ATFBETIBM Chapter 633

With a loud bang, the complex machinery exploded instantly, flames shot up into the sky, scorching and blazing. Explosions followed one after another, the surroundings shook, and gravel kept falling from above.

“Run!” Li Cangshan shouted at Bai Lixin. The two of them weaved through the falling debris, quickly leaving the power generation area.

The base was in chaos, with bird-masked people in black rubber suits running around in panic.

Suddenly, a roar came from a distance, and a group of bird-masked people, armed with weapons, charged at them, cursing as they approached.

Behind them was the blocked power generation room, to the left and right were sealed walls, and in front of them, the bird-masked people were charging forward.

Li Cangshan immediately stood in front of Bai Lixin. “I’ll cover you, you need to get out of here quickly.”

The young man stared at the broad back in front of him, momentarily dazed.

It was as if history was repeating itself. Li Cangshan instinctively chose to sacrifice himself again. Would he be unable to save him once again, letting him become a tragic sacrifice?

Impossible.

The bird-masked people on the other side had already raised their weapons.

The tips of bayonets gleamed coldly, aimed at Li Cangshan, while the dark gun barrels hid deadly beasts.

Without warning, a giant shield appeared out of thin air, spinning forward.

The black shield spun in the air and smashed into the bird-masked people, creating a path.

Bai Lixin grabbed Li Cangshan’s sleeve and rushed forward, brutally stomping on the bird-masked people’s faces as they fought their way through a bloody path.

They ran forward frantically, with the ruthless pursuers close behind.

At that moment, they heard a long, resonating sound.

The sound seemed distant, as if it passed through thick walls, but it was clear, and although low, it seemed to echo close to their ears.

It was like the sound of a horn.

When that sound rang out, the surrounding tremors suddenly stopped.

But it wasn’t just the shaking that stopped.

Time seemed to have paused. The falling stones were suspended in mid-air, the pursuing bird-masked people were frozen behind them, their twisted bodies still maintaining their grotesque and menacing postures.

Before they could figure out what was happening, another horn rang out.

This time, the sound was even longer and more resonant, slicing through the air like a sharp blade.

The sound caused Bai Lixin’s vision to blur for a moment and when he regained his senses, everything around him was pitch black and silent.

There were no falling stones, no bird-masked people, no signs of a fight, nothing—just the dark, eerie tunnel before him, empty and desolate.

Bai Lixin subconsciously turned around and secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Li Cangshan behind him.

Li Cangshan removed his mask, confused by the sudden turn of events. “What just happened?”

“Right!” He quickly regained his composure. “We need to rescue the others first!”

…

One rusty iron door after another was kicked open by Li Cangshan, stirring up dust.

Apart from traces of past experiments, the rooms were empty; there was no one.

Some rooms had pipes on the walls that were used to release poison gas, others had black vessels filled with poison on the tables, and some rooms had photos of victims. In others, there were anatomical diagrams of the human body.

The thick dust and rusty iron doors told them that this place had been abandoned for a long time.

But the lingering experimental tools vividly preserved the evil that once took place in this laboratory.

They searched room by room until they finally found twelve people at the end of the corridor.

These were the twelve missing players. It’s unknown what had happened to them, all were lying unconscious on the ground, their faces pale and with pained expressions.

Fortunately, they were still alive.

It took Bai Lixin considerable effort to wake the twelve people.

When they woke up and saw the bird-masks and black suits, their expressions were all filled with fear. It wasn’t until Bai Lixin removed his mask that they relaxed.

Lin Jue’s group of six also gradually made their way here.

High Ponytail and Muscular Man found their friends and embraced them tightly.

“Can someone explain what happened to you? Why were you all unconscious here?” Bai Lixin was curious about what they had experienced.

High Ponytail’s friend, a short-haired girl, leaned on her shoulder and recalled, “I’m not quite sure myself, but it felt like I had a vivid and terrifying dream. In the dream, I originally came to investigate Chenjia Village, but I accidentally wandered into a reed marsh. Then I was sucked into the ground by the reeds and somehow ended up captured by a group of bird-masked people in rubber masks.”

“They treated us as experimental subjects, conducting various experiments on us.”

A nearby player shivered, “Yeah, it was horrifying. At that time, I even thought death would be a relief. Thankfully, it was just a dream, I thought I was done for.”

“Was it really just a dream?” Someone lifted their sleeve, revealing a red mark. “The marks from the ropes are still there.”

The air fell silent, and fear quickly spread among them.

Finally, Li Cangshan spoke, “We should get out of here first.”

As they left, the twelve players huddled together, cautiously observing their surroundings. The fear in their eyes surfaced repeatedly; the trauma would likely haunt them for some time.

It wasn’t until they left the base, passed through the reed marsh, and returned to the familiar Chenjia Village that the twelve players felt a weight lift off their shoulders. They took deep breaths of fresh air and collapsed on the pile of stones.

Before they could catch their breath, the clear sky suddenly filled with dark clouds.

Everyone’s face changed, and someone cursed, “Damn it, a rainstorm is coming,” and they immediately jumped up from the stones. Ignoring their still shaky legs, they ran desperately towards the nearest courtyard.

One player fell to the ground.

The closest player immediately hoisted the fallen player onto their shoulder and continued to rush forward with a roar.

The player being carried on someone’s shoulder was jostled like a sieve but he didn’t forget to express gratitude, “Thank you.”

The person carrying him shouted, “what are you thanking me for? We’ve risked our lives together, and none of us can die until we’ve avenged ourselves! Those bastards tortured me for so long, I won’t be satisfied until I kill them all!”

His words instantly resonated with the other players, and they started running even faster.

Just as the first drop of rain fell, they finally made it into the nearest courtyard.

