scattered across the landscape.
The mounds were densely packed, one right next to the other.
The corpse bearers carried the mat and what step by step, going deeper into the mounds.
They walked to the innermost part and skillfully dug a pit with a shovel. They moved quickly and within ten minutes, Old Fourth’s body had been lowered into the pit.
As they covered the body with earth, they murmured, “Dust to dust, earth to earth, fallen leaves return to their roots, fallen leaves return to their roots…”
Shovelful by shovelful, yellow earth covered Old Fourth’s body. Before long, a small mound blending seamlessly with the surrounding mounds had formed.
After finishing, the two men bowed three times to Old Fourth’s grave respectfully, then grabbed their shovels and started walking in Bai Lixin’s direction.
Bai Lixin crouched lower in the bushes, his body curled up. The dense branches and leaves provided cover, and the two men passed by without noticing him.
“Another one sent off.”
“One leaves, another arrives. They all live and new ones come.”
“I wonder whose banquet we’ll be attending tonight.”
“May Old Fourth rest in peace and not come back at midnight to crash someone else’s banquet.”
“Ouch, these branches are really something, they scratched my skin.”
The banyan’s branches and leaves grew wildly, and the narrow dirt path was surrounded by many coarse, scratchy branches.
As the two men walked and talked, one of the branch’s thorns accidentally scratched a man’s neck.
The thorn was sharp, peeling off a thin layer of his skin.
Bai Lixin held his breath, observing in secret. His beautiful pupils suddenly contracted, then slowly dilated.
No blood oozed out of the man’s peeled skin. Instead, a layer of deep brown, crisscrossed ridges was revealed.
It looked remarkably like charred wood.
His companion carefully pulled the peeled skin from the branch and reattached it to the man’s neck, all the while chiding, “This is top quality skin, it’s not easy to come by. Can’t you be more careful?”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s ruined, we can just ask Aunt Chen to sew a new set.”
“Bah!” His companion spat, “Don’t you think Aunt Chen gets tired? Besides, if you go back with tattered skin and scare away outsiders, Grandma Chief might throw you into the furnace to burn as charcoal.”
“Hey, that won’t happen.” The man gave a dismissive laugh and tugged his companion to quicken his pace. “Let’s hurry, it’s going to rain soon.”
Only after the two men had walked far away did Bai Lixin slowly straighten up from the bushes, looking in the direction they had gone thoughtfully.
Scare away outsiders?
Wasn’t the village full of people from Chenjia Village?
Could it be that the “outsiders” they mentioned referred to the players like him?
A gust of wind rose, and the banyan leaves rustled. The sound was like coins clinking together or a child sobbing.
The massive banyan tree’s leaves blocked out the sun, casting deep shadows over the area. The surroundings were dark and gloomy, as if the banyan leaves were the lid of a coffin, the earth was the coffin itself, and all the mounds were nestled between the leaves and the earth. Coupled with the sound of the swaying leaves, it seemed as though a chilling wind was creeping up Bai Lixin’s pant leg.
Bai Lixin calmly swept his gaze over the countless small mounds that were closely packed together. There were no names or photos on the grave markers, just bare little mounds.
Thousands upon thousands of them.
——————————-
In the live broadcast room
[Did you see that person just now? What’s under his skin? It looked like it was burnt. Hiss, could this be a case of someone wearing a painted skin? I’m suddenly feeling a bit cold, brothers.]
[Cold? What if you realize that his companion wasn’t surprised by the peeling skin at all? Wouldn’t that make you feel even colder? Judging by his companion’s reaction, isn’t it likely that he’s also wearing a painted skin?]
[I’m dizzy, could the whole village be wearing painted skins? Just like in the [Bride of the River God] copy, the entire village was dead.]
[That’s understandable; if the entire village of Chenjia was burned to death, this could be a replay of the event. Given the creepy nature of this horror game, it’s not surprising at all.]
[The last thing that person said, “Don’t scare the outsiders,” really scared me. Could the “outsiders” they’re referring to be the players like God Xin and the others?]
[If that’s the case, then doesn’t that mean that the villagers of Chenjia have already known God Xin and the others’ true identities?]
[Fuck, that’s terrifying.]
[But seriously, doesn’t this graveyard seem creepy to you? How can there be so many graves? There are just too many!]
[Maybe it’s because generations of villagers from Chenjia have been buried here. That would make sense.]
[…Well, if you insist on explaining it that way, I guess it makes sense.]
[As expected, after looking around, the strangest thing here is still that banyan tree. With so many bodies buried beneath it, it’s no wonder the banyan tree is flourishing in winter—perhaps it’s feeding off the nutrients from the corpses. Maybe if you cut the banyan’s trunk, the sap that flows out would be red.]
[So, the BOSS of this copy is this banyan tree? I remember there was a copy way back where the BOSS was also a tree, right?]
[[Bride of the River God] copy, God Xin’s first trial copy.]
[Tsk tsk, it’s been so long, but I still remember it vividly. Who would have thought that copy would mark the beginning of a legend?]
[In my opinion, Bai Lixin should just chop this weird banyan tree down right away. If the great fire was “the Mountain God’s punishment,” then cutting the problem off at its roots would solve everything.]
[It’s easy to say that, but such a big tree isn’t something you can just chop down in a few words, is it?]
———————————-
“Erniu, why did you run up to the top of the mountain? Come down quickly!”
From a distance, Bai Lixin heard a shout as he stood among the mounds.
