I picked up a boyfriend in the infinite game

But Li Laosan refused to budge, repeatedly muttering, "I just want to live... I just want to live..."

His body convulsed violently as the ropes tightened, and his coarse cloth clothes were quickly stained red with the seeping blood. Dark red stains dripped down the hem of his clothes onto the dry grass, spreading into a small, dark patch.

Shi Sui squatted to the side, watching the bloodstains on Li Laosan's body increase, a nonchalant smile curving his lips, but he didn't mention fighting again.

He knew what Song Guicheng meant. Killing Li Laosan now would be like stirring up a hornet's nest. Who knew how many similar secrets the residents of this alley were hiding? If things really got out of hand, the few of them might not be able to escape unscathed.

Zhao Xiaoyun stood beside Chen Wenyu, her gaze falling on Li Laosan's bleeding wrist, the color of which was very similar to the color of her manicured nails. Her gaze then shifted to the corpse in the kang hole: the corpse, Li Laosan's silence, and the residents' unusual behavior in the morning all seemed to point to the same terrible answer.

Song Guicheng looked down at Li Laosan, gently rubbing his little finger. The heart label Chen Wenyu had mentioned flashed through his mind, as well as the bloody smell mixed with formaldehyde at the back door of the supply and marketing cooperative—was it a heart-pulling operation? Or rather, more than just a heart?

This guess sent a chill down his spine, but he didn't step forward immediately. Instead, he turned to Sun Zhida and said, "Brother Sun, could you please examine the body with the iron rod? Be careful."

Sun Zhida nodded, asked no further questions, and walked to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) with the iron rod in his hand.

He first bent down to examine the corpse. The body was still curled up, its bluish-black skin clinging tightly to the skeleton. From the outside, there was nothing unusual; there were no obvious wounds or signs of struggle, as if it were simply asleep. Yet, the thick, pungent stench of decay was emanating precisely from this corpse.

Chen Wenyu had already retreated to the window, holding the registration book. He stared intently at the three words "Li Laosan" on the registration book, his fingertips crumpling the pages.

Sun Zhida took a deep breath, held it to avoid inhaling too much of the putrid smell, and probed the corpse with an iron rod. The corpse was as soft as a puddle of mud, and he couldn't even touch the ribs.

How could there be no ribs?

He frowned, recalling his and Song Guicheng's speculation about digging out hearts at the back door of the supply and marketing cooperative. He aimed the tip of the iron rod at the corpse's chest and slowly jabbed it downwards.

At first, you could feel the resistance from the cloth and the decaying skin, but when the iron rod sank another half inch, suddenly with a "plop," the resistance disappeared. The iron rod seemed to have pierced into an empty shell, probing in without any obstruction.

His face darkened, and he slowly turned the iron rod, probing it to the side. From his chest to his abdomen, and then to his ribs, the iron rod touched nothing but empty air, without any resistance.

Sun Zhida tightened his wrist and probed the iron rod into the corpse's chest cavity again before slowly pulling it out.

The tip of the iron rod was covered with yellowed straw and damp soil, along with a few dark red marks, and smelled of decay. When it fell to the ground, the straw was still slightly curled.

“It’s empty inside,” Sun Zhida stood up, his voice filled with undisguised disgust. “Not just the heart area, the upper body is almost entirely empty, filled with straw and mud.”

As soon as he said that, the room fell silent instantly, as if all sound had been sucked out.

Li Laosan collapsed to the ground. Upon hearing Sun Zhida's words, his body suddenly stopped convulsing, like a deflated balloon. He knew his secret had been exposed, but he didn't utter a word. He simply turned his head and stared into the darkness of the corner.

Chen Wenyu bit his lip: "Empty? How could it be empty..."

Zhao Xiaoyun took two steps forward and cautiously peered into the kang (heated brick bed) hole. Sure enough, she saw a small hole in the chest area of ​​the corpse, exposed by the previous probing. Traces of straw and soil could be vaguely seen inside, and a few straws even fell out of the hole and landed at the bottom of the kang hole.

Song Guicheng didn't reply. He walked to the edge of the kang (heated brick bed) and looked down at the hollowed-out corpse.

Sunlight fell on the corpse's bluish-black skin, revealing straw peeking out from the holes in its clothes, mixed with rotting soil, emitting a nauseating stench.

He slowly revealed the common guess in everyone's mind: "This may be the reason why no one has died among the residents of the alley."

Shi Sui looked at Li Laosan on the ground, his eyes growing colder: "So this corpse was just an empty shell? Where are the real internal organs? Did this guy hide them?"

Upon hearing this, Li Laosan's body stiffened abruptly, his shoulders trembled slightly, but he still refused to utter a single word.

Seeing his rather principled demeanor, Shi Sui clicked his tongue and said, "He's useless now." He kicked the dry grass on the ground, his tone a little impatient, but he didn't mention killing him again.

Song Guicheng hummed in agreement: "Let's leave it. We don't know how many residents are involved or what roles they play. If we act now and alert other residents, we'll have no way out. Besides..." He paused, looking at Sun Zhida, "The Redemption Team's mission is to protect the residents. Even so, acting rashly would not comply with the mission rules and would be too risky."

Sun Zhida tightened his grip on the iron rod, his knuckles turning white. He leaned against the broken wooden table by the door, looking at Li Laosan lying on the ground like a puddle of mud, and felt a wave of nausea wash over him.

He has been in the Soul Tracing Game for a long time, witnessed life and death, killed ghosts and monsters, and saved people from disasters and protected people when he was a soldier.

The thought of protecting a "resident" who was hiding an empty shell of a corpse and, most likely, a bigger secret, made him feel disgusted. The memory of the residents' numb faces made him want to turn around and leave this wretched place immediately.

“Protecting people like that…” Sun Zhida muttered under his breath, his voice filled with barely concealed disgust, “I feel like throwing up.”

Zhao Xiaoyun looked at Song Guicheng: "So what do we do now? We can't just stay here forever."

Song Guicheng looked up at the window. The sun was already setting in the west, and a few sporadic coughs could be heard from the alley. He looked away and focused on Li Laosan: "Just loosen his grip halfway, don't let him escape. Let's leave here first and go to the clinic to meet up with Lin Caiwen and the others to consolidate the clues."

Shi Sui nodded. Although reluctant, he stepped forward and untied some of the ropes binding Li Laosan, leaving only the wrists and ankles bound, enough for him to move around but not enough to escape the house.

Sun Zhida then went to the edge of the kang (heated brick bed), covered the body again with a rag, and pressed the wooden board back down, as if it had never been moved. However, the smell of decay and blood in the air could not be masked.

The group filed out, with Zhao Xiaoyun being the last to leave. Before closing the door, she glanced back and saw Li Laosan still slumped on the ground, staring blankly at the ceiling like a soulless puppet.

She sighed softly, turned around and closed the wooden door, locking the room that held the secret back into the shadows of the alley.