Chapter 2434: Ignorance and Fearlessness
Although there was no direct convincing evidence, Bubble Bean and the other person still relied on their instinct for dealing with dangerous situations to suspect everything around them, guessing most of it correctly. But since they couldn't find anyone, they had no choice but to keep circling through the woods.
The longer it went on, the worse their situation became, because they gradually realized they might be going in circles in the forest... Again, they had no direct evidence, only a feeling that Xu Huo and the other person had never left and were trying to use the environment to force them to lose control.
After searching for so long without finding anyone, occasionally seeing a blurry figure flash by, with nerves stretched taut, no one could hold out forever. So they went from desperately fleeing at the start, to silent brooding, to cursing loudly in an attempt to provoke Xu Huo into revealing himself...
But the forest remained as silent as ever, and the village they had seen yesterday seemed like a dream, never to appear before them again.
Still, as advanced players, they had plenty of stamina. A few hours was nothing—they could keep going for days.
The Painting Woman, with Xu Huo's cooperation, harassed them for a while before returning. She had found some special markings in the woods, probably carved by people living nearby, so she wanted to head to the next village.
"Wait a little longer," Xu Huo said. They couldn't deal with Bubble Bean and the other person right now, but they would eventually find the nearby villages. Hypnotizing a B-rank player in an extremely short time wasn't easy, so he needed to make some preparations here.
The fog that had persisted for two days began to show signs of dissipating. The visible area gradually expanded. Since Xu Huo and his companion had yet to show themselves, Bubble Bean and the other person started to doubt their own judgment. After all, it seemed pointless for Xu Huo to interfere like this without doing anything else.
"Is what Deng Guang said true?" Yin Yang Master used a silencing item. "He said that to play the Hidden Friend, you just need to find an instance player and call out to them. Just one call, and the player would follow him?"
"What are you thinking?" Bubble Bean said. "If it were that simple, he could have just called out to Xu Huo when he was playing the Hidden Friend and taken him away. Obviously, it's fake."
"Then which part is fake—the content about the Hidden Friend, or the identity of the person playing it?" Yin Yang Master voiced his deepest doubt.
Bubble Bean couldn't judge either. "We can only hope what he said is true."
"If what he said is true and he's disappeared, then it means we all have a chance to play the Hidden Friend. It's not just the lucky ones who get picked."
The two rested briefly before moving on. When Yin Yang Master stood up, there was a sudden crackling sound under his feet. He lifted his foot, stared at the ground for a moment, and said, "Isn't this Bubble Bean grass? How did I not notice it when we came over?"
Bubble Bean himself looked down. "That's not Bubble Bean grass. It just looks a bit like it..."
Before he finished speaking, he paused, then looked more carefully. "It really is Bubble Bean grass. Don't step on it. If the bubbles burst and get on you, the smell won't fade for a day or two."
Yin Yang Master stepped aside, but as he moved away, he noticed that this entire area was covered in dense Bubble Bean grass.
The two used a levitation item to jump over it. Just then, a strong wind suddenly blew, flattening large patches of grass. With a series of crackling sounds, countless transparent bubbles rose into the air. Since the fog had cleared somewhat, the sight of so many bubbles floating up had a strange beauty to it.
Bubble Bean and the other person stepped back, took a couple more looks, and then left.
On the other side, Xu Huo and the Painting Woman had already entered the village.
This village was slightly larger than the previous one. After the fog cleared, some villagers went into the woods to pick mushrooms and wild vegetables. When they arrived, they happened to run into a group of young girls.
The girls weren't afraid of them, but they remained cautious, keeping a wide distance.
Xu Huo didn't approach. He greeted them from afar and asked if there was a place to stay nearby.
The girls actually responded. There were two empty houses in their village that were sometimes used by travelers passing through. If they wanted to stay, they could, but they'd have to pay.
Xu Huo used the same story—he was lost, had finally found someone while traveling with his sister in the foggy weather, and then got lost again.
"I recognize the waterproof clothes you're wearing," said one of the girls with a big braid. "That's Granny Yi's handiwork from Upper Wood Village. You stayed at her place."
Xu Huo smiled and nodded, then followed them into the village.
Young girls were more talkative than the elderly. Even though they held back, they still said a lot and asked many questions about the outside world.
"Granny Yi said people from the village can leave. Why don't you go out and see?" Xu Huo asked.
"We're afraid of the strange people hiding in the woods," the big-braided girl said. "My mom said there are many lonely weirdos in the forest who look for friends to keep them company. Once you go with them, you never come back."
"The outside world might be nice, but I can't bear to leave my parents," another girl said. "Unless one day I have no family left, I definitely won't go with that weirdo."
The other girls clearly felt the same way. Their attitude was different from the fear and dread of the people in Upper Wood Village.
Then a quieter girl spoke up. "The outside world isn't good at all. I heard from my grandma that the people in those big cities don't care whether we live or die. Even if we walk out, they won't open the doors and let us in. The outside is full of mutants everywhere. We wouldn't last long."
The girls clearly knew the gap between players and ordinary people. They showed some envy toward Xu Huo and his companion, but quickly put it aside and continued walking while foraging for wild vegetables and mushrooms.
The pace was a bit slow. Xu Huo helped pick wild vegetables along the way. After getting tips on which were poisonous and which weren't, he tentatively asked the girls, "Aren't you afraid of the Hidden Friend?"
Young girls who had never truly faced the death of family or friends had a kind of ignorant courage. "Everyone dies. I'd rather the weirdo come for me than get bitten to death by mutants. I heard that when it comes for you, it turns into someone you know. That way, even dying isn't so scary."
"Has anyone in your village been called away?" Xu Huo continued. "I heard from Granny Yi that several people were called away from Upper Wood Village last year."
The big-braided girl, who had gotten some snacks from the Painting Woman, was willing to share more about the village. "When I was little, yes. Not in recent years. Some people say they've heard the weirdo calling them, but that's all fake—just messing with us."
"We've never heard it."
"You're really strange. Why do you call the Hidden Friend a weirdo?" Xu Huo said, almost as if talking to himself.