Chapter 254: Infinite Flow: Saving the Crazy Beautiful 13

Zhaoling took out a half piece of wooden plaque from the coffin.

"I only wish your heart were like mine."

She read the sentence engraved on it, which wasn't there when she searched earlier; she thought it must have been left inside by Ake.

"There should be another half, right? Could this be their love token?"

Nanyu extended two fingers and matched them.

Zhaoling said, "I don't know why, but I always have a feeling that Ake's feelings for Awa Lao Si are absolutely not just an inseparable love."

She touched her nose, "It's probably just a woman's sixth sense."

Baiyi slowly woke up, instinctively rubbed his head and stood up, "Ouch..."

When he summoned the ghost onto himself, all his spirit-medium power had to be used to suppress the ghost and prevent a riot, so he had no memory.

"What did you all ask?"

Hexian glanced at his hand, friendly reminder: "I advise you to go wash your hands; she just affectionately touched the corpse in the coffin."

Baiyi: "... ugh!"

He didn't have time for anything else, rushed out to find the well opening.

But just as he was about to step over the threshold, Jin Chen pushed him back.

"The task time isn't over yet; do you want to die?"

"I! I, I forgot!"

Baiyi widened his eyes in fright and quickly moved away from the threshold.

Hexian pressed his lips, looking apologetic: "Sorry, I forgot we were still within the task time limit."

He apologized first; Baiyi, being a kind-hearted person, following the idea of not striking a smiling face, said nothing, just turned away and silently faced away.

Zhaoling used her phone to take photos, recording the middle-aged person's corpse and the appearance of Awa Lao Si's corpse.

Jin Chen recalled the scene he had seen, but found nothing else.

The next shift for the spirit hall guard was Zhousan.

Fortunately, although he was afraid, nothing major happened; he was just terrified by the three revived paper figures.

Nanyu remained lying in Jin Chen's arms, sleeping heavily, and only barely woke up when dawn came after the final shift ended.

He yawned, shrank back into Jin Chen's arms, rested his chin on his shoulder, and gazed at the faint light in the sky of the outer courtyard.

Not mistaken, he actually only avoids having that years-long nightmare when he is by Jin Chen's side.

Nanyu's fair, delicate chin rubbed against his neck, his voice hoarse and alluring: "Dawn's here."

Jin Chen had been leaning on the railing, eyes closed, resting his spirit; upon sensing movement, he opened his eyes and gently stroked the cheek of the person in his arms.

〖Congratulations to all players for completing the side quest; each receives 500 points. Congratulations to player Jin Chen for triggering the scene "Tribute Maiden Sacrifice" for an extra 500 points. 〗

The trial system's voice completely woke everyone up.

——

The young man and other relatives also returned to the outer courtyard of the spirit hall, their white mourning garments also changed into new ones.

"Last night you all worked hard guarding the spirit hall; stay and have breakfast together. This morning my father's coffin will be carried up the mountain."

"What's your name?" Zhaoling suddenly asked.

"Ah, just call me Awa Gu."

Awa Gu smiled, somewhat resembling his father, and went together with the other relatives into the spirit hall to tidy up.

Last night it was dark, and Jin Chen hadn't noticed Awa Gu's appearance; this morning he realized that this person not only looks like Awa, but also bears a resemblance to Ake in expression.

He thought of a possibility, slightly raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

After breakfast, the coffin was lifted, and they carried it up the mountain.

Awa Lao Si's family all entered the spirit hall; as the coffin bearers' shouts rose, they began scattering rice, men tying white cloth around their left arms, women wearing white cloth on their foreheads, and along the way they wailed and scattered paper money.

The players also followed behind, the send-off procession mighty and grand.

【Congratulations, Host, for triggering a key plot clue; the original plot of this segment is as follows:

During the send-off, the coffin met with an accident midway; no matter how they tried, they couldn't lift it. The villagers thought something unclean in the mountain had awakened, so they suggested directly sacrificing a live offering.

However, due to the alteration of the plot line, Nanyu is no longer the sacrifice trapped in the coffin; the offering might also be a clue for clearing the instance. Afterwards, please Host, take control as you see fit.

After hearing that, Jin Chen looked at Nanyu, whom he held by the hand, gripped tighter, and said, "Don't let go of my hand on the way up the mountain later."

"Okay, okay; whoever lets go will be chopped."

Nanyu was very pleased with that remark.

Jin Chen: "..." Not necessary either.

Although the villagers were also going up the mountain, they didn't follow yesterday's route; instead they took a more secluded path.

Suddenly, the man at the front carrying the coffin cried out, his legs went weak, and he tumbled and crawled to the ground.

With a gap at this end, the other three ends suddenly bore extra weight; the coffin crashed heavily to the ground, emitting an extremely heavy sound.

As the coffin fell, the reacting family descendants hurried to the front of the coffin, knelt down and kowtowed.

Although such incidents rarely happen in ordinary days, they still occur; at first the coffin bearers didn't think it abnormal, greeted the first person who fell, and had him exert strength again.

Eight people shouted, trying to lift it again.

This time, however, no matter how they tried, they couldn't lift it.

After exerting strength seven or eight times, the coffin seemed as if suddenly pressed by some heavy object, weighing a thousand jin; the eight men's faces turned red from strain, yet they could not budge it even a bit.

The timid descendants were already frightened to the point of reddened eye sockets, continuously kowtowing.

At that moment, the person kneeling before the coffin suddenly felt his knees uncontrollable, and forcibly turned to kneel in a different direction.

At the same time, the coffin was also rotated in a direction.

The coffin lid wobbled, about to fall, and actually slid straight down.

Ah—

Those carrying the coffin saw what was inside and were instantly terrified out of their wits.

Awa Lao Si! He actually... he actually turned into white bones!

Everyone was shocked, and the players took advantage of the chaos to push forward.

Jin Chen noticed that their kneeling postures all faced the same direction.

Jin Chen, look inside.

Nanyu tugged at his sleeve, gesturing for him to look inside the coffin.

Inside the coffin, Awa Lao Si, who still had a fleshly body this morning, had now turned into a pile of white bones, and the bones were positioned as if kneeling on his knees, facing the same direction as these descendants.

The players all looked over there.

"Look at the tree shadows!" Zhaoling shouted, "It's midday now, the sun is shining from that direction—how could the tree shadows be all messed up like this?"

She pointed toward the direction where the sun rises.

Jin Chen whispered, "Lou Wai Lou, light and shadow return, white bones offered to the departed's path."

Isn't this exactly what the Instance hint describes?

Zhousan turned around in place and said, "This place is called Lou Wai Lou—why?"

"Make way! Make way!"

Awa Gu rushed to the front of the coffin, and upon seeing that scene he was stunned, yet he did not leave; he cried while wiping his Tears.

"It must be... it must be those on the mountain..."

His words trailed off in his throat, but the villagers on the mountain roughly understood the meaning.

"Could it be that we need to hold an early sacrifice in order for Awa Lao Si's coffin to successfully reach the Burial Mountain?"

A villager asked doubtfully.

They all looked at the players in unison, scanning them with their gazes.