Chapter 25
The bright moonlight was obscured by the towering trees surrounding the garden, with only scattered specks of light filtering through the gaps in the leaves to land on the ground. They intermingled with the dim lamplight, creating a mosaic of shadows in varying shades.
Zhao Ziming crouched under a streetlight, his hands rapidly pulling things out.
“These are yours, and I’ll take this.”
He carefully counted the number of torches, then pulled out several lighters from his pocket and handed them to the others.
Xu Meng swallowed as she looked at the items on the ground, pointing to one of them and asking cautiously, “Where did you get this?”
Under the streetlight was a small, inconspicuous mound of dirt, which surprisingly concealed a full set of tools—
Shovels, cleavers, torches, and ropes. There were even two scythes for cutting grass, which looked like they had been carefully sharpened. The sharp blades reflected a cold glint under the lamplight, making Xu Meng’s heart pound.
Jiang Liu was weighing a scythe in her hand. Hearing the question, she answered casually, “Didn’t Zhao Ziming go out for a bit before dinner?”
She seemed completely unsurprised. She pulled out two bottles from the pocket of her oversized hoodie, opened the caps, and began pouring the contents onto the torches.
Zhang Xiaochen sniffed the air; it smelled like cooking oil from the kitchen.
He was completely baffled, then suddenly slapped his forehead as he realized. “So you two planned this all along?”
Zhao Ziming sneered and made a face at him. “I never fight a battle I’m not prepared for.”
Zhang Xiaochen pouted, too lazy to listen to his bragging. He quickly sidled up to Jiang Liu and patted her. “When did you plan this? Didn’t you say we were staying out tonight? Where’s the place you found?”
He had thought Jiang Liu was just getting these things for self-defense, but he never expected—
Jiang Liu stuffed a torch into his arms, her fox-like eyes smiling but not quite smiling. “Right here. The garden is so big, you’re worried we won’t have a place to sleep?”
Zhang Xiaochen jumped three feet in the air. His gaze quickly swept over the plants not far away, feeling an eerie chill, as if countless pairs of eyes were staring at him from the shadows. He stammered, “Are you, are you kidding me?!”
Coming to a place like this in the middle of the night—wasn’t that just asking for death?!
The few potted plants from last night had already given them a hell of a time. If all the flowers in this place came to life, they wouldn’t even have a chance to fight back before being devoured, leaving not even bone fragments behind, right??
The thought of that scene made a cold sweat break out on Zhang Xiaochen’s forehead. He stumbled back three steps, his expression hesitant.
Jiang Liu was a little puzzled. “Weren’t you the one who kept wanting to save Cheng Ji?”
Zhang Xiaochen’s face was pale, his hands holding the torch already trembling slightly. “But we can’t, we can’t…”
Jiang Liu was organizing the ropes with Zhao Ziming. Hearing him, her movements slowed. She looked at his terrified expression and pursed her lips, as if in thought.
After a long moment, she waved the long rope in her hand. “Once we’ve set up, you take Xu Meng and Cheng Da and stay inside. Don’t come out. Just protect yourselves.”
Zhang Xiaochen’s gaze followed the movement of the rope in her hand. Only then did he notice that it wasn’t an ordinary rope; it was at least twice as thick as a normal one and had a pungent smell of unknown origin.
The two of them finished organizing the rope, and Zhao Ziming quickly ducked into the depths of the garden, pushing out an electric tricycle.
Jiang Liu hoisted Cheng Da onto the tricycle and then waved to the other two. “Get on!”
Zhang Xiaochen and Xu Meng were originally a bit scared, but in just a short while, the two of them had produced a pile of things as if by magic, leaving their brains completely shut down and unable to think.
When Jiang Liu called out to them, the two stared at each other blankly, then scrambled onto the tricycle. As Zhao Ziming twisted the throttle, the little vehicle weaved through the flowerbeds, heading straight for the children’s playground.
Zhao Ziming’s driving path was very strange. The narrower and more difficult the path, the deeper he drove into it, nearly causing the people in the back to get scraped several times.
As for Jiang Liu—
From the moment she got on, she had tossed the rope into a flowerbed and continuously let it out along their route.
Watching their actions, Zhang Xiaochen finally had a flash of insight. “You’re not going to burn down the whole garden, are you?”
This was a huge undertaking. If a fire really started in such a large place, not just them, but the entire town would be unable to escape.
Jiang Liu’s movements didn’t stop. She grinned. “Not quite. We’re just leaving ourselves a way out.”
The electric tricycle moved unimpeded on the deserted night road. The wind howled past their ears, whipping Jiang Liu’s half-tied long hair into a frenzy in the air, revealing her flawless face to everyone.
Even though she was engaged in a dangerous and momentous task, her eyes were filled with light, and the corners of her lips were raised high, a hint of barely perceptible anticipation in her expression.
Zhao Ziming rode at full speed in the front, clearly in a good mood. He hummed a tune that was carried away by the wind, not like he was heading to his death, but more like he was on an outing.
Infected by their mood, his fear gradually subsided, and he even felt a surge of excitement.
After a wild ride, the electric tricycle came to a screeching halt at the children’s playground with a beautiful sharp turn.
“Wake Cheng Da up and give him something to eat. You two stay up here for now.”
Jiang Liu fumbled in her clothes and tossed a piece of bread to Xu Meng.
In truth, she didn’t need so many people, but she didn’t feel safe leaving the two of them in a house full of potted plants, so she had to bring them along.
