# Chapter 105: The Unique Key
Xu Huo dodged the flying arrows. When he climbed higher, Lin Pei's figure had already disappeared into the building. He didn't pursue but instead turned back to Wang Chaoqing and asked, "If you can crawl through network cables, can you crawl through electrical wires?"
Wang Chaoqing looked somewhat bewildered. "Maybe I can..."
"Find Lin Pei. See where he's holed up." Xu Huo put away his prop and reached out to pull Gu Yu, but she slapped his hand away.
"But don't I need to grab a hostage?" Wang Chaoqing asked dutifully. "Four against two, it'd be inconvenient without me."
Xu Huo twisted his neck. "What do you think?"
Watching Shen Yi and Ke Liang walking toward him, Wang Chaoqing awkwardly let go and walked over to a clock. He placed his hand on it, and a dark, gauze-like substance crawled from his hand into the clock.
On the other side, Shen Yi pulled Shen Xin close, watching Xu Huo warily. "What exactly are you trying to do?"
"Eliminate some unnecessary trouble," Xu Huo said. "Make things clear in the shortest possible time."
"And this is your method?" Gu Yu said angrily. "Why didn't you tell me beforehand?"
Xu Huo frowned slightly but didn't answer. Ke Liang said, "You don't trust us. You don't trust anyone."
"Be understanding. I nearly lost my life at Master Nicer's residence." He took the pocket watch from his pocket, holding it in the air and gently swinging it.
Gu Yu sneered. "What do you take me for? That I'd kill someone just because of a few words from Lin Pei?"
"We've been through life and death together, and you strike at us without saying a word."
"If we had actually fought you to the death, what would you have done then?"
"If Lin Pei's words couldn't move you, could mine?" Xu Huo's emotions were flat, his voice calm. "I just want to deal with the Lin Pei problem. Rather than spending time and energy arguing and proving things, it's better to think about what comes next."
"You..." Gu Yu was furious at his unflappable demeanor, as if everything was under his control and he couldn't be bothered to explain himself to people like them.
But having Lin Pei in the team was indeed a problem. Whether or not his attack on Xu Huo succeeded today, there was no guarantee he wouldn't target others later.
Thinking it over, cutting through the knot quickly wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Suppressing her anger, she turned and said, "In the game, you can't go far if you don't trust the team. If you treat everyone as enemies, sooner or later everyone will become your enemies."
"You're right," Xu Huo said sincerely.
Gu Yu was so angry she stomped hard on the doll on the ground, making it screech like a screaming chicken over and over.
"Calm down! Calm down!" Shen Xin quickly said. "What if Lin Pei releases more alien creatures?"
Gu Yu's throat ached and her fists itched. She gritted her teeth and said, "I want to hit someone!"
What else could the others say? Xu Huo's method hadn't considered their feelings, but it had reduced potential danger, and they were beneficiaries too.
"Is the prop Lin Pei mentioned this thing?" Shen Yi was drawn to the pocket watch in Xu Huo's hand. He couldn't help asking, "What exactly is this prop that makes him attack you repeatedly?"
"I don't know either." Xu Huo smiled slightly. "This is just a pocket watch I picked up casually. There are many more at Master Nicer's residence."
"My guess is," he explained, "all the players are strangers with no grudges. He's not trying to stop others from leaving this dungeon either."
"Killing other players to inherit their belongings—the first things you get are props and potions. Whether props or potions, either this item is extremely valuable, and Lin Pei is willing to risk not being able to leave the dungeon to get it."
"Or..."
"Or he's found a way out but is missing a key item." Shen Xin immediately said, "Maybe the gate latch to open the door is hidden in a locked place, and he needs this key!"
"That's one way to put it," Xu Huo said. "Releasing alien creatures and making us fight each other could both lead to us not leaving the dungeon. If he dares to do this, the worst possibility is that he already knows how to leave the dungeon, which is why he's so reckless."
Shen Yi's face changed slightly. "If he knows how to get out, what if he runs off and closes the door on us? Can your sword cut through the gate?"
"Don't have too high expectations for my prop." Xu Huo said, "We don't know how thick the walls are. Prop abilities are limited."
He gestured with his chin toward Wang Chaoqing. "Didn't we send him to track Lin Pei? If he finds the person, maybe we'll find clues."
Gu Yu and the others turned to stare at the sleazy-looking bespectacled youth, their eyes full of distrust.
Wang Chaoqing was a bit scared. He swallowed and said, "Um, I want to ask, if I don't find him, will I get beaten up?"
Gu Yu let out a "Ha" and cracked her knuckles, scaring him so much he quickly turned away.
"If your sword is useless, then what he knows might be the only way out. I'm worried he'll destroy the gate and cut off our escape route," Ke Liang said worriedly. "We've burned bridges with him now. To eliminate future trouble, he'll definitely do it."
"Does he really know how to get out?" Shen Yi grabbed his hair and said, "Should we go search Master Nicer's residence? Maybe there really is something that opens the door. That way we'd at least have half the bargaining chips."
He spoke urgently: "He might be at Master Nicer's place right now. If we go, we could still catch him!"
"This is just my speculation," Xu Huo said. "We've been to Master Nicer's place many times too. Without a specific target, we don't even know what to look for."
"And going now won't catch him either."
"Then if Lin Pei hasn't found anything either, doesn't that mean he doesn't know what to look for?" Shen Xin's eyes sparkled with hope. "In that case, we're not completely without hope."
"There's another possibility. Maybe Lin Pei is an idiot who thinks the dungeon background character's props are extraordinary and wants them no matter what." Gu Yu ground the doll under her foot. "If he knew how to get out, would he still be stuck here starving?"
"If he doesn't go to Master Nicer's residence tonight, your theory is more likely," Xu Huo nodded.
Gu Yu snorted and turned her head away from him, then said, "Don't be so pessimistic. Worst case scenario, even if Lin Pei runs off, there's still a door. We can each go our own way."
The others looked at each other. "That's the only way to think about it."
Meanwhile, at Master Nicer's residence.
Lin Pei was frantically searching the house with a flashlight. Various objects clattered onto the carpet. He muttered as he searched:
"A special time, a special door-opening prop, hidden only where Master Nicer might find it; a unique shape, a unique position, the only key to leave the town..."
He repeated these cryptic sentences several times. Kicking aside the mess on the floor, Lin Pei staggered backward, supporting himself on the table with red-rimmed eyes. He glared hatefully at the clock on the wall. "It must be Xu Huo. He must have found the prop. He took the key to open the door, the only key!"