Breaking the Game (6)

This isn't going to work.

Zheng Wuyou clutched her waist and waved to signal everyone to stop, but her gaze lingered on the rooster, which was currently strutting around triumphantly.

Everyone had been chasing this chicken around the small courtyard for at least eight hundred meters.

Either they would stumble and fall...

Or the rooster's tail feathers would slip through their grasp.

Wen Dian from next door, with a glint in its eye, suddenly thought of an idea.

Zheng Wuyou only noticed someone quietly approach her side. Then, under the confused gazes of everyone, they whispered a few words into her ear before smugly returning to their original position.

After hearing the explanation, Zheng Wuyou's face was filled with disbelief.

But she still took a handful of grain from a sack that had been left to rot in the river of time next door and scattered it on the ground like pouring water.

The chicken, hearing the sound of grain falling on the ground, indeed stopped. Its eyes warily scanned the crowd.

It seemed to be struggling with hunger.

Everyone held their breath at this moment, afraid of disturbing it.

Just as the chicken slowly approached the grains, everyone tacitly formed a circle and began to close in.

Then, Wansi, who had the height advantage, slipped through them and suddenly lunged at the hunting chicken.

This time, they finally caught it!

It was that simple!

The lean chicken struggled desperately in the small Wansi's hands. The human-faced feathers on its body seemed to be letting out strange cries in unison.

Just as Wansi proudly held up the chicken, the expected change did not occur around them.

However, an unpredictable fire in the wooden house, aided by the wind, had already spread from the roof of the west room to the corner of Old Zhu's family's wall.

Then came a loud bang...

The wooden house collapsed...

Rolling smoke engulfed the entire mountainside the moment it collapsed.

"To the river!" Zheng Wuyou covered her mouth and nose while snatching the now-quiet chicken from Wansi's hands.

She grabbed its slender neck and ran towards the river behind the others.

As soon as her front feet stepped onto the soft, wet mud by the river, she heard a strong gust of wind.

The fire, in an uncontrollable manner, consumed the entire desolate village.

Even the plaque at the entrance of the village could not escape.

Zheng Wuyou looked back, the fiery red sky reflected in her eyes. While surprised, she could only struggle to lift her feet and splash through the knee-deep water at the riverbank, as if the flames would burn her if she were a moment late, spreading from the withered willow trees along the riverbank.

The chicken, with its throat held, could only let out a few weak chirps.

Zheng Wuyou rubbed her temples with her other hand, feeling a headache coming on.

Suddenly, this action reminded her of the woman by the window...

She could sense that the people behind her were already a certain distance from the riverbank.

If she went further into the river, she would have to swim to the other side.

This time, she again counted to five.

Without consulting anyone, and without receiving any definitive clues.

She directly raised the hairpin she had found in the wooden house and swiftly inserted it into the chicken's neck.

Blood instantly splattered her face.

But she didn't care anymore...

Zheng Wuyou frowned slightly and blinked, satisfied as she listened to the symphony created by the sounds behind her and the burning flames in front of her.

The chicken slipped from her loosening grip and floated down the slowly flowing river, its lifeless body drifting into the distance.

"What is this..." Confused voices sounded from behind.

"Why is there such a large watch in the river?"

A watch?

Zheng Wuyou turned her head. The moment she stabbed the chicken's neck, a sound of water breaking erupted behind her.

But she thought it would be a door to pass through...

Isn't this what Old Yuan said, that the conventional way to pass in novels is through a door?

What is a watch?

In the wide and calm river, a giant, old-fashioned mechanical pocket watch stood tall.

This pocket watch was like an ancient and mysterious tower, exuding the charm of accumulated years.

Zheng Wuyou, standing about 1.7 meters tall on the riverbank, looked up at the giant pocket watch. She felt so small at this moment.

Like an insignificant ant.

The clockwork seemed to have lacked meticulous maintenance for a long time, and it was already a bit old, with the minute hand ticking back and forth between 12 and 1.

The firelight sprinkled on the shimmering river surface, like countless tiny red diamonds flashing with dazzling brilliance.

The river water gently rippled, clearly reflecting the pocket watch's silhouette.

It also reflected a figure on the bank.

"Let me introduce myself again, my name is Chi Ao Chi Yin, the only NPC present in this game, and the only NPC among all Nightmares. I look forward to meeting you Yin Meng again."

At some point, a familiar figure appeared on the bank, with his back to the firelight.

His figure looked like Zhu Li... but with Chi Ao Chi Yin's voice.

Ignoring everyone's confused expressions, he finished his introduction and then walked into the firelight.

Leaving the bewildered crowd standing in the water, listening to his lingering echo.

As soon as the person finished speaking, countless figures began to emerge from the ground on both sides of the bank.

They mechanically faced the giant pocket watch in the center of the river, heads bowed, appearing as if they were molded from mud.

Their features were indistinct.

Without giving anyone time to react.

In just 2 seconds, the bank was already crowded with dense 'people'.

Zheng Wuyou, half-submerged in the river, saw this scene and felt a trace of unease rising in her heart...

These people...

"Run!" Zheng Wuyou's roar sounded almost simultaneously with the shouts from the bank.

Zheng Wuyou and Miao Laisheng immediately felt the cold river water and quickly and arduously moved towards the center of the river.

Although the air was scorching hot due to the widespread flames, it did not affect the flowing coolness.

And so, in a song of ice and fire, everyone swam towards the giant pocket watch in the center of the river in a rather disheveled state.

Behind them, the sound of splashing water continued, accompanied by the sound of countless approaching, fierce thrashing.

In Zheng Wuyou's sight, Wen Dian was the first to swim to the edge of the pocket watch.

He was inadvertently swept by the current towards the edge of the pocket watch and disappeared from everyone's sight the moment he touched it.

Hu Yu, seeing hope at this moment, swam towards the pocket watch as if she were mad.

She was the second to disappear into this nauseating river.

Uncle Cai...

Wansi...

One by one, driven by the desire to live, they quickened their swimming speed and left this world in quick succession.

Only a dark blue figure remained floating on the water, always maintaining a certain distance from the pocket watch.

Zheng Wuyou was actually not a very good swimmer...

Especially when she got a cramp!

The 'people' chasing behind her were clearly much better swimmers than she was.

She really couldn't hold on any longer!

As Zheng Wuyou weakly looked up, she saw a dark blue cuff appear in her vision. He grabbed her collar...

Then, with his help, she struggled to swim towards the pocket watch, propelled by the current.

Suddenly, a violent roar sounded in her ears, and before she could react.

Zheng Wuyou was swept into the water by a fierce wave the moment her consciousness blurred.

"Zheng...you...!"

When she opened her eyes again, what greeted her was the dark blue canopy of the bed above her head.

And the sound of sleeping breaths all around.

Confirming that she was in a very familiar environment, she finally relaxed her guard and let out a long sigh.

Calming down, Zheng Wuyou realized her eyes were unusually dry and her face was burning with pain, as if she had just emerged from a fire.

But her throat felt as uncomfortable as if she had choked on water.

After lying in bed for a while to recover, she slowly propped herself up against the headboard and opened her phone, which was paused on a short video page with a black screen. Although the 'do not disturb' mode was not yet over, the phone suddenly made a message notification sound.

"you have a message"

Before she could even open the message, Yuan Ling's bed diagonally opposite also emitted her message notification sound.