Chapter 2432: Chaos
Under the intense pressure, Xu Huo finally relented, slumping dejectedly onto a tree root with his hands covering his face.
The Yin-Yang Master stopped looking at him and turned to ask Bubble Bean if he had spotted any figure.
Bubble Bean pondered for a moment, then asked him about the details regarding "Deng Guang."
The Yin-Yang Master had indeed heard Deng Guang's shout. "I told you just now—when I heard the voice, I unconsciously took it seriously. I completely forgot about the friend thing, and my first reaction was to walk over. But you called out and I snapped out of it. It's not that hard to guard against."
"It's not about whether it's easy to guard against—it's that we've been targeted." Bubble Bean stared at him intently. "Did you really hear a shout?"
The Yin-Yang Master was already a bit impatient from being questioned repeatedly, and now he grew even more irritated. "You don't trust me? Think I'm lying?"
Bubble Bean's expression shifted uncertainly, but in the end, he said nothing.
Disappointed, the Yin-Yang Master punched the tree beside him in frustration. "Fine, don't believe me then! I'm not lying!"
"It's not necessarily that he's lying," Xu Huo suddenly interjected. "Maybe it's your so-called friend doing it on purpose."
The two turned to look at him, and saw him sneering. "Deng Guang—that's the guy who called out to me from outside yesterday, right? I know he's hiding in the woods without showing himself. He's probably gotten addicted to pretending to be the 'Hidden Friend,' not just targeting me as a non-instance player, but even going after his own companions."
That was indeed a possibility. Deng Guang had left on his own back then and hadn't replied to their messages since. Even if the communicator was jammed by magnetic interference, the Under Dimension could still be used—there was no reason for complete silence. Although there had been a reduction in instance members afterward, that didn't mean the one missing was him!
"Does he know this guy isn't an instance player?" The Yin-Yang Master's eyes widened slightly. "He wouldn't be treating us as a mission, would he?"
The situation was too strange. Even Bubble Bean couldn't be sure now. "If it really was him, we should have spotted his trail just now. Didn't you only hear a voice?"
"Hard to say," the Yin-Yang Master muttered, unconsciously rubbing the sword in his hand. "What if he's a Super Evolver? He could be using this chaotic venue to kill people."
"Don't jump to conclusions. Without seeing the person or a corpse, nothing is certain." Bubble Bean was no longer concerned about whether Deng Guang was alive or dead. "What he said about the role-playing identity might not be true..."
The Yin-Yang Master turned back to Xu Huo. "You really didn't hear anyone calling me just now?"
"Was there really someone calling you?" Xu Huo countered instead of answering.
The two were at odds, and the Yin-Yang Master felt a murderous intent rise, but he dared not act. Only he himself knew whether someone had truly called his name.
Because they had been teleported once, they had lost their sense of direction. Bubble Bean could only estimate roughly. "The teleportation came from the opposite direction of our travel—about ten thousand meters. We should be near the village we passed before. Let's backtrack and look."
After walking quickly for half an hour without finding the previous village, the three realized they were lost again.
"We walked for two days earlier without seeing a single ghost, and now this again?" The Yin-Yang Master grew restless. "If I run into that figure again, I'll cut him down for sure!"
But as he spoke, his gaze suddenly fixed on one side, and he stumbled back two steps. "Someone's there!"
The next second, Bubble Bean's prop flew out, and a powerful gust of air blasted away the surrounding fog, revealing a large stretch of forest. Aside from the areas blocked by trees, everything was clear.
No one.
"Impossible!" the Yin-Yang Master exclaimed. "I clearly saw a figure run past me just now!"
"Within a few meters, even if I couldn't see, I wouldn't have been completely unaware." Bubble Bean looked at him. "Put on your soundproof earplugs and cover your eyes."
Only he had heard and seen it. The Yin-Yang Master understood that he was the one being targeted, so he cooperated by sealing off his hearing and vision, letting Bubble Bean lead him.
In the three-person team, Xu Huo walked ahead, with Bubble Bean and the Yin-Yang Master side by side.
This method seemed to work. For a long time afterward, the Yin-Yang Master had no issues—at least no one else jumped in fright at seeing figures or hearing voices.
But not long after, the instance's remaining player count updated twice in a row, finally settling at 35.
Two more were gone.
Whether Deng Guang was deliberately playing tricks, had left on his own, or was dead remained unknown. The instance count kept dropping. The "Hidden Friend" only needed one friend per day. Even if it was the real "Hidden Friend" killing, the chance of consecutive kills was slim. This was likely players consuming each other.
"Complete madmen," Bubble Bean muttered to himself.
In his view, making a move when the instance situation was unclear was the stupidest approach. Killing a few people wasn't hard—what was dangerous was cutting off your own escape route!
Just as he was silently condemning others, a voice suddenly drilled into his ear.
He stopped abruptly and immediately looked toward the source of the sound. The fog was too thick to see anything, but judging by the volume, it was no more than fifty meters away.
What was that?
Several props flew out of his hand. First, a strong wind blew away the surrounding fog, then several Blockade Barriers sealed off the area, followed by flying blades and knives darting swiftly through the forest.
At the same time, he used some specialized restraint props and traits, chanting phrases like "Arrest by law," "Hide-and-seek countdown," and "Your humanity shines brightly."
The props that flew back had no blood on them, and his traits hadn't taken effect. The trees in the forest had been slashed by him, but they only slowly fell, quickly covered again by the returning fog.
No one!
Bubble Bean quickly turned his gaze back to the Yin-Yang Master and Xu Huo, suspicion and scrutiny in his eyes. The Yin-Yang Master had already removed his earplugs and blindfold and was about to ask what was happening when he looked up and saw Bubble Bean charging at him. He hurriedly activated a Defense prop, but the two only brushed past each other—Bubble Bean's real target was Xu Huo, who was ahead of him!
Xu Huo had retracted the coverage of his Spiritual Realm and used the method he learned from the Goddess—applying a highly localized Spiritual Interference, combined with the chaotic magnetic field—to successfully interfere with the Yin-Yang Master twice. Neither of them had noticed anything wrong. Now Bubble Bean was attacking him, probably trying to eliminate him as a variable.
Several rings of light surrounded Xu Huo, not only blocking Bubble Bean's attack but also rebounding it. Watching the startled and furious man retreat, Xu Huo said through gritted teeth, "Don't think you're the only ones with good props!"
The Yin-Yang Master reacted quickly, already blocking off the other direction. "Is this kid the one causing trouble?!"