Infinite Game Ch.9

Chapter 9 – Congshan Village (2)

Halfway up the mountain.

A short-haired girl watched as the shrine was engulfed in flames. She noticed the erratic beams of flashlights gradually winding up the mountain, retreating and fading into the darkness of the woods. She listened quietly to the villagers’ conversations.

She stood in the woods for a while, until more and more villagers gathered. She turned away and returned to the woods on the other side of the mountain.

At the prearranged meeting spot, Chen Jing was already waiting. Upon seeing her, he said, “No traces of anything unusual in the nearby woods.”

They had arrived at the village the day before, staying in a villager’s house. After asking around the village, they hadn’t heard any news about Liu Cheng, who was supposed to have arrived here a few days earlier. However, they discovered that the villagers here worshipped a deity of unknown origin and found dried and fresh bloodstains, along with human hair, in the shrine. Upon this discovery, they swiftly left the villager’s house and temporarily took refuge in the forest.

The driver who brought them here mentioned that several villages in this vast mountainous area had been unsettled recently, with several people gone missing. Those missing individuals might very well be the owners of that pile of hair.

Things seemed suspiciously strange, most likely indicating the presence of something supernatural. Despite roughly scouting the vicinity, Chen Jing hadn’t found any traces of unusual activity.

“The villagers have gone to the shrine, leaving the village empty. We must find Liu Cheng today.”

As Chen Jing finished speaking, the girl jumped down from the tree and said, “I heard the villagers who went to the shrine said that there would be a sacrifice tomorrow, a living sacrifice. According to their description, the sacrifice should be Liu Cheng.”

No wonder there had been no communication after the information about reaching the village was relayed. Although Liu Cheng was shady when it came to making money, he strictly adhered to his principles as a businessman. Once an agreement was made for a deal with them, he wouldn’t easily back out. If he couldn’t be contacted promptly, something must have gone wrong.

Neither the shrine nor the woods could hide a person. The only possibility was that Liu Cheng was being concealed within the village.

The evening wind swept through the woods, causing the fallen leaves to swirl and rustle loudly, leaving Xiao Pang, who had just arrived, covered in them.

Gasping for breath and leaning against a tree, Xiao Pang said, “Xu Tonggui has gone to the shrine, and all the villagers have left. If we want to find someone, it has to be now.”

*

Second Floor

Liu Cheng struggled but could only widen his eyes as Jiang Yujin approached.

The person in front of him had changed a lot from his impression. All the imposing presence seemed subdued, with long strands of black hair covering most of the face, giving off an air of tranquility and ordinariness, blending into the most common presence within a crowd.

His voice was hoarse, and his tone casual and relaxed. He appeared completely different, making it hard to associate him with the character “001” from the game.

Jiang Yujin walked up to Liu Cheng and squatted beside him, resting his hands on his knees casually. He frowned, looking at the person on the ground, saying, “I greeted you, why didn’t you respond?”

Liu Cheng, whose mouth was tightly covered, mumbled, “…”

As if just noticing something obstructing his mouth, Jiang Yujin seemed surprised and reached out to remove it.

“Hah…hah…”

Finally able to breathe fresh air again, Liu Cheng took deep breaths. It was the perfect time to call for help, yet he dared not make a sound and could only ask softly, “Why are you here?”

He asked, “How did you know I was here?”

Even at this moment, he was instinctively fishing for information.

Jiang Yujin didn’t answer any of his questions. He lowered his eyes and asked, “To whom did you sell my information?”

His tone and demeanor remained unchanged, but the air around them seemed to chill instantly. Liu Cheng shivered, but not a word escaped his lips.

As a businessman, he always adhered to the fundamental principle of not disclosing his clients.

Respecting his silence, Jiang Yujin stood up and walked a small circle in the abandoned second-floor space. It was evident this floor was deserted, layered with thick dust, scattered wood shavings from a piled-up firewood, and stains left by rodents.

He found an abandoned toolbox on a wooden table, filled with rusty common tools.

Jiang Yujin took out a few nails and a small hammer, all under Liu Cheng’s incredulous gaze, then turned around.

Liu Cheng watched as he approached again, squatting down and taking hold of his own hand.

The rusty nail hovered above his nail bed, then gradually pressed downward, piercing through the thin nail layer, and fixed itself at a subtle angle on his nail.

Jiang Yujin didn’t waste many words; he raised the hammer and hammered down.

“Lu Dongcheng!”

Just before the hammer could barely touch the iron nail, Liu Cheng finally spoke up.

His chest heaved continuously, his eyes diagonally fixed on the hammer hovering above the rusty nail, pupils contracting, as he gasped, “I sold it to Lu Dongcheng!”

He had some integrity as a businessman, but not much.

The signature on the previous letter received was Lu Dongcheng; the name matched.

“And then?” Jiang Yujin, with the long forearm, spun the hammer in his hand and asked, “Anyone else?”

“No one else!” Liu Cheng’s voice now carried a tremor. “Though many asked, only he could afford your information.”

