Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 843 Knock on the door

It was probably too cold; the cold seemed to freeze people's memories as well, and Chen Yi couldn't recall anything for a moment.

"Hmm..." Thumbelina lowered her head and ate the bread crumbs, making a constant crunching sound, while the smile on Chen Yi's face grew increasingly stiff.

No other problems. As Thumbelina's mouth opened and closed as she bit into the bread crumbs, he finally saw her teeth clearly.

Thumbelina's teeth were all sharp, and with her white teeth biting down, she could break apart bread crumbs that were as hard as sticks, chew them, and swallow them.

Chen Yi then realized something.

It seems that from the beginning until now... Thumbelina has always had a slight smile with her lips pursed; she has never actually grinned.

Was it because of her teeth?

It turns out that Thumbelina's teeth... were actually sharp.

This discovery sent a chill down Chen Yi's spine, and he subconsciously looked up at An Jie not far away.

Anjie was helping He Lingling walk towards the cave entrance when she noticed Chen Yi's gaze and nodded slightly.

—Can I knock now?

Chen Yi received her gaze: "..."

Chen Yi took a deep breath and, without changing his expression, looked at Thumbelina, who had already chewed and swallowed the last crumb of bread, and said:

"The snow is falling heavier and heavier."

He looked worried and whispered, "It's so cold. Shouldn't we find somewhere to hide quickly?"

"..." Thumbelina, who had a little food in her stomach, licked her lips, and her half of her body, which was frozen with ice crystals, made a "crackling" sound.

Ice shards began to fall from her frozen body. Thumbelina looked up at Chen Yi and cautiously reached out to grab his arm.

"Then where are we going to find somewhere to hide...?"

Chen Yi's expression stiffened. He was thinking too much, but he only hesitated for a moment and didn't move.

Thumbelina's icy hand gripped Chen Yi's arm through the thin fabric, making him breathe a little rapidly.

"How's it going there?"

Chen Yi calmly looked up at where An Jie and the others were, "Let's go knock on the door together, maybe there's someone or an animal there?"

Chen Yi sighed and said softly, "I hope it will be a kind animal that is willing to help us."

Thumbelina, who was holding Chen Yi's arm, smiled, and a faint blush appeared on her pale face.

"Will do."

"Thumbelina said softly."

Chen Yi's heart skipped a beat, and he turned around as if he hadn't heard: "What?"

"...I said I would."

Thumbelina, holding Chen Yi's arm, smiled and whispered:

"It will definitely be a kind animal that is willing to help us."

Chen Yi breathed a sigh of relief and winked gently at An Jie and the others.

Having received the message, An Jie understood and said to Xu Han, who was standing at the cave entrance, "Xiao Han, knock on the door."

"what?"

Xu Han, who was leaning against Yu Shijiu and secretly watching Chen Yi and Thumbelina walk in their direction, almost didn't react when he heard this.

"Should we knock now? Don't we have to wait for Brother Chen and Thumbelina to come?"

Although Chen Yi and Thumbelina were very close, Xu Han felt that something was off.

Wait, wasn't Thumbelina best friends with Shi Jiu? How come she fell for someone else just because Chen gave her a piece of bread?

That was way too fast! So fast he couldn't even react in time—

"Knock first."

Anjie: "It won't waste any time."

He Lingling, who had been silent the whole time, was wrapped in a bath towel and kept sneezing, her throat was a little hoarse.

"Knock," He Lingling said weakly, leaning against An Jie. "This should be it."

Yu Shijiu gazed at the vast expanse of white snow where the sky met the earth in the distance, listening silently to the conversation of the others.

"Oh oh oh."

Xu Han no longer hesitated and raised his hand to knock on the door.

Boom boom boom!

A knock sounded on the cold, desolate snow. Thumbelina pulled Chen Yi by the arm, stepping into the snow, "crunch—crunch—"

The snow made a squeaking sound as it was being compressed by gravity, and Thumbelina's heart started pounding for no reason.

Would any person or animal actually be willing to open the door?

In such extreme cold, are there really such kind people? She hadn't even gone very far... how could someone/animal be willing to help them?

As more and more negative emotions flooded her mind, Thumbelina instinctively tightened her grip on Chen Yi's arm and whispered:

Will the door really open?

