# Chapter 2184: Threats from the Instance
The worst thing about sitting under a flowering tree was the risk of being buried. Brushing off the flower crown and the thick layer of petals from his body, Xu Huo rotated his wheelchair and moved toward an area with fewer trees. However, the ground was also covered in petals, making it inconvenient for the wheelchair, and it got stuck after only a short distance.
"Let me help you." A gentle female voice sounded from behind him, and then the wheelchair began to move.
"Thank you." Xu Huo indicated that she could let go.
"Let's go to that pavilion over there," the woman said. "There are fewer people there, and the air is better."
Xu Huo didn't refuse and allowed the woman to push him there.
The woman didn't leave either. Instead, she sat down beside him, gazing at the park where flower petals drifted like snow, and said with a smile, "This is the most beautiful place in this city. Whether men, women, or androgynous, everyone here wears a smile, having forgotten their worries."
Xu Huo "looked" ahead. "Is that so."
"Anyone would find it hard to bear destroying such a beautiful scene, wouldn't they?" The woman suddenly changed the subject. "Most of the people living here are ordinary. They don't know about the game, they're not interested in instances, they just want to live ordinary lives. But some players from outer zones don't think that way. Sometimes it's as if they've never seen beauty before, and the first thought that comes to them upon seeing it is to destroy it."
This piqued Xu Huo's interest. "Most people would think such individuals have bad character and sympathize with them... That's a rather novel perspective."
The woman chuckled softly, the sound very quiet yet somehow unsettling.
"As you say, then wouldn't our conversation be meaningless?" Xu Huo asked.
"There's no difference. They're all petals." Xu Huo replied.
The woman caught a few petals that drifted into the pavilion and placed one of them in Xu Huo's hand. "Feel it."
"No, there are still some subtle differences, but those subtle differences aren't worth examining closely." The woman's voice carried a hint of amusement.
"I recall that this district also has laws." He paused, then added.
"Laws are also details not worth examining closely."
The woman gave him a definitive answer, then added, "Because in essence, they are all petals. Growing and withering like this is their entire life."
"Do you mean that the outer zone players who kill, and the ordinary people of this district, are like these two petals—their differences so small they're not worth examining?" Xu Huo asked in surprise.
Human nature wouldn't allow it.
"Petals?" Xu Huo didn't understand her meaning, and then a second petal was pressed into his hand. He heard the woman ask, "What difference do you see between these two petals?"
People usually feel disgust toward stronger destroyers, and if that destroyer targets them personally and destroys their beautiful life, that disgust escalates into hatred. Would victims forgive criminals just because of their sympathetic life experiences?
Xu Huo was speechless. Indeed, people wouldn't closely examine the differences in the veins of two petals, and examining them seemed meaningless.
"That should be it." The woman picked up a petal that had fallen on her clothes and looked at it carefully. "But you are different."
Xu Huo frowned slightly, about to say something, when a shout from Yellow Hair came from afar. He paused, and then a strong wind blew from the front, sending countless falling petals striking him. When the wind passed, only he remained in the pavilion.
Yellow Hair and the other two approached. "Are you mentally okay? Sitting here alone muttering to yourself."
"Didn't you see the woman beside me?" Xu Huo pointed to his right.
"No, it's been just you the whole time." Yellow Hair looked again uncertainly, then took two steps to the side. "Were you really talking to someone just now?"
"What are you afraid of?" Xu Huo said calmly. "Even if there really was someone you couldn't see, it would only mean something had tampered with things."
"Right, right!" Yellow Hair gave a dry laugh.
"Are you alright?" The three of them all looked at him.
"What could be wrong with me." Yellow Hair changed the subject. "Maybe you were interfered with and haven't recovered yet, having hallucinations."
"Perhaps." Xu Huo nodded. "The floral scent here is too strong. It makes one dizzy. Let's go somewhere else."
With that, the group ended their park visit and headed to the next sightseeing location.
Yellow Hair noticed Xu Huo's lack of energy and suggested he return to the hotel to rest, but Xu Huo refused.
"You're worried about Ah Hai," Yellow Hair said. "I'm not going to do anything to him. Broken limbs and blinded eyes, and he still follows you. Even 'persevering despite disability' isn't enough to praise you."
Ah Hai indicated that as long as he was in Purple Lake City, he would be safe. Players feared the Goddess and generally wouldn't commit crimes here.
Xu Huo was indeed very tired. He took out a robot, had it follow Ah Hai, and then returned to the hotel alone.
Just as he lay down on the bed, a pitch-black shadow appeared at the foot of the bed. He moved his gaze downward. "You've been appearing more and more frequently lately..."
Before he could finish speaking, the black shadow suddenly grabbed his ankle and yanked him downward with force!
The person who had been lying properly on the bed suddenly sank into water. The surrounding light disappeared, and boundless black water quickly covered his body, then closed above his head, leaving only a faint glimmer of light on the surface.
It was as if he had returned to Dou Shengnan's black water. Glancing at the light on the surface, Xu Huo lowered his head again. The "shadow personality" gripping his legs happened to be looking up "at" him, and on its pitch-black face, a pair of eyes suddenly grew!
This wasn't particularly terrifying imagery, but the moment their eyes met, Xu Huo couldn't control his fear. He began to struggle violently, frantically kicking at the person beneath him.
It was useless. His actions caused no harm to the "shadow personality." Unable to break free, he could only watch helplessly as the light on the water's surface grew farther and farther away...
A black materialized object pulled open his eyelids.
The childhood personality's face appeared in his vision. Xu Huo bolted upright, gasping for breath several times before realizing that his body and the bed were covered in black materialized object threads. These materialized objects, condensed from spiritual power, kept moving, gradually crawling across the entire room.
Even the ceiling looked as if it had been doodled on with black ink. He took a deep breath and retracted his spiritual power.
"What just happened?" Rubbing his throbbing head, he said, "Has Dou Shengnan's problem not been resolved yet?"
As he spoke, he paused, then suddenly understood. His lowered eyes carried a hint of gloom. "It's not Dou Shengnan. It's this instance."
"The Goddess really knows how to threaten people."
The childhood personality patted his shoulder. Raising its hand, black materialized objects flowed, and soon a black cube appeared in its palm.
"Dou Shengnan's materialized object?" Xu Huo turned his head to look at himself crouching beside him. "You want to give it to me?"
The childhood personality nodded slightly, and then disappeared along with the materialized object.