Chapter 84: The Xenomorph That Tears Apart Cars
Wu Qiuyi sat down but still glared fiercely at Nian and Wang. The two of them wisely shrank into the corner, not daring to get in anyone's way.
"By the way, where did you find the chocolate?" Lin Pei asked.
Wu Qiuyi paused at the question, then recounted the whole story.
Lin Pei and Ke Liang both looked dazed.
"Why didn't you try to answer the riddles?" Xu Huo asked.
"Because the people who came before us told us that," Lin Pei said. "They said we absolutely must not answer the questions, or else we'd face disaster."
"Who would have thought answering questions would get you food," Ke Liang said, his expression regretful. "If I'd known that earlier, I would have risked everything to try. Then Xiao Heng wouldn't have starved to death!"
"That doesn't add up," Gu Yu said. "When people are starving to death, wouldn't they still gamble on a chance? Why would your companions rather starve?"
Wu Qiuyi and the other two weren't entirely sure either. Xiao Heng had entered the instance the earliest. Although there were eight people when they came in, the rule about not answering riddles had come from Xiao Heng. He said that everyone who entered with him had been killed trying to solve the riddles, and he himself didn't really understand what happened—he just barely survived by chance.
"Because of that, you didn't even dare to try?" Gu Yu said incredulously. "I had already been fasting for a week before I came in. If I had to go hungry for a few more days, I wouldn't just risk trying—I'd even be willing to eat people!"
Nian and Wang shrank back even further.
"It's not as simple as you say," Lin Pei said. "You know someone died trying to break through the door, but you don't know how they died."
"Wasn't it killed by a xenomorph?" Shen Xin interjected.
"You'll see soon enough."
The bus slowly drove out of the town and into the dense forest. After about half an hour, the massive mechanical wall hidden by the tall trees finally came into view.
The enormous metal wall, showing no visible seams on its surface, curved around the outer edge of the forest. At its center, a metal frame about ten meters in both length and width was embedded at the bottom, right next to the tracks, but it had no conventional concept of a door.
It had no handles, no switches, and no carved hints. It looked like someone had just drawn a few lines on the wall.
Was this supposed to be a door?
"That's the East Gate," Lin Pei said. "Do you see the scratches on the door?"
There were a few faint, inconspicuous marks near the edge of the door.
"Those don't look like marks left by a car," Xu Huo said, examining them closely.
"That's right," Lin Pei nodded. "Brother Liu found an old car to ram the door, but the car didn't leave a single mark when it hit. Instead, the noise attracted a xenomorph. When we came back to check later, we confirmed those were claw marks."
His expression showed some fear. As the bus continued along the wall for a while, gradually revealing a pile of debris in the grass, he continued, "That's the car Brother Liu used."
Xu Huo's expression shifted slightly as he slowly stood up.
The pile of junk in the grass was completely unrecognizable as a car. All the parts were broken and battered—not the kind of damage from cutting, but from violent tearing and bending. The broken edges had irregular curls, and some fragments still had holes in them, shaped like fingers had punched through. Nearby, there were undulating palm prints.
"This isn't the same xenomorph from the clock shop," he said immediately.
The palm and footprints left by the clock shop xenomorph were larger than normal, but its strength should have been far from this level.
"I've seen the clock shop xenomorph," Wu Qiuyi said. "I think it's a completely different kind of xenomorph."
"Calling it a xenomorph, but its hands aren't that different from a normal person's," Gu Yu shuddered. "Tearing apart a car with bare hands? It's a humanoid monster!"
"No wonder someone would rather starve than take the risk."
The atmosphere on the bus grew heavy. Such a disparity in strength was enough to make anyone feel hopeless.
"But why did you come out safely after answering the riddle in the clock shop?" Shen Yi turned to look at Xu Huo. "Maybe that's a breakthrough."
Lin Pei and the others perked up, staring intently at Xu Huo and Wu Qiuyi.
Wu Qiuyi looked confused. Ever since she failed to stop Xu Huo from throwing the doll toy, she had been led around by the nose.
"Maybe it was just luck. There are many such puzzle mechanisms in this town. Perhaps not every one is a death trap."
"How do we tell the difference?" Shen Xin said disappointedly. "We can't just try them all one by one."
"Tell us in detail. If we pool our ideas, we might find a clue," Lin Pei said.
Wu Qiuyi repeated the story. Lin Pei thought seriously for a moment, then said, "The problem might be the number of people. There were only two of you."
"That's right!" Ke Liang slapped his thigh. "This town absolutely forbids three people from appearing in public at the same time. Maybe that's why Xiao Heng's companions were all killed! It must be!"
Wu Qiuyi wasn't sure. She subconsciously looked at Xu Huo, who was frowning and seemed lost in thought. She softened her voice and asked, "What do you think?"
Xu Huo's expression darkened. "We need to find a way to lure the xenomorph out and kill it, or trap it."
"Are you crazy!" Gu Yu blurted out. The others also looked incredulous. After seeing that pile of wreckage, who would want to face the xenomorph in this town head-on?
"Do you have another way?" Xu Huo swept his gaze over the group and said calmly, "The walls outside the town are all made of this indestructible metal, without any surface to climb. They're over seventy meters high. There's no way to leave the town except by opening the door."
"We don't know how to open the door yet, but any attempt to investigate will definitely alert the xenomorph."
"Unless we can find the mechanism to open the door, and that mechanism can open it silently, otherwise the players and the xenomorph will inevitably face off."
"Rather than being attacked, it's better to find a way to kill the xenomorph. That way, we can move freely."
Lin Pei could see he wasn't just talking offhand. He let out a breath and said, "That is indeed a radical solution. And if we kill the xenomorph, we can move around the town more easily."
"But how do we kill a xenomorph?" Shen Xin's eyes darted across their faces. "We're clearly no match for it."
"It doesn't have to be killed. Trapping it would work too," Wu Qiuyi said. "As long as we find a place to lock the xenomorph up, we'll have succeeded."
"But we've looked at the houses in this town over the past few days. There's nothing particularly sturdy," Ke Liang said. "And even if there were, what would we use to block the doors and windows?"
A xenomorph that could tear apart a car and leave scratches on a metal wall that a car couldn't even dent—what could ordinary steel do to it?
"Is there a map of the town?" Xu Huo asked.