Chen Yi paused in his steps.

He and Thumbelina were now very close to the group at the cave entrance; they could practically reach out and touch Ange on the outermost edge.

"of course."

Chen Yi smiled and patted Thumbelina's hand (making sure he wouldn't catch it before daring to), gently comforting her:

"No one, or even any animal, can stand by and watch a group of lives freeze to death in their own doorstep. Don't worry, if all else fails..."

Chen Yi paused slightly, a scene from the original novel echoing in his mind—

"...As winter arrived, snow began to fall from the white sky. Thumbelina, shivering from the cold, ran desperately through the empty rice paddies. Before she knew it, she had reached the door of an old field mouse's house. Thumbelina hesitated for a moment, then, with tears in her eyes, she raised her heavy little hand and knocked on the old field mouse's door several times. A very old field mouse, wearing reading glasses, quickly opened the door. As soon as he opened it, he saw a very beautiful girl standing in front of his door and instantly fell in love with Thumbelina."

Thumbelina looked up at Chen Yi, who stood beside her like a tower, and seeing that he didn't speak, she immediately asked anxiously:

"What if all else fails? What should I do? What can I do?"

“Don’t rush,” Chen Yi recalled the original story and replied with his head down, “If it doesn’t want to open the door, we can cry.”

Thumbelina was taken aback: "..."

cry?

Boom boom boom!

Xu Han's palms ached from knocking on the door so much, and he asked in bewilderment:

"What's going on? I remember—no, wasn't the door in that place supposed to open instantly?"

Wasn't it said that a kind old field mouse lived in the hole?

“It’s not a real fairy tale…” He Lingling leaned on An Jie and complained weakly, “We should be thanking our lucky stars if it’s just something like a toad that comes out.”

Yu Shijiu couldn't help but chuckle. He rubbed his hands, which were stiff from the cold, and whispered:

"It's alright. If it's just some toad thief like those toads, I can kill it."

An Jie, He Lingling, and Xu Han: "..."

Even Chen Yi and Thumbelina, who could actually hear everything behind them, were speechless.

Anjie pinched her brow helplessly. "Let's forget about it then. After all, it's someone else's house. If we really kill it, wouldn't that be burglary and murder plus ransacking the house?"

He Lingling declined to comment on the matter.

In her opinion, if she didn't have to worry about the potential plot disruptions that might result from killing the field mouse, she would actually support Yu Shijiu killing the field mouse directly.

In the fairy tale "Thumbelina," He Lingling actually didn't really like the character of the old field mouse.

While it's undeniable that the other party did save Thumbelina from freezing, their subsequent act of taking advantage of her kindness was rather unappealing.

Yu Shijiu blinked, not really caring: "So what?"

A few scattered frosty drops fell from the boy's eyelashes. He smiled and said, "Are we some kind of good people?"

The stunned look on Thumbelina's face vanished instantly as the group talked.

Although she didn't quite understand what Yu Shijiu meant by those words—in her opinion, Yu Shijiu was clearly very kind.

After thinking it over and over but still not figuring it out, Thumbelina hesitated for several seconds, then spoke softly, a little embarrassed:

"If... if someone needs to cry, I can help too."

She still remembered what Chen Yi had just said.

"..."

After Thumbelina finished speaking, she lowered her eyelids, not daring to look up, completely unaware that the people around her were exchanging glances, and that Chen Yi was nodding with a smile.

"Okay."

Chen Yi said.

“A girl as beautiful as you will surely win the hearts and affections of the people living in the cave.”

Thumbelina looked up in surprise, her eyes wide: "...Huh? Me?"

She could hardly believe it.

"of course."

Chen Yi's smile remained unchanged as he continued his deception: "If I opened the door and saw a beautiful and kind girl like you, I wouldn't have the heart to watch her freeze to death in the cold winter."

The others tacitly kept quiet, watching as Thumbelina lowered her head, seemingly lost in thought. She quickly clenched her fist firmly, took a deep breath, and walked over to Xu Han to take his place.

"Let me do it."

Thumbelina whispered, "I'll give it a try."

Xu Han's eyes lit up, and he quickly nodded, suppressing his joy.

"Okay, okay, come here, come knock on the door."

As he spoke, fearing he might get in Thumbelina's way, he took several steps back to the side.

