Infinite: Dawn Game

Uncle Gong: "..."

He looked around at the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers and felt a pang of sympathy for Yu Shijiu.

That's true. If you had money, why would you travel to such a remote place?

Because many tourists still had luggage to collect, the driver couldn't leave even if he wanted to hurry, and could only reluctantly lean against the car door and urge them on.

The driver, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, would occasionally glance at Yu Shijiu, who was with Uncle Gong, and quickly lower his head when the latter looked at him with a puzzled expression.

This old man is really brave, daring to walk with a "murderer," isn't he afraid of being stabbed to death on the way...?

Soon, all the tourists had taken their belongings and stood in the open space in front of Changsheng Village.

It's too early now; there's no one at the entrance of Changsheng Village. On the huge, dark stone tablet, the three characters "Changsheng Village" are written squarely in red paint.

The NPCs, who were actually tourists, weren't in a hurry. They chatted with their companions and took turns standing in front of the stone tablet to check in, occasionally giving pointers on poses and angles.

Meanwhile, some of the "tourists" who occasionally chatted quietly and stared at the empty village entrance showed little of the excitement one would expect from tourists.

It's a player.

Yu Shijiu glanced around and roughly determined that there were nearly twenty players in the open space in front of him, not including those players who were likely to be hiding more deeply.

There are quite a lot of players, so I guess quite a few will die eventually.

Dawn Games' malice has always been out in the open.

As the morning light grew stronger, a few slightly heavy footsteps finally echoed from the empty village entrance.

The temperature was not high in the early morning. Apart from the faint smell of moisture in the air, there was also a strange, thin white mist, hazy and indistinct, as if a veil had been drawn over it.

"Cough-cough-"

Accompanied by the distinctive coughing sound of phlegm stuck in the throat of the elderly, several noticeably hunched figures appeared at the entrance of Changsheng Village.

The white mist gradually dissipated, revealing the old man's face, wrinkled like tree bark, with deep, dark creases in every wrinkle.

He seemed to be in good spirits, and his eyes lit up noticeably when he saw a number of people looking over from the open space.

"We have been poor in our hospitality!"

The old man strode forward with a strength that was completely at odds with his appearance, and gave a warm smile to the "tourists" who were looking on curiously from the open space.

"I am the village chief of Changsheng Village. Yesterday, everyone in our village stayed up all night cleaning the village to welcome our guests. Alas, we woke up late..."

The village chief clapped his hands as he spoke, then stepped forward and shook hands with the "tourist" closest to him.

"Please don't take offense! There aren't many young people left in our village. As people get older, they become less agile and slow. It's tough!"

As luck would have it, this "tourist" was a player, and a girl who looked rather timid.

The girl was probably in her early twenties, with a sallow complexion and obvious dark circles under her eyes. She was probably a new player and had been staying up late for several nights, which resulted in her looking exhausted and unwell in the game.

She looked a little scared, but knew she couldn't pull her hand away, so she could only force a smile despite her fear.

"Um, that village chief," she tried to pull her hand back subtly, but couldn't.

"Shall we find a place to stay tonight?"

The female player didn't dare to force it, and could only watch as the village chief squinted and approached her, her legs trembling with fear.

How come she was chosen by the NPC...?

But soon, the female players changed their minds.

As the white mist dissipated, the figure following behind the village chief also raised his head.

Around the same age as the village chief, with wrinkled faces, hunched backs, gray hair, and cloudy eyes, these elderly people, regardless of gender, all quickly walked up to the "tourists" at the village entrance, randomly selected one person, shook their hand, and began to "apologize."

The person holding Yu Shijiu's wrist was an elderly woman whose eyesight was clearly failing.

The old lady seemed to be the oldest among the group of elderly people. The skin around her eyes had sagged due to aging, and every time she looked up, her eyes, which were covered by some kind of grayish-white film, would blink, revealing an indescribable coldness.

“Little girl,” the old lady said, holding Yu Shijiu’s hand. Perhaps she couldn’t see clearly anymore, but she could feel that the frame in her hand was small and the skin was tender. She also couldn’t see that the person was very tall, so she subconsciously assumed that Yu Shijiu was a girl.

"Let's stay at Grandma's house. Grandma cleaned it so well last night, she even wiped the crevices clean!"

As she spoke, the old lady straightened up and coughed:

"Don't let Grandma's age fool you, she's got a strong body. These past few days while you've been traveling, I've made sure to give you a different meal every day, and every single one of them is delicious!"

Yu Shijiu was quite tempted. He wasn't afraid at all, and instead directly took the old lady's hand.

The old man's palms were rough and dry, with calluses on his palms scratching against his skin, causing a slight itch.

Yu Shijiu smiled and said, "Really, Grandma? Does that mean I can have whatever I want to eat?"

Upon hearing his voice, the old lady's kind smile paused almost imperceptibly.

Why does it sound a bit like a male voice?

The old lady assumed it was just her hearing failing due to her age, and since the "young lady" in front of her spoke in a sweet tone, she nodded in agreement.

"Of course! Grandma can cook anything. Whatever you want to eat, Grandma will make it for you!"

Yu Shijiu was even more moved by those few words. He turned his head to look at Uncle Gong, who was standing silently to the side, and blinked:

"Uncle Gong, I like this grandma. Why don't we go stay at her house?"

As Yu Shijiu turned his head, the old lady's wrinkles deepened on her aged face, and her hazy, gray eyes, with drooping eyelids, looked in the direction of Uncle Gong, as if observing whether the other person was male or female.

Uncle Gong stood to the side, pulling his suitcase. He looked at the old lady opposite him, shook his head with a smile.

"I won't go. I still need to go find my daughter. I'll see where she wants me to stay and then I'll think about it."

Yu Shijiu gave an "oh," then turned to look at the old lady who seemed to be looking at something, and smiled even more broadly.

"Then I'll go stay at Grandma's house by myself. Will there be anything good to eat today? Oh, by the way, can I bring my cat with me?"

The old lady clearly hadn't quite grasped the situation yet. She nodded subconsciously and said with a smile:

"Of course! This morning Grandma made some fresh meat buns and steamed bread—wait, cat?"

“Yeah,” Yu Shijiu turned his head and called out to Feifei, who was still playing with the foxtail grass not far away:

"Feifei! Come over and say hello to Grandma."

The old lady's eyesight was poor, but from a distance she saw a huge creature running towards her, its orange fur billowing behind it, enormous, like a tiger pouncing on its prey.

The old lady's heart skipped a beat, and she almost fell, but Yu Shijiu caught her in time.

“And Grandma,” Yu Shijiu said slowly and clearly:

"I'm not a little girl."

"I'm a young man."