Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 638 Reuniting with an Old Friend
There's a saying: "The sound of bells and the feasting of cauldrons are known only after three generations" (an allusion to the "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng").
The banquets held by the Cui, Lu, Zheng, Wang, and Xie families were not only filled with gold and jade, but also deeply rooted in generations of accumulated wealth.

Like a banquet scene in the Dunhuang murals, the silver-gilt pot holds foreign wine, and ivory chopsticks hold roasted camel hump. Such wealth and luxury are beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

The price of one dish is enough to feed a family of five for half a year with some left over.

Even those tablewares, if taken out casually, would be enough to lift a family out of poverty.

Which of these wealthy and powerful families isn't a parasite feeding on the people?

Now their heads have been chopped off and hung at the city gate, and the blood and essence that fell from their bodies have become food for everyone in this ghost city.

When Xiao Ran entered the city, she saw people collecting blood at the entrance and pouring it all into a wooden bucket. Xiao Ran didn't understand it at the time, but now, seeing the wooden bucket the boss was using to serve noodles, she immediately understood the reason.

That's why people say it's all cause and effect, karma.

While they were alive, they fed on the blood of the people and squeezed their wealth; now that they are dead, they will become food for this ghost town.

Living is worse than dying, and dying is worse than living.

How can this not be retribution?

Xiao Ran shared her speculation with everyone, which caused a stir among them.

"boom!!!"

Suddenly, a huge rumble came, startling Xiao Ran and the others. Then they saw the city wall in the distance slowly rise from the ground, tearing a huge crack in the ground like the claws of a giant beast.

"This... the city wall is alive!"

Dai Long stared wide-eyed at the slowly undulating city wall in front of him, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"It's not that the city walls have come to life, it's that the whole city is in motion."

Xiao Ran spread his mental energy and discovered that the huge town was being slowly lifted up, and as the city walls slowly crawled forward, it moved northward along with them.

It's a ghost town where everyone is dead, but the town itself is alive.

This strange contrast also intrigued Xiao Ran and the others.

So the group jumped onto the roof and looked at the town in front of them, which resembled a giant tortoise, slowly moving northward.

This was quite a rare and unusual sight, at least for Xiao Ran and his group.

Hey! Look over there.

At this moment, Hualong walked to Xiao Ran's side and whispered to Xiao Ran to look to the right.

Xiao Ran glanced to the side and noticed that there were actually a few people on the rooftops in the distance. These people were scattered around and obviously not a group.

"Beginner!"

With Xiao Ran's mental strength, she could judge these people's postures and appearances with just a glance.

The presence of beginners here did not surprise Xiao Ran. Even though the company had tried its best to block the main entrances and exits, there would always be some who slipped through the net.

Or perhaps they entered from another direction; we don't know for sure.

Xiao Ran only glanced at it and then ignored it. As far as he was concerned, as long as they weren't from the Changchun Association, he wouldn't feel any aversion to any number of beginners joining.

"Rumble..."

The city wall climbed over mountains and ridges, heading north for about half a kilometer before stopping and slowly landing on the ground, motionless.

It seems that this big guy can't hold on for very long each time it moves.

As they watched the city slowly sink to the ground, Xiao Ran and the others jumped off the building. Exhausted, they found a nearby inn that looked relatively clean.

"Gentlemen, are you here for a meal or to stay the night?"

The group entered an inn, where the waiter greeted them warmly as soon as they entered.

"It's a shared dormitory, we like to sleep together."

Although everything here is free, Xiao Ran didn't dare to do anything reckless. As a young man growing up in the new century, he had been taught a principle since childhood.

What's free is often the most expensive.

Therefore, once she arrived here, Xiao Ran became even more cautious than usual.

After all, Xiao Ran could use his money power in other places, but here, with everything free, he had nowhere to use his money power.

"okay."

Upon hearing Xiao Ran's request, the waiter immediately led them to an inconspicuous room on the side of the first floor.

This is a large communal sleeping area; there are no beds here, only kang (heated brick beds).

A large kang (heated brick bed) is big enough for five or six people to sleep in.

"Hey buddy, we're from out of town, new here, and don't know the rules. Could you give us some pointers?"

Xiao Ran asked the waiter with a smile.

Although no money was given as a gift, it's still better to be polite than to refuse someone who is smiling.

Fortunately, the waiter was very enthusiastic. After hearing Xiao Ran's words, he said, "Don't worry, gentlemen, this place is peaceful and safe. There's nothing strange about it. You can just stay here with peace of mind. If you need anything, just let me know."

These words were heartwarming and comforting, but the guy was panting heavily as he spoke, and right after he finished speaking, he said this.

"But there's one thing you should remember, gentlemen."

Xiao Ran and the others looked up at the waiter.

Five men and a tiger stared intently at him. Even the waiter was startled and dared not keep him in suspense any longer. He said to Xiao Ran and the others, "Sir, we have rules here. As soon as you hear the gongs and drums outside at midnight, even if you are in the outhouse or it is the most important thing in the world, you must put it down and go to the south city wall."