He Lingling, who was almost bumped into by Xu Han: "..."

She sighed, too exhausted to say anything to Xu Han. She simply nudged his arm, and he surprisingly moved aside.

Yu Shijiu turned his head to look at Thumbelina standing by the wooden door of the narrow cave entrance, his gaze slowly moving from the girl's deep breath and her timid eyes to the wooden door.

The wooden door was poorly made, and the soil around it was wet, clearly soaked by melted snow. Overall, it looked rather dirty.

But it's still quite small and exquisite.

The thought of a field mouse that walks upright and even wears glasses living behind the door... made Yu Shijiu incredibly curious.

Human-like upright-walking field mice... it's really hard to imagine.

dong dong dong-

Thumbelina raised her hand and knocked on the door. Her knocking was slower and more delicate than Xu Han's, and even showed a lot of subtle hesitation.

Will the door really open?

Do animals really come and open the door for you?

Thumbelina's mind was in complete chaos, and she knocked on the door almost incoherently until she could hear footsteps behind the wooden door.

Thumbelina stopped abruptly, then hurriedly turned back to look at Chen Yi and Yu Shijiu.

Yu Shijiu was nearby, and the half of his body that had been frozen by Thumbelina had regained some temperature.

He reached out and grabbed Thumbelina's hand, which had stopped moving, and smiled:

"Don't stop, I can already hear footsteps."

Thumbelina hesitated, looking up into his eyes. "Will it open? Will it really open?"

"It will definitely open."

Yu Shijiu said the exact same words as Chen Yi, speaking softly:

"Trust me, whatever is at the door, it will open the door for us."

It wasn't that he had a good grasp of the plot, but rather because of Thumbelina in front of him.

Thumbelina, who has absolutely no memory of anything, doesn't understand one thing at all.

That is, as long as she knocks on the door, the field mouse behind the door will definitely open it.

Yu Shijiu's confident tone finally gave Thumbelina courage. She nodded vigorously and whispered:

"I know, it will open the door for me, it will definitely open the door for me..."

Having regained her courage, Thumbelina knocked on the door again. This time, a weary woman's voice quickly answered from the wooden doorway.

"Who is it? Why are you knocking on my door in the middle of winter instead of resting at home?"

Thumbelina's hand froze, and for some reason she suddenly found it difficult to speak; even her eyes inexplicably began to sting.

When she spoke again, her voice was inexplicably hoarse: "I...please...please let me in to warm up..."

Thumbelina, weeping, knocked on the door again, pleading with choked sobs:

"Please, it's snowing heavily outside. If I can't find shelter from the snow, I'll freeze to death, I really will freeze to death... Please, please open the door..."

The weathered, elderly woman's voice behind the wooden door disappeared.

Upon seeing this, Thumbelina's sobs, which had been choked with emotion, suddenly broke down. She seemed unable to accept it and took a step back, but Chen Yi reached out to support her.

Seeing that no sound came from behind the wooden door, the expressions on their faces turned rather grim.

Could it be that their guess was wrong?

Just as Anjie was getting a little annoyed and was about to step forward, a dull thud of a latch being pulled rang in everyone's ears.

"..."

Thumbelina's somewhat broken sobs stopped abruptly.

The tightly closed wooden door in front of them was opened.

Behind the door stood an old field mouse that walked upright, wearing a flowery shawl and reading glasses.

The old field mouse looked at Thumbelina being helped up by Chen Yi, and the impatience on his face suddenly disappeared.

She took a step forward anxiously, "Oh dear! What's wrong? Child, what's wrong with you?"

The old field mouse adjusted his reading glasses and anxiously reached out to touch Thumbelina's head.

Thumbelina was startled. "You—"

"poor child."

The old field mouse felt the coldness of its hands, blinked, and said sadly:

"How long have you been frozen? My goodness, it's so cold outside..."

While the old field mouse was talking to itself, Yu Shijiu just watched her constantly opening and closing mouth, and even her head and her feet.

Yu Shijiu curiously examined her strange attire, his gaze finally settling on the small eyes behind her reading glasses.

To be honest, compared to the kind and benevolent character described in the original story, the old field mouse standing in front of him at this moment even looked a bit scary.

It's terrifying in the literal sense.