Chapter 20: Night Sounds
"Nothing." Xu Huo shifted his gaze from the corpse to the overly large pile of firewood beside it and the freshly sharpened axe, then stood up to look around.
"I get it!" the short-haired female player said excitedly, holding up a pair of large and small rubber boots she'd found in the wooden cabin. "There were supposed to be two people here, probably a couple. The woman died first, and the man, seriously ill, buried her and then, utterly despairing, killed himself."
"Couldn't die earlier or later, had to die right when we walked in," the smoky-eyed woman said with a pout.
The muscular man and the others searched inside and outside the cabin but found no useful clues, so they had to put the body back inside, planning to bury it at dawn.
The group returned to the main path, crossed the woods, and arrived at the mountain villa's main hall.
This courtyard was structured like a square. The main entrance led into the hall, with corridors on either side leading to guest rooms. Each of the three sides of the square had two rooms, each with its own hot spring. At the two rear corners, there were paths leading out of the courtyard—one to the dining hall, one to the warehouse.
At a glance, the courtyard was accessible from all sides, with no privacy whatsoever.
There was no one else in the mountain villa, but it was fairly clean, and the power was working. Perhaps because the place was damp and made entirely of wood, it was filled with a musty smell.
"Six rooms. How do we split them?" the rich second-generation asked.
"Two per room is just right," the muscular man said, slapping his bicep. "But I'm not afraid to room alone either!"
"I think it's better if we stay together," the long-haired female player suggested. "If we're all together, we can look out for each other. It'll be easier to handle anything that comes up."
"Are you all forgetting something?" the middle-aged bald man suddenly said. "There might be cannibal players among us. Who wants to share a room with a cannibal player?"
"Finding a cannibal player is simple. The numbers are unique..." the cowboy man started, but the short-haired female player cut him off. "Wang Wei, don't be so glib. White players are at a disadvantage. Check numbers? Who knows who'll end up dead at whose hands!"
White players—Xu Huo had noticed back at the station when he dealt with those ticketless players that besides red and black, there was also a category of white players. Those who hadn't eaten anyone or killed anyone were likely classified as such. Compared to the other two types, white players were indeed in a tough spot.
Cowboy Wang Wei shrugged. "If you don't want to, fine. It's better to split up anyway."
"Of course we're splitting up!" the short-haired female player said, pulling the long-haired one. "You're rooming with me!"
The long-haired female player opened her mouth, then nodded in agreement.
"Let's just all split up," the suit-wearing man said, scanning the group. "In the game, everyone's out for themselves. It's only five days anyway."
The players came from different places, didn't know or trust each other, so it was only natural for them to adopt a "mind your own business" attitude.
Besides, this was a survival instance. They just had to survive five days.
"Brother Xu, can I room with you?" Since the other players didn't seem interested in teaming up, Yuan Yao had no choice but to follow Xu Huo.
"Sure." Xu Huo picked the first room on the right. Before entering, he gestured with his chin toward the front. Yuan Yao understood and immediately pretended to look for a roommate, trailing behind the other players.
He came back a while later, having figured out the room assignments.
"That long-haired beauty is called Du Lanlan. Pretty easy to talk to. The short-haired one is Xia Guo. They're staying across from us."
"The woman with the rich second-generation is a streamer. Average-looking. Her name might be fake—Liu Yuanyuan."
"They're staying next to Huang Junjie and Zhang Xiong. Huang Junjie is that middle-aged guy in the suit."
"The bald guy is Wan Zhikang. Du Lanlan and Xia Guo arrived one after the other. When they first got here, Wan Zhikang tried to suck up to them. They ignored him, so he holds a grudge. He's rooming with that foreigner, Yabo, directly across from us."
"The room next door is taken by Wang Wei. That college student had nowhere to go. When I came back, I saw Wang Wei calling him in."
Xu Huo nodded after listening. "Which two players had you not seen before?"
"Wang Wei and Huang Junjie." Yuan Yao spilled everything he'd learned from Du Lanlan. "Huang Junjie is really sharp. When Wan Zhikang was harassing them, he saw right through him at a glance. Turns out that bald guy was wearing a green hat, cheated out of all his money by his lover, and now hates beautiful women."
"They know each other?"
"No, they don't. That's why it's impressive. Huang Junjie figured it all out from little clues." Yuan Yao's voice was envious. "Why can't I have a trait that strong?"
By now, Xu Huo had finished checking the room. He drew the curtains. "Get some sleep early."
Yuan Yao suddenly felt a bit scared. He looked cautiously at the man who had remained expressionless the whole time. "Uh, Brother Xu, aren't you afraid I'm a cannibal player?"
Xu Huo lay down on the bed. "Don't worry. I'm not a cannibal player."
Yuan Yao gave an awkward laugh and lay down on the other bed.
The room was dimly lit. Outside, the hot spring in the courtyard made a steady, rhythmic sound. Xu Huo felt the phone in his pocket, mentally sorting through the players' information.
He had observed everyone. They had all come empty-handed, aside from clothes and simple everyday items like lighters or earrings. They had no phones, watches, or weapons. The game's definition of items seemed to be related to their technological level.
But since he had come directly from the station, the phone and dagger he brought hadn't disappeared.
The game prompt mentioned that the instance's low level prevented carrying non-game items, and that the mountain villa had once been popular with players and non-players. This actually hinted that the instance location wasn't completely sealed off.
You couldn't bring things in from outside the game, but if you were already inside the game world, whether or not something was a game item, you could bring it into the instance. Similarly, whether or not you were an instance player, you could enter the instance location.
And the game hadn't explicitly stated the number of participants.
Xu Huo turned over, his eyes open, meeting the person who had silently come to his bedside. "What are you doing?"
Yuan Yao almost screamed. Startled, he quickly clarified, "I don't want to hurt you! I just wanted to see the number on your back."
To prove his innocence, he first lifted his own shirt. "Really, I'm a white player!"
Xu Huo sat up, leaned against the bed, and lit a cigarette, watching the anxious Yuan Yao. "If you're so scared, why do you still want to room with me?"
Seeing that Xu Huo didn't intend to fight him, Yuan Yao relaxed a bit. "I'm just a homebody. I can't carry or lift anything. You might not believe it, but on the initial train, I almost got beaten to death by a fifteen-year-old girl... Brother Xu, you're different. You're calm and collected, and you have long hair. You look like a hidden master. I want to latch onto a strong player..."
Xu Huo raised his hand to stop him, concentrating to listen:
"Clang... clang... clang..."