Jiang Yujin seemed to realize something; his eyebrows twitched as he asked, “How much did you sell it for?”

Liu Cheng glanced at him and then said, “One hundred million.”

Jiang Yujin moved his hand that held the hammer slightly, startling Liu Cheng.

“The money?”

Liu Cheng replied, “I used it to buy other information.”

“…”

In the midst of silence, he vaguely felt that this person in front of him seemed more determined than ever to kill him.

His hand twitched involuntarily, and he blurted out the rest: “Someone else wanted to exchange information for yours but hasn’t yet!”

He had previously contacted a buyer who had the information he wanted. After finding out that Xu Tonggui was looking for him, he had hidden in this remote village. Unexpectedly, after disclosing the address to the buyer, he was attacked by an unidentified creature he hadn’t seen before, waking up to overhear people downstairs discussing when to sacrifice him and, more often, listening to the sound of card games downstairs.

Even though the situation didn’t seem right, he still thought the people here were pretty bad at cards.

Today, he finally heard a stranger’s voice, guessing it might be his client. That’s when he thought of making some noise, only to unwittingly summon an evil spirit.

Jiang Yujin lowered his eyes. “Is that so?”

…

Down on the roadside, three people who had separately searched the entire village met in front of a house, each shaking their heads slightly.

The girl looked toward the open gate of the house and frowned. “This is the last house.”

Chen Jing nodded. “Let’s go in and take a look first.”

People in this area didn’t have the habit of digging cellars. The three explored the ground floor and then met at the stairs, silently ascending together.

Click.

The moment they reached the second floor, Xiao Pang instantly raised the gun fitted with night vision goggles toward the darkness.

There was no one on the second floor; dust was scattered all around, indicating recent activity, but whoever was there had already left.

The girl’s expression grew increasingly serious. “He’s probably been taken away.”

Footprints were visible on the floor, leading only towards the stairs, suggesting that whoever entered wasn’t in a hurry.

They had walked openly up the stairs, not rushing, something only a villager who was the owner could do.

Completely unaware of where Liu Cheng had been taken, the clues abruptly ended there.

Chen Jing remained silent momentarily, pondered, then said, “We haven’t found Liu Cheng yet. Xu Tonggui probably won’t make any moves tonight. The villagers will surely take Liu Cheng to the sacrificial site. We still have a chance before the ritual tomorrow.”

After finishing, he looked at the chubby guy and suddenly asked, “What time is it now?”

“One thirty in the morning.”

Chen Jing took out his phone and dialed a number while walking.

The chubby guy asked him what he was doing.

Chen Jing replied, “Chasing someone back.”

After finishing work at the convenience store, if there was nothing else, the person who had just regained freedom would definitely go to various strange places to drink. If no one reminded him, he could drink until dawn.

The phone rang twice and finally went to the busy tone indicating the other party had switched off their phone.

Chen Jing put away his phone, and the group left the house, disappearing at the intersection.

On the roof beam, Jiang Yujin, having put away the just-turned-off phone, returned it to his pocket and casually kicked Liu Cheng down before lightly jumping down himself.

Liu Cheng fell hard; his hands and feet were already numb from being bound, unable to feel whether he had broken any bones.

Finally able to speak again after being threatened with a rusted blade against his throat on the roof beam moments ago, Liu Cheng urgently pleaded, “I’ve told you everything I know. Aren’t you going to save me? You heard what they said just now, didn’t you?”

He had planned to elaborate on the benefits of saving himself, but Jiang Yujin’s emotionless gaze rendered him speechless.

Jiang Yujin withdrew his gaze and smiled, “Guess why I came to see you so directly.”

No barriers, no beating around the bush—just straightforward, no pretense.

Liu Cheng couldn’t stop trembling all over.

From the start, 001 hadn’t intended to let him continue living.

The reason the other party wasn’t taking action now was that he knew he would soon perish at the hands of something else.

Liu Cheng watched the tousle-haired figure leave, casually pulling out a walkie-talkie as he walked.

…

By the time Xu Tonggui returned to the Li family’s house, he saw a person in a loose shirt standing in front of the hall, eyeing the altar placed right in the center.

The altar had been opened, revealing the deity inside.

It was called a deity, but in reality, it was far from it—specifically, it was too ugly.

The deity seemed to be made of bronze, its head deformed to the point where nothing was recognizable except its mouth. Its body resembled a snake, but upon closer inspection, one could see that it wasn’t scales covering it but rather elongated, hand-like appendages.

Having such a thing revered at home was concerning in terms of aesthetics, at least according to Jiang Yujin.

Upon hearing movement behind him, he turned and asked the approaching figure, “Do you know what this is?”

Xu Tonggui glanced at the deity and nodded, “Saw it in the department’s database.”

Thousand-Armed Saka, an A+ class strange species, adept at manipulating and enticing believers to provide sacrifices, detesting all creatures with four legs, possessing considerable strength but excessively cautious, appearing in front of people only during feeding times.

Jiang Yujin nodded thoughtfully, as if engaging in profound contemplation, then turned and asked, “How much do you think a statue like this could fetch?”

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