Aside from her initial surprise, Xu Meng hadn’t said much throughout the journey and still looked listless.
Jiang Liu patted her on the shoulder and added another comforting word, “Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
She glanced meaningfully at Xu Meng’s left arm.
Compared to Cheng Da’s bellflower, her and Xu Meng’s totems didn’t seem to have any offensive power. But it was after that gardenia flower appeared that Xu Meng had become so silent.
Jiang Liu had a rough idea, but it wasn’t convenient to say it out loud right now. She could only use words to reassure her.
Her voice, though not gentle, inexplicably carried a certain strength. It fell on Xu Meng’s ears like a spring breeze, dispelling some of the chill from her body.
She stared blankly at those bright eyes and, after a long moment, nodded forcefully. “Yes, I believe you!”
A faint smile flickered across Jiang Liu’s eyes as she reached out and pulled Zhang Xiaochen off the tricycle.
“Go chop up the wooden huts and make a circle.”
Zhang Xiaochen gripped his scythe tightly, took a deep breath, and nodded without hesitation before charging toward the abandoned wooden huts.
He had figured it out. Hiding was not a solution.
Besides, he had long been fed up with these things. Burning them all down would be much more satisfying!
The thought of that scene filled him with strength, and he swung the scythe with a whooshing sound.
Watching his almost fiery movements, Jiang Liu clicked her tongue and shook her head, then went with Zhao Ziming to a spot not far away—the small pit Cheng Da had dug in the evening.
Zhao Ziming was carrying a shovel and observing the surroundings. When he saw her approach, he grinned. “You’ve got some serious guts, thinking of a method like this.”
It seemed like he and Jiang Liu had planned it together, but only he knew that in reality, everything was prepared according to Jiang Liu’s instructions.
He was at most an errand boy, sneaking into someone’s house in the middle of the night to steal some tools.
Jiang Liu raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got guts too, daring to follow me even when you know it’s dangerous.”
Zhao Ziming shrugged, a hint of indescribable gloom in his eyes. This emotion flashed by, and Jiang Liu saw it, but she didn’t press the issue.
Aside from an unlucky person like her who had stumbled into the game by mistake, everyone who came here probably had a wish.
She stretched her muscles and thought idly.
So what was her wish?
Her thoughts gradually drifted away, and those faint memories resurfaced in her mind.
Growing up without a care in the world, living life by the book—what was missing?
A figure suddenly flashed in her mind. Her stretching motion paused, and a hint of confusion appeared in her eyes.
Looking at Zhao Ziming, who was squatting on the ground pondering something, Jiang Liu cleared her throat. “I remember you said you were on good terms with a high-level NPC, right?”
“Yeah, Big Brother Gao is a great guy, and he’s been looking out for me,” Zhao Ziming said smugly. Even in this eerie wasteland, he couldn’t hide his excitement when talking about Big Brother Gao.
Jiang Liu sat down on the ground, one hand supporting her, and spoke as if to herself, “Were they once players too?”
Not expecting her to suddenly bring this up, Zhao Ziming’s excitement waned, and he couldn’t help but scratch his head. “Probably… not, right? Why do you ask?”
Jiang Liu shook her head without speaking, just silently looking at the sky, a slightly oppressive mood surrounding her that made Zhao Ziming feel uneasy.
In the two days he had known her, this was the first time he had seen Jiang Liu with such an expression.
The area around the playground was open and desolate. The streetlights were gone, but there was a crescent moon.
He followed Jiang Liu’s gaze. The moon hung inverted in the sky, its light soft and gentle, like a person’s calm and soothing gaze.
The two of them watched in silence for a long time before Zhao Ziming suddenly broke the quiet.
He turned to look at Jiang Liu. “Why did you enter the game?”
Jiang Liu was silent, just shaking her head slightly.
Zhao Ziming hadn’t expected her to answer. He answered his own question, his tone a little melancholic, “I want to find my older brother.”
Jiang Liu’s expression flickered. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly caught a strange sound.
It was like something was rustling, crawling, and tentatively poking at the wrist of the hand she had on the ground.
Her body instantly tensed. She shot a look at Zhao Ziming, and the two of them leaped to their feet without hesitation. Jiang Liu, like a flexible snake, bent down, picked up her scythe, and swung it at the ground.
The blade met with resistance, and something splattered out along with her movement, dripping onto her arm. Looking down in the moonlight, she saw it was a light green liquid.
“Get over here! They’re alive!”
Not far away, Zhang Xiaochen stood on the outskirts of the playground, waving a torch high in his hand. The flame flickered with his movements, a sight that made Jiang Liu want to laugh.
Zhang Xiaochen was furious. What time was it for her to be in the mood to laugh?
Looking around, they were at some point surrounded by a writhing mass of plants, each twisting its enormous body, like a chaotic dance of demons.
“Stay over there and don’t move!”
Jiang Liu shouted with a powerful voice and charged forward, scythe in hand.
The morning glory in front of her was twice her height, its rapidly darting leaves twisting as flexibly as snakes, about to whip her.
In a flash—
Jiang Liu dodged with an extremely strange posture. The leaf, unable to stop in time, slammed into the ground where she had just been standing. Dust flew everywhere, and when it settled, a deep trench was revealed.
Zhang Xiaochen broke out in a cold sweat for Jiang Liu. Before he could react, he saw Zhao Ziming charge forward with a shovel and start digging at the trench.
His word of caution was stuck in his throat, and he stared blankly at the scene before him, his mouth agape.
You can play like this???