Chapter 687: The Living and the Dead Family Reunion
The moment they saw the pattern, the three of them realized that this so-called "Eye Offering Ritual" was actually a way to enhance the power of the instance. Even without seeing actual eyes, just the drawings made their eyes feel as if they were being stabbed by awls. Their bodies instinctively wanted to flee, yet a strange urge compelled them to keep looking.
"How are you?" Xu Huo asked Yi Pei.
Yi Pei shook her head. Her poor eyesight offered no advantage in this situation. Unable to see clearly, she felt an impulse to lean in for a closer look!
"Let's go!"
The three quickly moved away from the flower cart. Not far off, they encountered other players who had also retreated. After the flower carts came out, the other residents began hanging various patterned scrolls in their courtyards. These things didn't look remarkable, but they carried an oppressive weight that was impossible to ignore.
Some players tried to destroy the scrolls. Even without touching them directly, those who did so immediately suffered a shock similar to dizziness.
"I think I heard a bell..." The hoodie-clad player tried twice and then dared not touch the scrolls again.
The players skirted around the scrolls, but there was now no place in the city without the eye pattern. Those who wanted to escape to the woods found the residents, as if reading their intentions, holding up scrolls and walking toward them with beaming smiles, eagerly pressing the scrolls into their hands.
The closer they got, the more the players heard not the residents' laughter and chatter, but a distant, echoing sound from far away. The sound overlapped and multiplied, clearly exceeding the number of people present.
"I can't take this anymore!" The hoodie-clad player leaped onto the courtyard wall and sprinted toward the woods.
Other players also broke out of the encirclement one after another. Xu Huo glanced back and saw that the people standing on the streets all turned their heads to watch the direction the players had fled. Their eyeballs seemed ready to pop out of their sockets, paired with exaggerated smiles—a grotesque sight.
However, hiding in the woods didn't improve things much. That clamorous sound still drilled into their ears from near and far, stirring up an uncontrollable rage. But the more their emotions surged, the louder the sound became. It no longer came from the direction of the city but surrounded them, a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree stereo assault.
To block out this hypnotic sound, the players put on headphones—standard gear that almost every player carried. But the effect wasn't great, and their expressions remained tense.
The players kept a certain distance from each other, close enough to observe but still wary. Under this eerie atmosphere, more than twenty pairs of eyes darted around. No one spoke for a while, until the lights came on in the city.
Garish red and green lights hung high and low, casting a bizarre glow over the entire city. A few minutes later, footsteps of varying weights came from the distance.
"Someone's coming!" The players quickly rose and used telescopes or items to look toward the source of the sound. They gasped sharply!
"Corpses! They're all corpses!"
Countless corpses approached from all directions. They moved toward the city with the same orderliness as the living, wearing clothes both new and old. But every single one had hollow eyes, empty upper bodies, and varying degrees of decay. Some even dripped with corpse fluid and reeked of rot!
"What the hell is this! Zombies? Ghouls?" Many players couldn't help but exclaim.
Xu Huo and the others climbed trees to observe the corpse horde from above. The black-shirted player said, "They're evenly distributed. No side has more or fewer."
"And no gaps. No idea where these corpses are coming from."
"There's fog forming around the city." Xu Huo scanned the surroundings, then looked toward the pond. Nothing special there—just rows of corpses walking past.
All the players hid themselves, but the corpses weren't coming for them. They staggered into the city, and soon a horrifying scene unfolded inside: the living and the dead celebrating together. The original residents of the city seemed completely unaware they were dealing with corpses. Some hugged and kissed the dead, smearing rotting flesh and corpse fluid on their faces without a care.
"What a tragedy. Even the remaining scalp is getting sucked dry!" The hoodie-clad player was referring to an elderly couple locked in a "passionate kiss."
The man's upper body was nothing but skin. After two kisses, he flopped limply onto the woman's arm. She didn't even notice and went looking for another corpse, treating it as her own family.
Meanwhile, the pair surrounded by the grandmother and grandson clearly didn't match the people in the photos.
Xu Huo felt a slight relief. If these corpses could accurately find their own families, he would have a real headache.
"These corpses don't seem to have any consciousness," Yi Pei said, glancing at Xu Huo.
"Then what surrounded us earlier might not have been corpses." Xu Huo pointed at the ground. "They left marks where they walked." Yesterday, there were none.
"Then why bring so many corpses here?" Fang Penghui frowned.
"Maybe to scare... or disgust people." Wei Xian lowered his binoculars.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a drumbeat rang out.
The players fell silent. Liu Shiyan said, "It seems to be coming from the pond."
"Not just drums—there's water sounds too." Xu Huo turned to head toward the pond, but at that moment, Fu Danhong suddenly shouted, "They're all looking this way!"
The family reunion activities in the city had temporarily paused. All the living and the dead turned their heads at the same time, their faces aimed at the direction where the players were hiding. The next second, as if in response, drums began beating in the city. All the flower carts, sacrificial lanterns, and people started moving. One wooden cabinet after another was carried out. As the cabinet doors opened, the sacrificial procession erupted in red light!
"Don't look!" Fang Penghui shouted.
"Almost got me!" Tian Kunwen quickly lowered his head, but turned to see Cao Dong beside him, eyes bloodshot, staring at the city. He dropped his item and walked forward.
"****!" Fu Danhong waved at Cao Dong. The latter's pants fell down, tripping him. The hoodie-clad player quickly stepped in and stabbed a knife straight through his heart!