Infinite: Dawn Game

At the entrance to Liu Laosan's courtyard.

When Lin Feng returned to the village chief Liu Laosan's house, the sun was shining brightly, and the weather, which should have been cool, was starting to feel hot.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead, recalling the clues she had obtained from the old woman, Anli.

If the souls within the bodies of all the elderly in the entire Longevity Village are not compatible... she now has an even more terrifying suspicion.

If the body is old, must the soul also be old?

Just thinking about this possibility sent a chill down Lin Feng's spine.

What would it feel like to have a young soul stuffed into an old, decrepit body?

She/He was a tourist on vacation, perhaps only a teenager, perhaps in their early twenties... in the prime of their lives, but because they simply chose the wrong travel destination, they were selected and stuffed into a body that was nearing its end...

This possibility is terrifying.

It's even more terrifying than death itself.

No one thinks about whether they will grow old overnight. The flow of time is the way of nature, but this kind of "substitute" that is similar to possession... will only make these young tourists feel utterly desperate.

They might try to kill themselves... or they might not even be able to die.

Lin Feng's hand, which was hanging by her side, suddenly trembled.

She recalled certain claims about earthworms, such as that earthworms don't actually die; even if cut in two, they just need time to heal and "revive"...

What should you do if you can't die but can only live a life that is unrecognizable?

Those young people who are forcibly stuffed into the bodies of the elderly will go insane. Even the kindest and gentlest people will go mad after years of being neither alive nor dead.

Lin Feng was so shocked by her own guess that her heart started racing.

If my guesses are all true, wouldn't that mean—

"what?"

Liu Laosan's voice came from behind Lin Feng.

Why are you standing here and not leaving, sir?

Liu Laosan, the only local resident of Changsheng Village, is now standing behind Lin Feng.

For a moment, Lin Feng had the illusion that she couldn't breathe. She took a deep breath and turned around abruptly when Liu Laosan reached out to touch her.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Lin Feng's forehead and onto the corner of her mouth.

It's a little bitter and a little cool.

Lin Feng pursed her lips, suppressing her fear, and tried her best to answer Liu Laosan's questions normally:

"I'm a little tired," Lin Feng said. "I just stood at the door and rested for a while."

It's a lie so shallow it's laughable.

But Liu Laosan believed it anyway.

He first patted Lin Feng's arm worriedly, then quickly opened the courtyard gate and walked inside:

"Tired? If you're tired, you can't stand here in the sun any longer. You might get heatstroke, oh dear, that would be awful..."

Liu Laosan spoke quickly, and something seemed to jump in the bag he was carrying.

Lin Feng suppressed her fear and looked down at the bag in Liu Laosan's hand.

Seemingly noticing Lin Feng's gaze, Liu Laosan chuckled and raised the plastic bag in his hand, saying with a smile:

"I just went fishing for a while, and the fish is still very fresh! Please wait a little longer, sir! I'll go and make you some fish soup! The fish soup in Changsheng Village is always delicious!"

Just as Liu Laosan was about to leave, Lin Feng suddenly called out to him.

Liu Laosan turned around somewhat blankly, and before he could speak, Lin Feng pointed somewhat embarrassedly to the black plastic bag he was carrying.

"I've never seen any live fish in the city before. May I take a look?"

After saying that, Lin Feng felt her cheeks getting hot.

It shouldn't be exposed.

"Haha, what's the big deal!"

Old Liu still believed it. He enthusiastically opened the plastic bag in his hand and said with a smile:

"Our grass carp grow up eating insects! The meat is tender and plump! It's nothing like those fish food and growth hormones you city people use to feed them! They taste absolutely delicious!"

With the sound of the plastic bag ripping, Liu Laosan tore a hole in the black plastic.

Inside the plastic bag, a large grass carp, nearly fifty centimeters long, stared at Lin Feng with its wide-open eyes. It seemed to be suffocating, the scales on either side of its gills opening and closing constantly, as if it were about to die.

Lin Feng met the fish's gaze for a moment, then slowly moved her eyes to its wide-open mouth.

The grass carp had a thin, round, purplish-red ring drooping from its mouth.

After these two days of experience, Lin Feng immediately recognized that the thing next to the fish's mouth was an earthworm.

Earthworms can indeed be used for fishing, and most fishing enthusiasts use earthworms... Lin Feng could understand that, but because of the "importance" of earthworms to Changsheng Village, she inevitably overthought it.

For example, is the earthworm that the grass carp is holding in its mouth one of those blood-sucking earthworms in her room?

Thinking of this, Lin Fengming's mood, which had just improved a little, instantly crumbled, and her stomach churned violently.

Liu Laosan was still enthusiastically explaining how he would make soup later:

"The grass carp soup is so white. I'll simmer it a little longer and add some scallions before serving. Mmm, the taste is just amazing!"

Lin Feng, sitting opposite him, had a pale face. She forced herself to suppress the urge to vomit and slowly let out a breath.

"Then thank you very much, Village Chief," Lin Feng said unconsciously, glancing at the door not far away.

"I'm a little tired, I'll go back to my room and rest for a while."

Liu Laosan didn't insist and nodded happily, "Okay, okay, you go and rest first, and I'll call you to eat when it's ready."

"Thank you, village chief."

Lin Feng thanked him politely and then walked towards the room that Liu Laosan had prepared for her.

Even as she approached the door, Lin Feng could still feel Liu Laosan's gaze fixed on her from behind.

Like the sticky liquid flowing from an earthworm, it's wet and viscous, and difficult to dissipate.

Only after Lin Feng entered the room and closed the wooden door to block out the gaze that was clinging to her did she lean weakly against the door, panting.

Since Liu Laosan is the only local villager in Changsheng Village, where did all the other villagers go?

Even within the illusion, the number of villagers remained large...

Courtyard entrance.

Liu Laosan stood by the courtyard. The smile on his face gradually disappeared after Lin Feng's figure vanished behind the door, finally settling into a strange and indifferent state.

The fish in the plastic bag suddenly became active again.

Liu Laosan looked down at the grass carp in the plastic bag, which was wriggling and trying to jump out with an earthworm in its mouth. Suddenly, he reached out and slapped the tail of the earthworm hanging near the grass carp's mouth.

As Liu Laosan pulled the entire earthworm out, the grass carp's body shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye, looking particularly eerie.

The grass carp seemed to have its life force drained away, its eyes instantly becoming lifeless.