Chapter 1595: Midsummer Night Star River
"There's an instance site nearby," Xu Huo warned Chi Xian.
Without a ticket, entering a fixed instance would prevent seeing the game content, and they could only leave once the instance ended.
"About where?" Chi Xian asked, turning his head.
Xu Huo pointed in the direction the arrow indicated, but his gaze suddenly paused.
The arrow pointed to the woods on the right. They had come from another direction. It was now afternoon, and no fog had risen in the nearby areas, except for the woods on the right, where a white mist was rising, visibly climbing and spreading toward the city.
Chi Xian also noticed it and was about to say something when they saw the people still active in the city voluntarily returning indoors or finding a nearby spot to lie down and close their eyes.
Both sensed something was wrong and prepared to flee, but when they turned around, they found that in the blink of an eye, a thin layer of white mist had risen over every visible area, including where they stood.
Wearing protective suits, they weren't worried about the mist being toxic, nor did any player take the opportunity to ambush them. But just as the mist completely covered the city and immersed everything around them in grayish white, Xu Huo received a game notification:
[Player Passerby A has entered Midsummer Night Star River, default participating in C-level instance "Another Choice."]
[Background Introduction: This is a legendary city, said to have never been seen in its true form. The only certainty is that whenever the white mist descends, it silently appears in some unfixed location, revealing its hazy and mysterious beauty.]
[Some call it a mirage, while others believe it's a dreamland fairyland, because according to those who have been here, once you enter this white mysterious world, you can't help but fall into a deep sleep. As the sleep gradually lengthens, various strange visions appear in dreams, and these visions are often what the person most desires in their heart.]
[Personal desires and dreams are hard to verify. However, there was once a dying person who entered this white world with the hope of survival. When he reappeared, he was truly restored to normal. This incident became a legend, with countless seekers. In the end, this person only said that on the verge of death, he saw a summer star river and made a wish to it, eventually returning alive to the real world.]
[Such a mysterious and miraculous experience drove countless desperate people threatened by death to brave the white world. After successive real cases of resurrection from the dead, this white world gradually became known as "Midsummer Night Star River," and through word of mouth, it grew even more magical and omnipotent, not only capable of reviving the dead but also fulfilling anyone's any wish.]
[More and more people came seeking it, but Midsummer Night Star River never reappeared.]
[Instance Task: Find Midsummer Night Star River.]
[Instance Time: Ten days.]
People appeared nearby, as if they had suddenly materialized. Centered around Xu Huo and Chi Xian, not only people but also the surrounding buildings and scenery were rapidly changing. The previous city vanished, replaced by a cluster of buildings with a completely different style. Although some growing fungi could still be seen, they were far fewer than before, and there was no fungal dust like powder floating in the air.
As the two fully integrated into this world, several players flashed into their vicinity. The leader was a man around fifty, who stepped forward and said, "You're ticket players too, right? We arrived two days earlier than you. This place is eerie—people go missing inexplicably every day. How about we travel together?"
He pointed to the others beside him, "These are all partners I met after entering the instance."
Xu Huo and Chi Xian exchanged a glance and nodded solemnly.
"Perfect timing, since we're unfamiliar with the area. You've been here two days—what's the situation?" Xu Huo asked.
The leading man called himself Bian Lu. He sighed before saying, "It should be a separate instance world. I don't know which district it belongs to. It's very different from the scenery of District 013. The fungi you see were actually brought in later by people from District 013, not native to this place."
Anyone with eyes could see that. The instance world appearing in the real world sounded more like a random instance.
The group walked forward as they talked. Although the buildings here were relatively well-preserved, they were dilapidated from years of neglect. Many daily necessities indicated that no one had lived here for a long time. Occasional fresh traces were left by players and people from District 013 who had entered later.
Not far ahead, they saw a person covered in pus-filled blisters sleeping inside a shop by the street.
"Someone else has fallen asleep," Chi Xian said, not too loudly.
Xu Huo looked at Bian Lu, who said matter-of-factly, "That's just the environment here. People can't help but fall into a daze. I suspect it's related to the white mist. Wearing protective suits is fine."
"Who knows what sweet dreams they're having."
"But these people from District 013 are doomed anyway. Dying in their sleep isn't bad. As for us players, we don't dare sleep at all."
"Is that so?" Xu Huo smiled faintly. "Regarding the instance task, have you made any progress?"
Bian Lu said with frustration, "Everyone who comes here is looking for Midsummer Night Star River... Anyway, I haven't seen anyone find it."
Xu Huo pointed at the sleeping person nearby, "Maybe they can find it in their dreams. After all, dreams have everything."
"Brother Xu sure has a sense of humor."
Sense of humor aside, these few people weren't ticket players, so Xu Huo lost interest in them.
"You mentioned earlier that people who enter go missing for no reason. What's that about?" Chi Xian asked calmly.
"You've seen this mist too. I don't know if there's some special force at play, but people who come here fall asleep easily." Bian Lu explained the difference between "falling asleep easily" and "sleeping to death." "Many people are hard to wake up once they're asleep, like the one we just saw. We're wearing protective suits, so we do wake up with noise, but it's deeper than usual. The day before yesterday, I slept until morning and woke up to find one person missing from the room, with no signs of a struggle."
"Could he have left on his own?" Xu Huo speculated.
Bian Lu's companion showed impatience, "Why would someone abandon their companions for no reason? In such a dangerous place, what benefit is there in going alone?"
Xu Huo turned his head and stared fixedly at the other person until they thought he was deliberately provoking them and couldn't hold back anymore, then said, "Maybe he found a clue to Midsummer Night Star River and wanted to go alone?"
"Midsummer Night Star River is so hard to find, and clues aren't something everyone can discover. If you accidentally found a sign, would you tell others?"
(Chapter End) Source:/txt/35960/32057037