Infinite: Dawn Game

"Oh, oh, so you want me to serve the dishes?" The old lady hurriedly carried the dishes down and whispered:

"Look at my eyes, sigh, I'm really getting old, I can't see things clearly anymore..."

Fatty stopped barking.

It squinted at the old woman's eyes, and seemed to briefly see a small bulge that quickly receded, reminding it of the old woman's strange behavior in the kitchen earlier.

"Meow--"

Feifei barked impatiently and pawed at the muddy ground several times. It only calmed down when it saw Yu Shijiu carrying two plates of food.

Yu Shijiu smiled. These dishes were made under his supervision. Apart from the slightly bizarre process of "teaching how to start a fire" and the expired seasonings, the rest of the process was completely natural and pollution-free.

Well, earthworms can loosen the soil and also be used as bait for fishing, so they are essentially "beneficial insects".

Yu Shijiu bent down to put the dishes on the table, and casually reached out to pet the chubby dog ​​that meowed whenever it saw him.

"Good boy/girl, Grandma and I will go and bring the rice cooker over so we can eat."

The old lady who had been silent all along suddenly looked up.

"Lift, lift the pot?"

The old lady could hardly believe her ears.

Does it mean we should take the pot off the stove?

Yu Shijiu turned his head to look at her and said matter-of-factly:

"Yeah, otherwise, are we supposed to finish one bowl and run to get more rice?"

The old woman said, "...That's how they run in the countryside."

"Huh?" Yu Shijiu was a little surprised and exclaimed sincerely, "This is too tiring! The food is getting cold!"

Before the old lady could explain to him that he shouldn't touch the pots on the stove, Yu Shijiu turned around unhappily to get a small stool, muttering to himself:

"What kind of tourist area is this? We have to go so far just to get a meal..."

The elderly woman at the "tourist attraction" who was criticized: "..."

"You can't lift the pot, but you can bring a bowl to put the rice over there."

The old lady finally backed down. She looked into Yu Shijiu's eyes, took a step back, and prepared to go to the kitchen.

"and many more."

Yu Shijiu spoke up to stop the old lady, smiling as he said:

"Grandma, you're too old, you should sit down first."

Without waiting for the old lady's response, he strode towards the door, bumping into the already dilapidated wooden door as he walked too fast, causing it to creak and shake.

old lady:"……"

She stared at the wooden door for a while, and just as she was about to continue what she hadn't finished, she turned around and met a pair of eyes that were entirely dark green.

Fatty stared at her warily, its tail standing tall behind it, looking like a yellow stick ready to be pulled out at any moment under the dim yellow light.

old lady:"……"

She remained silent for a long time after that.

Just then, several footsteps, some deep and some shallow, came from outside the wooden door.

The old woman suddenly turned her head, and her neck cracked as she twisted rapidly.

The wooden door, which was already half-open, was pushed open. Zhao Xuan, who was in the lead, frowned slightly as he looked at the dilapidated decorations inside the house. Then he looked at the old lady who was slowly walking towards them.

The old lady's eyes were very bright, even when covered by a layer of grayish-white veil, they were still bright, like the kind of light that shines when someone is eyeing food or prey.

Zhao Xuan felt a little uncomfortable meeting that gaze. He dodged the old lady's outstretched hand, his tone of voice belying a politeness completely at odds with his actions:

"Grandma, we met this morning. May I come over for a meal?"

The old lady was overjoyed and didn't care that Zhao Xuan was avoiding her hand, nodding hurriedly:

"Alright, alright, come on, child, sit down, sit down. I'll go find two more stools..."

As she chattered on and on, she looked up at Qi Tie and Mu Gui standing by the door and warmly reached out to pull them towards her.

"Hey you two, don't stand there, sit down and eat! It's freshly cooked and piping hot!"

Qi Tie was still somewhat shaken from the fright he had just experienced. Hearing this, he nodded blankly and walked into the house.

Mu Gui nodded in agreement, and then, just like Zhao Xuan, he subtly dodged the old lady's hand and walked into the house with a pale face.

As Mu Gui passed by the old lady, he felt, perhaps it was just his imagination, that she was looking at Qi Tie.

"Child, did you go to the ancestral hall?"

The old lady suddenly spoke up.

Mu Gui's body stiffened.

Zhao Xuan, who had already sat down on a stool, frowned and turned around to respond when he saw the old lady reach out and pull the somewhat dazed Qi Tie back, her smile both kind and eerie:

"Answer your grandmother, child?"

"I, I, I..."

Qi Tie's forehead was covered in cold sweat, which rolled down his chin and onto his clothes. He belatedly realized that the old lady was talking to him, and in a panic, he turned his head to look at Zhao Xuan.

Zhao Xuan glanced at him coldly, his gaze sharp and icy.

You idiot! How could the NPCs discover you'd been to the ancestral hall the moment you met them?!

Seeing that Zhao Xuan had no intention of helping him out of the predicament, Qi Tie subconsciously looked at Mu Gui again.

But Mu Gui didn't notice his gaze; he was slowly exhaling a breath of stale air.

I was terrified! I thought the old lady was calling for me...

In just a short while, the old lady tightened her grip on Qi Tie's hand.

The creaking sound of bones being squeezed with tremendous force was clearly audible in the silent room. With a sharp pain in his wrist, Qi Tie blurted out:

"Yes, I've been there! I went in and looked around, no, I meant I visited!"

Upon hearing this, the old lady immediately loosened her grip.

She patted Qi Tie's hand happily:

"Oh, so what if we're already here? What's there to be embarrassed about? Everyone's here to experience the local customs and culture of Changsheng Village. It's just an ancestral hall..."

The old lady regained her previous kind expression, took Qi Tie's hand, walked to the table, bent down, and dragged out a stool, saying:

"Come on, come on, have a seat first. We can eat once everyone is here."

Are all the people here?

Zhao Xuan glanced at Mu Gui, who was bending down to pick up a stool and walking over by the door, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Besides them, who else—

"Meow!!!"

Fatty, who had been silently hiding in the corner by the wall after Zhao Xuan and the others appeared, suddenly barked and then ran quickly toward the wooden door as Zhao Xuan and the others' pupils shrank.

Zhao Xuan's breath caught in his throat when he saw the enormous orange cat, and he instinctively stood up and looked out the wooden door.

The presence of this chubby orange cat means that Lu Chusheng and Yu Shijiu are both here.

The next second, Microsoft's clear voice rang out from outside the door:

"Wow, Fatty, you were waiting for me at the door! Were you hungry? No problem, I brought lots and lots of fragrant white rice!"

The wooden door opened again, and Yu Shijiu, carrying two full bowls of rice, smiled and looked into the room, meeting the gaze of Zhao Xuan, who had stood up.

Realizing that someone was trying to take his food, Yu Shijiu's smile vanished instantly.