"What are you going there for?"

"Defend the city. In this chaos of war, it's hard for our City of All Beings to remain unscathed. If we encounter other forces, they will inevitably try to take advantage of us."

"So we need to make some moves here and try to run north as far as possible. I heard it's safer there." Hearing what the man said, Xiao Ran and the others also thought of the scene of the city walls trembling and the entire city slowly moving just now.

"So that's it."

Xiao Ran and the others nodded in sudden realization.

After the waiter left, the five of them sat on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Everyone should get some rest and take turns on night duty. As for food and drink, try to eat what you have brought with you. If you can avoid eating anything here, it's best not to touch it."

Xiao Ran began to give instructions.

"There seems to be something hidden in what that guy said. It looks like this place isn't as peaceful as it seems," Wu Man chimed in, picking up where Xiao Ran left off.

"Indeed, it's all nonsense, just a bunch of charlatans playing tricks. We should rest for a day and get out of the city as soon as possible."

After discussing it, the group realized that this place was not a good place and they had no intention of staying here. They planned to find out the location of the place and leave the city as soon as possible the next morning.

Just talking.

The sound of footsteps came from outside the door.

"Bang bang bang, bang!"

Four knocks were heard on the door, and then the waiter called out, "Gentlemen, someone is looking for you outside."

"Find?"

Xiao Ran looked up in confusion, but quickly realized something: "Could it be those beginners we saw earlier?"

With some questions in mind, Xiao Ran gestured for the others to rest early and then left the room.

When Xiao Ran arrived at the lobby of the inn, she took a closer look and sure enough, there was a group of people sitting at a table in the corner.

Upon seeing Xiao Ran emerge alone, one of the men suddenly stood up and waved at him, shouting, "Hey bro, over here!!"

When Xiao Ran saw the figure waving at her, her eyes widened in surprise. "Old Huang!!"

As she spoke, Xiao Ran quickly stepped forward to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Haha, it really is you! I thought it looked like you from a distance on the roof, but you've changed so much that I didn't even recognize you."

The middle-aged man in front of her walked up to Xiao Ran with great joy, stretched out his arms and hugged her, his fat body trembling with excitement.

What are you doing here??

Xiao Ran patted the man on the back, then looked up and asked.

The person in front of him was none other than one of his good brothers, Huang Le (the one Xiao Ran met on the bus, the one who runs an adult products store).
Upon hearing Xiao Ran's question, Huang Le's smile gradually faded, and he became embarrassed.

"Well... it's a long story. Please sit down and let me explain."

Huang Le gestured for Xiao Ran to sit down, and then introduced each of the people at the table to Xiao Ran.

Three men and two women, two of whom were junior high school students.

They were called Dodge, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Geely, and QQ respectively. Huang Le's current name has also been changed to Great Wall.

Xiao Ran could tell from their titles that this group was a temporary formation, even their code names were so uniform.

After Xiao Ran took her seat, a young man who looked quite capable in the group said to Xiao Ran and the others, "Hello, my name is Dodge. May I ask your name?"

"durian."

Xiao Ran nodded slightly, showing little enthusiasm towards these people.

In fact, if it weren't for Huang Le, Xiao Ran wouldn't even bother sitting with these people.

After all, no one visits a temple without a reason. These people are so eager to find them, they definitely aren't there to make friends.

Noticing Xiao Ran's cold attitude, Dodge felt somewhat embarrassed and could only look at Huang Le.

Seeing this, Huang Le had no choice but to hesitantly say to Xiao Ran, "We've run into a bit of trouble..."

"trouble?"

"Yes, we're trapped here."

Upon hearing Huang Le's words, the others' expressions changed slightly. This was not the story they had previously agreed upon. However, Huang Le disregarded these concerns and told Xiao Ran their situation in the simplest and most straightforward way.

They stumbled upon this place by accident, only to discover that everything here is free.

Not only is eating, drinking, and having fun free, but even going to the brothel next door is free.

This made them wonder if they had arrived in heaven.

What surprised them even more was that, in addition to free food, drink, and toilet facilities, they also discovered that they could obtain cursed items for free here.

This was an incredibly auspicious place for them.

They had been squandering their time here for quite some time, intending to go out and inquire about some news, only to discover that they couldn't get out.

The hint given is that their consumption here requires something called "contribution" to repay it.

How do I earn contributions?
It's very simple: defend the city.

You can earn contribution points by participating in a city defense once.

They were all dumbfounded. They had been trapped in this godforsaken place. If they were just trapped here, it would be fine, but every time they defended the city, it was like crawling out of a pile of dead bodies.

They originally numbered more than ten, but now only these few remain.

Huang Le and his group shamelessly approached Xiao Ran, hoping she could help them, or at the very least, assist them in defending the city...

(End of this chapter)