Don't provoke mentally ill people in the infinite flow genre!

In the darkness, where the five senses were almost completely shut down and shrouded in thick fog, the four-person team walked forward one after another, their arms around each other's shoulders.

Yan Zhao led the way, her eyes closed, her steps steady and steady.

Following Yi Zanglan's instructions, Wu Ying held onto Yi's shoulders tightly from beginning to end, refusing to relax even for a moment.

At first, things went smoothly. Everything in the woods seemed to have disappeared, the road was empty, and they encountered no obstacles.

The concept of time gradually became blurred. After walking for a while, Yan Zhao's pace suddenly slowed down.

...She vaguely sensed something ahead of her.

Although she had her eyes closed and couldn't see anything, it was an intuition, as if there was an invisible wall blocking her way, or as if someone was standing right in front of her, very close, trying to stop her from moving forward.

When such an illusion occurs, people usually find it difficult to control their thoughts and instinctively stop moving forward.

We can't stop, we absolutely can't stop. According to the rules, if we stop, all our previous efforts will be wasted.

Yan Zhao gritted his teeth, forced himself to concentrate, and walked forward with a stiff upper lip.

The moment she took a step forward, the obstruction in front of her seemed not to have disappeared. She felt as if she had passed through a cold barrier, and the hairs on her body stood on end, but she quickly returned to normal.

...In the darkness constructed in my mind, a light inexplicably appeared.

The light spread out in a hazy glow, like an old-fashioned light bulb in a village, soft and dim, looking warm and inviting.

Standing in the light was a person, not tall, with bright eyes, and short, gray hair neatly gathered behind her ears. She was an old woman wearing a dark blue diagonal-fronted jacket.

It was...her grandmother.

His heart clenched suddenly, and intense pain surged through him, constantly assaulting Yan Zhao's reason.

Since entering the game of misfortune, she has never dreamed of her grandmother again. She always wants to see her again, lest the blood and ghostly shadows here dilute her memory and she slowly forget the person she loves most.

How did we end up encountering this?

"Zhaozhao".

Grandma's voice wasn't loud, and it still had that familiar hoarseness, a result of years of smoking.

But she never smoked in front of Yan Zhao, always keeping a distance, saying she couldn't let her precious granddaughter inhale secondhand smoke.

"Zhaozhao, Grandma is so cold, do you know that?"

"Your dad, your mom, they... pushed me down the hillside. I bled a lot and didn't have the strength to call for help... It was raining heavily then, and I missed you so much..."

The dark blue cloth jacket was rolled up, and Grandma stretched out her hand to her. Her skin was covered with crisscrossing scars from sharp rocks. When she looked up again, her face was also covered with bruises and blood, and muddy rainwater was dripping from her hair.

"Zhaozhao, they even took all of Grandma's savings. That was... Grandma's dowry for you..."

The longevity lock around Yan Zhao's neck swayed gently as he moved forward.

This was also one of the dowry items her grandmother left her. Later, when she entered the game, the system automatically used it as her skill item.

Yes, she knew all of this. She knew that her parents, unable to raise money to send her younger brother to that prestigious school, had turned their attention to her and her grandmother.

That rainy night, while Grandma was out delivering incense and candles to the villagers, they pushed her down a hillside to her death. They then pretended to have discovered her body and lied to the outside world, claiming it was an accident.

That was her second year of college. She was looking forward to finally being able to repay her grandmother in the future, but all her hopes were dashed.

How could she not know the true colors of that family? They originally wanted a son and planned to drown her in the pond. It was only because her grandmother was willing to raise her that she was saved.

Her name back then was Yan Zhaodi, the most common and disgusting name. Her grandmother didn't have much education, but she still picked the most beautiful character in her name and changed it to Yan Zhao.

May the sun and moon shine brightly forever.

An elderly person with no blood relation to her has raised her with great care for nearly twenty years, giving her the best they can and supporting her education.

Such a good grandmother, yet she was killed by those two beasts.

"My dear Zhaozhao, don't go back. You must avenge Grandma, okay?"

"It's been so long! Come here and let Grandma have a look at you."

"..."

The aged voice, tinged with a sob, lingered in Yan Zhao's ears, causing her to catch her breath.

Longing knows no bounds. She was just a second away from reaching out, but at the crucial moment, she was awakened by the force of Wu Ying's hand on her shoulder from behind.

She suddenly realized that this was an illusion, and that all her efforts would be in vain once she reached out her hand or made a sound.

The person she was supposed to see is long gone, but now she still has responsibilities she must bear.

...It's okay, she's already done what she needed to do.

She knew that if her real grandmother could know this from beyond the grave, she would certainly not want her to sacrifice her future to avenge her.

However, she had no choice; all she wanted in this life was to live with a clear conscience.

A ruthless biological father, a greedy biological mother, and a treacherous younger brother who benefits from the status quo.

She spent a whole year cultivating a good relationship with them, pretending to know nothing, acting as if she were destitute and wanted to return to her family, and regularly working to earn money and sending it to them, making them believe that she was really easy to manipulate.

Then on New Year's Eve, she personally prepared a meal and added a large amount of paraquat—sure enough, when it was served, they didn't wait for her and rushed to taste it.

after that……

She set the house ablaze, burning all the filth to ashes, sending them to hell in endless pain and despair.

Don't worry, Grandma, I've avenged them. They've all been punished. Even the villagers who knew the truth gave the same story when the police came to investigate: I didn't go home that night at all.

Someone as good as you will go to heaven after you die; they don't deserve to see you again.

Of course, I may never see you again, but at least I'm not dead yet, and I promise you, I will never give up on myself.

I will always live with high spirits and an open and honest life, and be a Zhaozhao that you can be proud of.

……

The old woman in the dark blue cloth jacket slowly withdrew her outstretched hand.

She followed Yan Zhao's steps forward, keeping a distance as she retreated.

The two never touched each other, nor did she look into Yan Zhao's eyes again, until she completely disappeared into the fog-shrouded darkness.

Yan Zhao gritted her teeth and persevered, tears wetting her tightly closed eyelashes and sliding down her cheeks.

The next second, a gale rose from the ground and surged toward their location from all directions.

Tang Yunxi was in third place. Her attention was originally on Wu Ying, but when the wind picked up, Wu Ying in front of her didn't react much, but the hand that Yi Canglan put on her shoulder behind her gradually increased in strength.

She realized the situation was not good, but she couldn't turn back or ask questions, so she could only keep walking forward with a worried heart.

……

The moment the wind blew, Yi Canglan felt as if someone had slammed into her back, like a muffled punch trying to forcefully pry open her defenses.

She tightened her grip on Tang Yunxi's shoulder, leaned forward, but didn't falter, continuing to walk forward with the group.

At the same time, four forces attacked her from different positions: some strangled her neck, some bit her arms, and some gouged out her eyes.

They are trying to force her out of the group through suffocation and pain.

No matter how many people are in the human chain, the most important parts are the head and the tail of the chain. If the head of the chain stops or the tail falls out of line, it means that the chain is loose.

At that time, they will lose their only chance to leave this forest.