Following the sound, Bai Lixin saw Chen Dazhuang and Father Chen standing among the bare branches halfway up the mountain.
Chen Dazhuang waved his arms vigorously, afraid that Bai Lixin wouldn’t see them.
It was Father Chen’s voice, but strangely, despite the distance, Bai Lixin could hear it very clearly, as if he were only five or six meters away.
Bai Lixin glanced at the small mounds all over the mountain, and without lingering any longer, quickly walked over to Chen Dazhuang and Father Chen.
“Erniu,” Father Chen’s sturdy body was like a giant bear blocking Bai Lixin, “Hurry down the mountain.”
His neck moved upwards stiffly, his brows furrowed, and his lips pursed as if he was wary of something, “The rainstorm is coming soon.”
Bai Lixin followed Father Chen’s gaze to the sky. It was noon, the sun was shining brightly, and there wasn’t a hint of rain.
Earlier, those two corpse bearers also mentioned that “it’s about to rain.”
Bai Lixin obediently hummed in agreement and silently followed behind Father Chen.
He frowned as his gaze swept over the backs of Father Chen and Chen Dazhuang. He noticed the thick bundles of dead branches and firewood they carried, a strange sense of discord rising in his heart.
Weren’t they supposed to be hunting? Why did they gather so many dead branches instead?
Father Chen and Chen Dazhuang walked ahead, their already tall and strong bodies plus the tall pile of firewood instantly blocked all the light. The sound of branches breaking echoed behind them, harsh and rhythmic, one after another, like a clock hanging on a white wall ticking endlessly.
Bai Lixin listened absentmindedly, but the more he listened, the more he felt something was wrong.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
He looked up, his gaze falling from Father Chen’s back to his upper arm.
Every time his arm swung back and forth, the cracking sound matched perfectly.
The bulging pile of firewood was bound tightly, only emitting a muffled friction sound occasionally.
The sound of branches breaking came from within Father Chen’s body, not from the firewood on his back.
This realization made Bai Lixin pause slightly before quickly resuming his pace.
Father Chen and Chen Dazhuang didn’t say anything, they just kept their heads down and walked.
Half an hour later, Bai Lixin followed them back to the village.
The sun was high, and the sunshine was just right.
The large village entrance and road were deserted, like an uninhabited ghost village, in stark contrast to the bustling scenes of last night and this morning.
Boom!
Boom!
At that moment, a dull sound came from above.
As soon as the thunder roared, Father Chen’s dark skin was instantly filled with fear.
The next second, Bai Lixin felt a force on his waist, and his body involuntarily rose into the air.
Father Chen had an arm around Bai Lixin and Chen Dazhuang, and without a word, hurriedly rushed towards their home.
In the midst of the violent jostling, Bai Lixin looked up at the sky.
The clear blue sky seemed to be covered with a thin veil; he couldn’t see any lightning, yet he could still hear the dull rumbling of thunder.
The rumbling sound came from far away, seemingly getting closer and closer.
“It’s too late!” Passing by the old elm tree in the village center, Father Chen shouted. Instead of continuing to run towards home, he turned abruptly and rushed into the familiar courtyard in the alley with red and white lanterns.
The Chen family’s daughter had been”married off”, and Old Fourth had been buried. The courtyard was empty.
Father Chen wasted no time. He set down the two, locked the door, and dragged them into a random room before locking it as well.
It was as if the heavens had timed it; as soon as Father Chen locked the door, the sky suddenly darkened!
Dark clouds rolled in, enveloping the distant mountains, as if trying to flatten the world.
Amidst the flashing lightning and thunder, raindrops the size of beans began to pour down.
When the raindrops hit the trees, gray smoke immediately rose, and soon the whole tree was burning.
When the raindrops hit the ground, they immediately formed small, pitted holes.
Wherever the raindrops landed, the scene was chaotic and terrifying.
If the trees and ground were suffering like this, one could only imagine what would have happened if they hadn’t taken shelter in the courtyard in time.
Above their heads, the crackling sound of raindrops continued, and the whole house seemed on the verge of collapse, in danger of getting destroyed by the rain at any moment.
At some point, Father Chen had already set the firewood at his feet. His hands were on his knees, his face flushed red, and he gasped heavily. The short distance he ran from the village entrance to this house was like an ultra long marathon.
———————————
In the Live Broadcast Room.
[Is this acid rain?]
[The trees and ground are being corroded, looks like it.]
[Huh? My brain’s a bit overloaded, acid rain is falling in Chenjia Village? What’s going on?]
[Maybe this copy is a natural disaster copy? The first stage was cold, and the second stage is acid rain?]
[Yes, yes, that makes sense! Acid rain could cause forest fires, so maybe the cause of the fire in Chenjia Village back then was a geological disaster?]
[The first stage was snow, the second stage was rain, will the third stage be heat?]
[Don’t say that, don’t say that! It might actually be true!]
[If it’s acid rain, it should be no big deal for God Xin. I remember he also encountered acid rain in a previous copy.]
[Speaking of which, family, why does it seem like their house is about to be pierced through? Damn, it really did! The rain’s coming in!]
[……]
———————————
The roof had been pierced, and then raindrops began to rush in through the hole.
As soon as the raindrops hit the straw-covered ground, a foul smell of burning sulfur and black smoke immediately rose.
With the first crack, it seemed like a breakthrough had been reached, and the rest of the roof began to give way.
The already fragile roof was broken one after another, and there were traces of rainwater erosion everywhere.
