Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 876 Fraud

"I know it's just a guess."

He Lingling closed her eyes briefly, then gritted her teeth and said, "So I have an idea..."

"..."

After the three finished their quick, low-key conversation, Yu Shijiu's previously suppressed emotions instantly eased considerably.

He nodded with a smile, "Yes, I've got it. I'll go back and—"

"It's not just for you."

He Lingling said somewhat helplessly, "What I mean is, let's find a chance to get Thumbelina out of the way, and then the rest of us can take out that thing that looks like 'herbal medicine' and wait for three or four minutes."

"..." The excitement that had just appeared in Yu Shijiu's eyes faded again. He sniffed and nodded as if he was a little unhappy.

What could He Lingling and Chen Yi do? They could only pretend they didn't see it.

After the crisis was over, the group searched the warehouse again, but this time they found nothing. They guessed that they had already found everything that could be used.

"Alright," He Lingling wiped the sweat from her face and said quickly in a low voice, "We should go clean up, otherwise we'll have trouble explaining when Old Field Mouse comes."

"it is good."

"Should we clean together or separately?"

This is what Xu Han asked.

He Lingling hesitated for a second, then said, "Let's go together."

Her thinking was simple: since the gap between them and the Eye of All Things wasn't significant, and they were even in the lead, there was no need to separate. Yanzi could also wait and see how things went later.

"Thumbelina and I will go clean the main room."

Yu Shijiu spoke first, smiling as he said, "I think cleaning together is too slow. What if Grandma Field Mouse gets angry?"

Thumbelina, who had been standing behind everyone, seemed a little surprised upon hearing this. She moved closer to Yu Shijiu with some unease and cautiously tugged at the corner of his clothes.

"Shi Jiu..."

"..."

The remaining four people's eyes all fell on Yu Shijiu's face.

Yu Shijiu's smile remained unchanged as he openly met their gazes.

"...that's okay too."

In the end, it was Chen Yi who spoke first. He said with a smile, "But there's something, Shi Jiu, you know what Brother Chen means, right?"

Yu Shijiu: "..."

Yu Shijiu's smile vanished instantly. He pouted and said somewhat unhappily:

"Okay, okay, here you go."

After saying that, Yu Shijiu gave Xu Han a look.

Xu Han: "..."

Xu Han instantly understood Yu Shijiu's gaze. After a three-second moment of confusion, he quickly pulled out the bread crumbs they had stolen from his system backpack and walked towards Thumbelina.

"Thumbelina, did you not have enough of that porridge you drank this morning? Here, I have some more food here, you can eat first..."

Thumbelina was completely bewildered by the pull and subconsciously looked down at the bread crumbs Xu Han handed her—in the short time she was looking down and not paying attention to Yu Shijiu, Chen Yi had already quickly taken the herbs Yu Shijiu handed her and hidden them.

Yu Shijiu was still a little unhappy and muttered, "I won't take the risk..."

Everyone, including Xu Han, pretended not to hear those words.

Anjie's hunger had mostly subsided by now (she had already devoured eight books), and she coughed as she said:

"Then let's split up. Shi Jiu and Thumbelina will go to the main room, and the four of us—"

"The four of us will not separate."

He Lingling continued, "We didn't have that much time, so it's better to clean up together later."

The group exchanged glances, and their roles were decided.

The slight reluctance on Yu Shijiu's face came and went quickly. He put on his innocent and harmless smile again and whispered to Thumbelina:

"Let's go and clean the main room. Grandma Field Mouse might be even happier."

Thumbelina glanced at the bread crumbs Xu Han had stuffed into her hand, then at Yu Shijiu, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes. But she nodded in the end, took a small bite of the dry bread crumbs, and silently followed behind Yu Shijiu.

He Lingling watched the two figures leave the warehouse, her brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.

She had great faith in Yu Shijiu's abilities—but she was also a little afraid of his almost instinctive "interest" in danger. Now she could only hope that Chen Ge taking away that strange "herb" would keep Yu Shijiu quiet for a while... at least so that he wouldn't be in danger when acting alone.

Anjie is not the only one who shares the same thoughts.

For example, An Jie, Chen Yi, and... Xu Han.

Xu Han rubbed his still slightly stiff hands, blinked, and asked:

"So where should we start cleaning now?"

"..."

——————A cave dwelling.

The condition of the main room was not much different from when they left.

The room was still dimly lit, with only two candles on the wall providing illumination. Several crooked tables and chairs, roughly made of tree roots and mud, were placed around the earthen stove in the center, covered with a thin layer of dust and unidentified stains.

Yu Shijiu belatedly noticed that there were actually some dried insect shells or small creature corpses hanging on the walls of the main room, whose original forms were difficult to identify. The insect corpses emitted a faint fishy smell, and smelling them up close would make you feel nauseous.

If Yu Shijiu were to say it, it would have the same disgusting, fishy smell as that strange "porridge" from this morning.

Yu Shijiu didn't look any further. He bent down and picked up a relatively clean piece of something that looked like a dried large leaf from the corner, and used it as a rag to wipe the tables and chairs.

His movements were casual, even somewhat nonchalant, but his gaze was like the most precise scanner, sweeping over every corner of the main room.

He still remembered last night... Anjie saw Liu Zhong's head in the main room...

Thumbelina, just like him, picked up a small leaf and laboriously squatted down to wipe the table leg.

After eating the breadcrumbs Xu Han had given her, she seemed to regain some of the strength she had lost due to the shock, but her mental state was still unstable. She would stop moving from time to time, stare blankly, and listen intently to something, as if there were some sounds around her that only she could hear.

Are you spacing out?

Yu Shijiu suddenly spoke, his gentle voice breaking the silence.

Thumbelina was startled by what she heard, and almost dropped the leaf in her hand.

She shook her head frantically, "No...no."

"is it?"

Yu Shijiu wiped the edge of the table and said, seemingly casually:

"I think I heard a sound just now, like... someone singing? Or maybe crying? It was intermittent, did you hear it?"

This was obviously a lie told by Yu Shijiu, his purpose being to trick Thumbelina.

Thumbelina took the bait. Her body stiffened abruptly, her face paled instantly, and she shook her head vigorously, her voice urgent:

"No! There's no singing! What singing could there be? Even if, even if there is, even if there is... it's... it's bad stuff! We can't listen to it!"