Chapter 1632: Walking in the River
These people seemed unable to see anyone other than themselves, slowly walking in the river. Most of them were in poor spirits, especially the ordinary people, swaying as if they might collapse at any moment.
In fact, some did fall. The river was not deep, but they never stood up again. After soaking in the water for a while, their bodies turned into powder and disappeared with the current.
These were the dead.
Among the living, some recognized the Star River, and some did not. When both body and spirit were pushed to their limits, ordinary people would hardly have much interest in the fluorescence beneath their feet. So those who did not recognize the Star River simply walked forward blankly, occasionally stopping to drink the river water.
But those who recognized the Star River were different. They would reach out to scoop up the fluorescent light in the water, then pour it into their mouths or sprinkle it over their bodies. Clearly, they knew the legend of "Midsummer Night Star River" and had heard that those who saw the Star River could not only revive from a near-death state but also have all the fungi on their bodies completely cleansed.
Xu Huo walked forward with the crowd, watching their actions. A few people who had scooped up river water to pour over themselves died in extreme excitement, eventually becoming part of the flowing water.
He frowned slightly. What was this supposed to be?
Walking a bit further, a Brown Skin City person in front of him suddenly collapsed into the water. This person was not short, and the knee-deep water was not enough to cover their mouth and nose, so they just sat in the water, staring at the flowing water ahead as if exhausted.
Xu Huo walked past them, paused for a moment, then stopped to look at this person.
The Brown Skin City person's gaze was not completely still. Starting from aimlessness, it eventually locked onto a noticeably larger patch of fluorescence.
Perhaps they were not fully aware of it, just instinctively chasing something more vivid in their field of vision. That light cluster was actually a fungus like a transparent bubble, smaller than a fist, but indeed much larger than the nearby glowing fungi.
That fungus had no consciousness. It drifted with the river current and naturally moved in front of the Brown Skin City person. Since they were sitting in the river, a slight bow of the head would let them touch the fungus, so they lowered their head, took a sip of water, and sucked the fungus in.
About a minute later, the Brown Skin City person began to convulse violently, then vomited wildly. The vomit was mixed with blood and various fungi. Instinct drove them to struggle and crawl out of the river, stumbling toward the shore, but they didn't get far before collapsing at the riverbank, half their body still in the water, unconscious.
Xu Huo moved closer and saw that the fungal spots on this Brown Skin City person's face were starting to fall off. The skin underneath was not pretty, but it quickly regained elasticity, and their breathing gradually became smoother and lighter.
So this was how the people of District 013 were saved. Was it a detoxifying fungus?
Xu Huo turned back to look ahead but suddenly saw a player not far away excitedly grabbing something from the water. Their fingers were spread wide, making a grasping gesture, but from an outsider's perspective, there was nothing in their hand at all.
That player was very happy, even bringing their cupped hands to their mouth to kiss them twice. But when they tried to turn and head to shore, their feet suddenly lost sensation.
The player also realized something was wrong, but that didn't change their situation. No matter how hard they struggled, waving their arms in the air, they gradually lost strength.
They died standing in the river.
After their death, the floating fluorescent fungi in the river gathered around, clinging to their legs to absorb nutrients. It didn't take long to see that even their bones would become nutrients in this river.
The scene before him seemed both real and fake—whether it was a copy used to lure players or something that had actually happened.
Walking further, Xu Huo saw another player. They should be from District 013. Seeing a large patch of fluorescence in the water, they hurried over to scoop it up and drink it. Their reaction was not as intense as the ordinary person earlier, but within a few minutes, it was clear their physical condition was improving.
This player laughed loudly and quickly moved to grab another fluorescent cluster. Xu Huo didn't know what they saw, but to him, it was just another fungus. Unexpectedly, however, they didn't succeed. Just as they reached out and stepped forward, they suddenly disappeared from the river.
Needless to say, this likely represented someone who had cleared the instance.
There were many people in the river, or many illusions. Some, like the District 013 people, sought the detoxifying fungus to escape their suffering. Some died in the river. Others seemed to take something they wanted from the river and cleared the instance.
Xu Huo didn't know what the clearing players took, but if it were real, it might be something left by Dr. Wu, like the Perfect Potion. That would indeed make a player ecstatic.
From the situation of these people, it seemed everyone could only take one thing from the river. Those who took something and didn't die, whether conscious or not, would disappear within a short time.
Xu Huo looked at the glowing fungi flowing past his feet. They varied in size and type, but they were all fungi. He couldn't see anything else from them.
Walking further, the scenes in the river began to repeat. So he stepped out of the river and walked upstream along the bank. He didn't know how long he walked before a deep pool appeared in the river ahead. The center of the pool was a deep, dark green, but within that green was a large patch of fluorescence. Unlike the scattered dots floating in the water earlier, these were large, transparent bubbles gathered into a giant column the size of a tree.
It was hard to see clearly from the river surface. Xu Huo was about to dive down when suddenly his body flipped, and he woke from the dream.
Opening his eyes, he found himself lying in a phone booth, which was also lying on its side, being carried and moving quickly.
He put away the item and adjusted his posture, grabbing Tong Qi, who was running frantically ahead.
"Brother Xu, you're awake!" Tong Qi looked at him with surprise, then turned around and shouted at the people chasing them: "You're dead!"
Xu Huo also knew someone was chasing them, but before he could act, the players who saw him appear turned and ran without a second thought, not even stopping.
Not to mention Xu Huo, even Tong Qi couldn't help but say: "With that kind of guts, they dare to kill?"
"Where are the other two?" Xu Huo asked.
"Brother Mo and the others are stalling the other players," Tong Qi said angrily. "These bastards are really something. They ran out and came back, and when they saw fewer people in the mall, they wanted to make a move."
"Let's go back." Xu Huo picked him up and used "Destination Arrival."
"To save Brother Mo and the others?"
"To kill."