Chapter 5 (1/2)
Big Gold Chain decisively shouted out, “Quickly get on the boat!”
At the moment, no one dared to voice any differing opinions. After all, they could tell that if they continued to stay there, they would be swallowed up by the abyss the next second.
Everyone turned to quickly get onto the boat. But very soon, a glaring problem emerged – this fishing boat was old and rickety. Just by looking at it, it could at most accommodate two to three people. But there were thirteen of them. So, if the whole lot of them went on, wouldn’t the boat sink?
It was at this point that the woman among the quiet trio opened her mouth to say, “The game wouldn’t have created an unsolvable situation, especially since the game has just begun. Get onboard!”
As she spoke, she took the lead to first get onto the boat. Her two companions didn’t hesitate to follow after her.
Everyone else quickly followed suit. Eventually, Xiao Tangqiu also pulled the small celebrity onboard.
Under that heavy load, the small fishing boat rocked violently, causing everyone’s expression to turn pale. They were all afraid that the boat would capsize within the next second. But thank goodness, the small fishing boat swayed a few more times before quickly regaining stability. Although it seemed barely up to the task, it held steady and didn’t sink.
Xiao Tangqiu had just breathed a sigh of relief before he noticed that the abyss had spread to envelop the riverbank. He immediately urged, “Quickly, go!”
The old man stared blankly at Xiao Tangqiu while letting out a strange “hehe” laughter at the same time. Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help but feel as if a draft of cold air had washed over him. The old man grabbed the bamboo pole unhurriedly and began to propel the boat forwards. His actions were painfully slow, as if he hadn’t had enough strength to move the boat.
“Quickly!” The yellow-haired delinquent noticed his darkening surroundings and chased the old man, “Quickly move! Stinky old man! Can you row or not ah?! If you can’t, then let me do it!”
But the old man couldn’t be bothered with Yellow Hair and pretended as if he didn’t hear a word. His actions continued to be tortuously slow. Driven by anxiety, Yellow Hair was just about to snatch the bamboo pole from the old man, when Big Gold Chain beside him suddenly said, “That’s enough! Turn around and look again!”
Yellow Hair turned to look back in fear, only to find that the abyss had spread to the riverbank and not any further. Everyone else turned to look back as well, and was faced with the same strange picture. That terrifying abyss seemed to have swallowed the road which they came from. Only the nearby fishing village and the river which they were traveling on seemed to exist; they were surrounded by the abyss.
Xiao Tangqiu frowned; he wasn’t sure why, but the abyss gave him a feeling of intelligence. It felt as if the abyss had its eyes fixed on him.
He didn’t know if anyone else felt the same way, but he didn’t intend to ask anyways.
The expression on everyone’s faces were extremely ugly. No one spoke until Big Gold Chain took the initiative to break the silence. “This old man moves too slowly. Why not use this time to introduce ourselves? I’ll go first. My name is Luo Mansu. I’m an old player.”
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Big Gold Chain nonchalantly suggested, “If you’re willing to partner up with me, follow me once we get off the boat. Of course, I won’t force you if you don’t trust me; we’ll just walk our separate paths. You can think about it for now.”
Everyone looked at each other in dismay, then secretly sized up Big Gold Chain, trying to figure out if this Big Gold Chain was to be trusted. It was just that Big Gold Chain looked very aggressive, making it difficult for anyone to trust him just like that. However, he spoke honestly, and made no attempt to dress up his words. Instead, he admitted to a motive from the very start.
The old man continued to dawdle on. Although the fishing village didn’t appear to be far off, God only knows when they would arrive, given the old man’s speed. Upon seeing this, the others started to introduce themselves and at the same time, looked for suitable partners.
Yellow Hair was called Lu Dadong; the guy with the glasses was Zeng Jinping; the uncommunicative guy in the suit was Jiang Zihan; as for the couple, the woman was called Lu Xiaotao and the man was Yang Bing; one of the two girls sitting together was called Ding Tiantian and the other, Ding Mimi. It was only then that they realized the two girls were actually twins.
The quiet team of three looked like they didn’t want to have anything to do with the others and reported three very obviously fake names, “Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu.”
Xiao Tangqiu followed the others and gave his name, “I’m Xiao Tangqiu.”
Before this, Luo Mansu didn’t react to the others when they shared their names, but seemed to have some interest when it came to Xiao Tangqiu’s turn. “What is it that you do?”
Xiao Tangqiu replied impassively, “I’m self-employed.”
He originally thought Luo Mansu would continue to ask him, but Luo Mansu merely smiled and turned his attention onto someone else.
The small celebrity sitting next to Xiao Tangqiu cautiously spoke, “I’m Tang Mianmian.”
Luo Mansu nodded his head perfunctorily; it wasn’t clear if he had remembered their names. This entire time, the old man rowing the boat behaved as if he hadn’t heard anything, staring blankly ahead as he leisurely rowed.
Xiao Tangqiu looked at the bamboo pole in the old man’s hands, then looked at the surface of the water but all he saw was a sheet of darkness. This was no ordinary river, where the water was clear enough to see all the way to the bottom. The dark, murky waters only incited fear.
Once again, everyone fell silent, and the small fishing boat regained deathly stillness. But it was right then that the old man started to sing, his hoarse and unpleasant voice carrying a strange, eerie melody.