Boom!

Pitter-patter!

Countless raindrops fell from the sky, mixed with the acrid smell of sulfur and gunpowder.

The sky was shrouded in dark clouds, blocking out the sun.

The rain pounded on the thatched roof of the house. The dilapidated building could hardly withstand the onslaught of the heavy rain and small holes quickly formed in the roof.

The players pressed themselves against the walls to avoid the rain.

In the midst of the pouring rain, urgent footsteps could be heard.

Through the broken windows, they saw bird-masked figures in black rubber suits running in the rain.

Two bird-masked figures stepped through the gate of the courtyard where they were hiding, and started searching.

On the ground outside the gate, a player had been captured. He was tortured beyond recognition, wailing in agony.

In the darkness, twenty pairs of eyes gleamed.

Just as the bird-masked figure approached the doorway, someone shouted, “Damn it, brothers, let’s kill them!”

In an instant, the door flew open, and two pairs of large hands reached out, dragging the two bird-masked figures into the house. What followed was a flurry of punches.

The bird-masked figures didn’t even have time to scream before they lost consciousness.

Someone pulled out a flashlight, and another person lifted the mask off one of the black-masked figures.

Beneath the terrifying beak was a face with the same features as theirs.

A face, a pair of eyes, a nose, and a mouth.

No hideous fangs, no terrifying face.

“Heh,” someone said angrily, “so this is what you really look like? You’re not monsters, just people. But how could you be worse than monsters?”

The unexpected turn of events drew the attention of the bird-masked figures who had already left. They rushed back into the house, only to be met with the players’ renewed fury.

The players stripped them of their black rubber suits and pushed them into the rain. The bean-sized raindrops poured down in torrents, piercing through the bird-masked figures’ bodies and leaving holes.

The smell of burning flesh mixed with the stench of gunpowder quickly spread, and the rain couldn’t wash it away.

“There are more outside!” The players’ anger hadn’t subsided. They put on the black rubber suits, pointed outside, and shouted, “We’ve had enough, it’s time these bastards got a taste of our power.”

They charged out into the rain, turning the once-quiet street into utter chaos.

Wails and screams mixed with the sound of the pounding rain.

But this time, the cries didn’t come from villagers or players, but from those bird-masked figures.

Things were finally different.

In a trance, Bai Lixin seemed to hear a man sighing beside his ear.

He quickly turned around, but there was no one there, only Chen Xiaoling who was clinging tightly to him.

After an unknown amount of time, the rain stopped. The sun broke through the thick clouds and fell to the ground. The black clouds were dispersed, and the sky cleared up again.

The disordered corpses of the bird-masked group also disappeared with the appearance of the sun.

A dozen players gathered together, throwing away the black rubber suits they had been holding. Their faces were stained with blood—whose, they didn’t know—but they laughed heartily, feeling completely relieved.

“That was satisfying, really satisfying.”

“Is there more? I can still kill.”

“Killing ten feels like too few, killing a hundred isn’t too many.”

The sun was shining brilliantly, and even the gloom in their hearts was completely dispelled.

Bai Lixin temporarily bid farewell to everyone and carried Chen Xiaoling back to Old Chen’s residence.

The red and white lanterns had been ruined by the rain, but the wedding table from the ghost marriage was still in the courtyard, with the two birthdates faintly visible on it.

Bai Lixin brought Chen Xiaoling inside and set her down on a bench.

Sobs came from beneath the thick hair, and Chen Xiaoling choked out, “I remember now. I was married off from here. That day, my father killed the only old sow in the family and held a grand wedding for me.”

The room was covered in cobwebs, and the walls still held black and white photos of Chen Xiaoling and Old Chen.

Chen Xiaoling collapsed on the floor and, with her only two hands, crawled toward the direction of the photos, “Dad, Dad, Xiaoling is back, Xiaoling has come home to see you.”

Bai Lixin didn’t want to intrude, so he turned and left the room, leaving the space for Chen Xiaoling and her father.

Time passed bit by bit, from daytime to dusk, and Bai Lixin finally heard a call from inside, “Benefactor, please come in.”

When Bai Lixin pushed the door open and entered, Chen Xiaoling was already sitting on the chair. In front of her was a red hair tie with a red banyan flower tied to it.

Chen Xiaoling handed the hair tie to Bai Lixin, “Benefactor, thank you for bringing me back. I, Chen Xiaoling, have nothing to offer in return, I can only give you this hair tie. This hair tie was made by my father using hemp from the mountain and banyan flowers. With this hair tie, you won’t get lost in the mountain.”

Bai Lixin accepted the hair tie.

[Ding! Congratulations to player Bai Lixin for obtaining the prop [Xiaoling’s Gratitude—Red Hair Tie]. This prop allows the player to receive the protection of the mountain god and find a way out in Rong Mountain.]

Bai Lixin looked at Chen Xiaoling meaningfully, “Thank you.”

Chen Xiaoling had already tidied her hair, and her exposed face was as delicate and beautiful as the girl in the photo.

She smiled faintly, “After recovering from my madness, I remembered many things.”

“Back then, many villagers of Chenjia Village were captured, including Brother Erniu.”

“Brother Erniu died right in front of my eyes, so you are not Brother Erniu.”

Bai Lixin: “…”

Chen Xiaoling continued, “Although I don’t know who you are, you’re a good person. Rong Mountain is spiritual, and the mountain god will protect you.”

The beautiful face gradually became transparent in front of Bai Lixin, and eventually, she disappeared completely.

When Xiaoling vanished, Bai Lixin heard that sigh again by his ear.

He looked around, but aside from the dilapidated house, there was still nothing around.

That sigh seemed to be just his hallucination.