Chapter 1632: Chapter 1632: Walking in the River
These people seemed unable to see anyone other than themselves, just slowly walking in the river. Most of them were in poor spirits, especially ordinary people, staggering as if they might collapse at any moment.
In fact, some did collapse, the river was shallow, but they never stood up again. After soaking in the water for a while, their bodies turned into powder and disappeared with the current.
These are the dead.
The living, some know of the River of Stars, some do not. When one’s body and spirit are consumed to the extreme, ordinary people are usually not much interested in the glow under their feet, so those who don’t know the River of Stars walk ahead blankly, sometimes pausing to the river water.
But those who know the River of Stars are different. They reach out to scoop up the glowing water and pour it into their mouths and sprinkle it on their bodies. It’s clear they know the legend of the "Midsummer Night’s River of Stars," and have heard that those who see the River can not only be revived from a near-death state, but also completely rid their bodies of fungi.
Xu Huo followed the people forward, watching their actions; several people who poured the river water over themselves died in a state of extreme excitement, finally becoming part of the flowing water.
His brow furrowed slightly, what is this?
After walking a bit further, a Tan-skinned City Dweller ahead of him suddenly sat down in the water. This person wasn’t short; the water at knee-height wasn’t enough to cover his mouth and nose, so he just sat in the water, staring exhaustedly at the flow ahead.
Xu Huo walked past him, then stopped slightly further ahead, watching this person.
The Tan-skinned City Dweller’s gaze wasn’t completely immobile, from aimlessness at first, eventually locking onto a significantly larger cluster of phosphorescence.
Perhaps he wasn’t consciously aware, just instinctively following the more vivid object in his view. The light cluster was actually a mushroom like a transparent bubble, not larger than a fist, but significantly larger compared to nearby glowing fungi.
The fungus had no consciousness, drifting with the river and naturally moved before the Tan-skinned City Dweller. Sitting in the river, he easily lowered his head to touch the fungus, then drank the water and sucked the fungus in.
About a minute later, the Tan-skinned City Dweller began convulsing violently, followed by furious vomiting, with vomitus mixed with blood and various fungi. Instinctively, he scrambled up from the river, stumbled his way to the shore, but collapsed near the edge, his body half-submerged in water, unconscious.
Xu Huo moved closer, observing the fungus spots on the Tan-skinned City Dweller’s face start to peel off. After falling off, the skin looked bad but quickly regained elasticity, his breathing gradually becoming smooth and light.
It seems this is how the People of Zone 013 are saved, is it some kind of Antidote Fungus?
Xu Huo turned back to continue watching ahead, suddenly noticing a nearby player was ecstatic about grabbing something from the water. His fingers spread wide, suggesting he was holding something, but from an observer’s perspective, he held nothing.
The player was elated, even maintaining a holding gesture to kiss whatever he thought he held twice. But when he tried to turn back to the shore, his feet suddenly went numb.
The player realized something was wrong, but it couldn’t change his predicament. Despite his desperate struggle and frantic waving in the air, he gradually lost strength.
He just died standing there in the river.
After his death, the floating phosphorescent fungi gathered around, attaching to his legs, absorbing nutrients. Even without looking long, it was clear his bones too would become nourishment for the river.
The scene before him felt both real and surreal, not knowing if it was a trick from an instance to lure players or something that truly happened before.
After walking further, Xu Huo saw another player, presumably from Zone 013, who also hurried to scoop a large glow from the water and drank it. His reaction wasn’t as intense as the previous ordinary man, but within minutes, his condition visibly improved.
This player burst into laughter, quickly taking a few steps forward trying to grab another glow. Whatever he saw remained invisible to Xu Huo, just another fungus, yet unexpectedly, he failed to catch it because as he reached out, he suddenly vanished from the river.
Needless to say, this must represent someone who cleared the instance.
The river still had many people, or many illusions; some like the People of Zone 013 sought the Antidote Fungus to escape suffering, some died in the river, while others seemed to retrieve something they desired and cleared the instance.
Xu Huo didn’t know what those who cleared took away, but if it was real, it could be something left by Dr. Wu, perhaps the Perfect Potion, which indeed would delight players to the point of ecstasy.
Judging by these people’s situations, everyone seemed able to take only one thing from the river, and for those who hadn’t died yet, whether aware or not, they disappeared within a very short time.
Xu Huo watched the glowing fungi flowing by his feet, varying in size and type yet all fungi, but couldn’t discern anything more.
Walking ahead, the scene in the river began to repeat, so he stepped out and headed upstream along the bank. It was unclear how long he walked, when a deep pool emerged ahead in the river flow. The pool center was a profound, dark green, but amid it were vast glowing lights, unlike the previous floating stars in the water, formed by giant stalk-like columns made of large transparent bubbles.
Looking from the river surface wasn’t very clear, Xu Huo considered diving down but unexpectedly his body flipped over, suddenly awakening from a dream.
Upon opening his eyes, he found himself lying inside a phone booth, the booth was sideways and being carried swiftly by someone.
He put away his prop, adjusted his posture, and grabbed Tong Qi, who was rushing forward.
"Brother Xu, you’re awake!" Tong Qi looked at him with surprise and delight, then turned to shout at those chasing behind, "You’re doomed!"
Xu Huo knew someone was chasing them but before he could act, the players who saw him appear scrambled away, not pausing for a moment.
Neither Xu Huo nor Tong Qi could help but comment, "With that kind of courage, they dare to come kill?"
"And two more?" Xu Huo asked.
"Young Master Mo and his group are delaying other players," Tong Qi said angrily, "This group is truly despicable, leaving and then returning, seeing few people near the mall, they want to make a move."
"Let’s go back." Xu Huo picked up his "Towards the Destination."
"To rescue Young Master Mo and the others?"
"To kill."