Chapter 32: Appearance
"We were looking for Jia Xuyang," Huang Junjie said with emotion. "Who would have thought we'd run into the Headchopper."
"Why did he have to go into that tunnel?" Wan Zhikang complained, having bumped into the wall twice down there.
"He was probably afraid of the Headchopper," Xu Huo said. "So he planned to find a place to hide until the game ended."
"No wonder he took so much food this morning—he'd already discovered the secret passage," Zhang Xiong sneered. "He brought it on himself."
"Did you guys actually see the Headchopper?" Wang Wei looked at Xu Huo and the others. "Don't blame me for doubting you, but aside from you few, everyone else has only heard about it."
"Why would we lie to you!" Yuan Yao said angrily. "Look at my brother Xu's neck—it was almost snapped, and it's still oozing blood."
"It's true, it's true!" Abel spoke urgently, his words tumbling out. "No head, no feet—it flew! Really strong, couldn't hold it down!"
Everyone could see the wound on Xu Huo's neck. Wan Zhikang and Zhang Xiong muttered a few words about how to deal with the Headchopper, while the rich second-generation and Liu Yuanyuan exchanged glances but said nothing.
For safety, Huang Junjie suggested everyone stay together, and the others had no objections, gathering to wait for nightfall.
Xu Huo's neck was injured, and the self-healing agent wasn't very effective. He didn't join the discussion on how to deal with the Headchopper but leaned against the door, smoking and flicking his lighter.
In the tunnel, he had deliberately thrown the lighter first before using the "Arsonist's Tool." The result was as he expected—the black cloak was a special item and couldn't be set on fire.
The Headchopper seemed tall, but without the head and feet, it wasn't much different from a normal man's height. When he was choked, he couldn't touch the Headchopper's body, but he was sure someone was inside the cloak. Abel's later use of the large cross to pin it down confirmed that.
The players who hadn't shown up at the time were the rich second-generation, Liu Yuanyuan, Zhang Xiong, Wan Zhikang, and Wang Wei—five people. The one playing the Headchopper was among them.
His gaze swept over these five one by one. When it landed on Liu Yuanyuan's face, her expression suddenly turned terrified. She shot up, pointing at the main entrance and shouting, "Headchopper!"
Xu Huo immediately turned around, just in time to see a black shadow rush in from outside, crashing into the chandelier in the lobby!
Glass shattered everywhere, and the players erupted into chaos. Amid the commotion, Zhang Xiong's voice rang out: "Do you think I'm afraid of you!"
The Headchopper hit the ground and slithered like a snake into the corridor on the right!
Seeing the Headchopper knocked down by Zhang Xiong's punch, Huang Junjie felt a surge of hope. "Quick! Don't let it escape!"
Several people rushed out. Xu Huo followed, watching Zhang Xiong run past the guest rooms toward the warehouse. He sped up, got ahead of the group, and stopped Abel, who was carrying the large cross. "Don't chase."
"Why?" Abel asked, and as he spoke, the cross in his hands turned into foam.
Under the others' expressionless stares, he awkwardly scratched his hair. "This is my item, 'False Cross.' Its usage time isn't fixed—I don't know how many seconds it lasts."
"But I don't think the Headchopper is that tough. It was inconvenient in the tunnel, but out here, we might not lose to it!"
"Forget the Headchopper. Let's go back and check first." Xu Huo didn't even glance in the direction Zhang Xiong had disappeared. He turned and walked back.
Yuan Yao and Abel looked confused, but Huang Junjie suddenly said, "Why didn't the others come out?"
"Maybe they planned to circle around from outside..." Before Yuan Yao could finish, Liu Yuanyuan ran over, her face covered in blood, shouting in panic, "The Headchopper is in the lobby!"
"What!" Their expressions changed, and they quickly ran back to the lobby.
The lights in the lobby were broken. Though the light from the corridor wasn't enough to see the entire lobby clearly, the bodies on the floor and the spreading dark shadows were unmistakable.
Xu Huo walked over from behind and shone his flashlight. He saw Wan Zhikang and the rich second-generation lying in a pool of blood, their necks severed, only a bit of skin connecting their heads to their bodies. Their eyes were wide open, staring blankly in death.
"How could this happen!" Huang Junjie's eyes trembled. "If the Headchopper was here, who were we chasing?"
"Didn't you see Wang Wei?" Xu Huo raised the light to illuminate Liu Yuanyuan's face.
Liu Yuanyuan covered her face, sobbing. "I don't know. Didn't he go out with you?"
"...It's all my fault. If I had stayed to help, they might not have died so horribly. But I was too scared. When Brother Zheng told me to run, I didn't think much..."
Without a shred of pity, Xu Huo cut off her crying. "What's the point of crying over the dead? Let's find Wang Wei and Zhang Xiong first."
"I'm here!" Wang Wei's voice came from outside. He jogged in and was startled by the gruesome scene in the lobby. "What happened?"
Without answering his question, Xu Huo asked, "Why were you outside?"
"Just now, when you all chased the Headchopper, I thought I'd circle around from the yard to block it. But halfway there, I realized no one was behind me... so I came back."
Wang Wei gave an awkward smile. "I was scared alone too."
Xu Huo frowned. "Go find Zhang Xiong!"
Huang Junjie and the others were caught off guard by the sudden turn of events and quickly stopped him. "Given the situation, Zhang Xiong is probably in trouble. Let's wait until dawn!"
"Yeah, if we go out and run into the Headchopper..." Liu Yuanyuan shrank back, looking terrified.
Xu Huo gave her a cold look. "You don't have to come."
Liu Yuanyuan's expression stiffened, and she looked to the others for help.
Yuan Yao had nothing to say. Huang Junjie hesitated at first, but seeing Xu Huo's insistence and recalling the two unexplained deaths in the lobby, he decided to see what Xu Huo was up to.
Four of the remaining six followed. Liu Yuanyuan and Wang Wei had no choice but to tag along.
This time, there were no surprises. They quickly found Zhang Xiong in the warehouse. His death was the same as the college student's—slumped against the corner, his head missing.
"How is that possible!" Yuan Yao couldn't believe it. "Can the Headchopper clone itself? Killing Zhang Xiong and Wan Zhikang at the same time?"
Huang Junjie looked warily at Liu and Wang. "Could it be that the Headchopper isn't just one person?"
"What do you mean by that?" Wang Wei's face darkened. "Are you accusing me of killing Wan Zhikang?"
"You said you went out to block the Headchopper, but Zhang Xiong is dead, and you came back to the lobby alone." Initially, in the tunnel, the Headchopper's appearance had been too shocking, so he hadn't thought of it. But at that time, all the players were in the tunnel, and not everyone was present simultaneously. Someone could have killed Jia Xuyang first and then ambushed them—it was possible time-wise.
"Come to think of it, the game mission is 'Protect Our Heads.' 'Our' doesn't necessarily mean the players themselves—it could mean the ordinary player side. Between us and the enemy, if there's an ordinary player faction, there should be a Headchopper faction!"
"So you and Liu Yuanyuan belong to the Headchopper faction!"