Chapter 2444: Reasoning
"Regardless of your current identities, killing someone is equivalent to giving it a friend. Are you sure there won't be any adverse consequences?" Chi Cai's reasoning was quite solid. "It's still what I said before—killing might violate the rules. You don't necessarily have to do this."
Everyone present had brains, and while this was certainly a factor to consider, they were more eager to know whether Xu Huo had actually grasped any concrete information.
"We just came to confirm whether that girl named Tuotuo is really dead." The green-haired female player fixed her peculiar pupils on Xu Huo. "If the little girl wasn't lying, then it must be the real Hidden Friend impersonating Tuotuo to call her. We want to know the Hidden Friend's activity patterns even more."
Players could take precautions, but the real Hidden Friend was another matter entirely.
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "You want to dig up the grave?"
"That won't be necessary." The green-haired female player took out a small device. "We can just scan underground to see if there are any human bones."
This was also the most convenient method. It was precisely because Xu Huo was making such a big fuss that they thought he had found something valuable.
The green-haired female player walked over to the grave mound, activated the instrument to scan, and then slightly raised her brow. "There are no bones beneath this. Not human bones, not even animal bones."
They didn't doubt that the villagers had lied—they wouldn't dare, and couldn't. The only possibility was that the buried corpse had been consumed by plants. After all, some plants secrete highly corrosive liquids, so it was normal for a buried corpse to disappear.
Then she checked the soil again, confirming that it contained bone components.
"This is strange," the green-haired female player said. "Logically speaking, the Hidden Friend treats people as prey. Since it can devour living people cleanly without a trace, it should be able to eat corpses too. But the person buried here was properly decomposed. Could it be that the Hidden Friend only eats the living?"
After hearing the villagers' stories, the players naturally associated this with a forest-related instance boss that indiscriminately attacks living people. Before it revealed its true form, understanding its habits was one way to increase survival rates. Rushing in head-on was unwise.
"Maybe it does only eat the living?" Chi Cai said. "Many mutated animals won't touch spoiled food."
"So far, among the players we know, not a single one has gone missing because of the real Hidden Friend," the green-haired female player said. "Maybe it's just like he said—killing others is a way to attract the Hidden Friend."
As she spoke, she glanced around at everyone. "It's simple to verify this method."
She didn't finish her sentence, but everyone understood. To test whether this method worked, just pick someone to kill. If the killer was called upon, they would naturally follow the rules and not attack each other. If not, then there was plenty of room for maneuvering.
Well, to save costs, they could have the locals kill each other.
"If you attract the real Hidden Friend, what do you plan to do?" Xu Huo asked at this point. "Capture it or kill it?"
"Whether we capture it or kill it, it doesn't stop us from testing the instance's hidden rules." The middle-aged man standing with the eyebrow-pierced player stared coldly at him. "You're not trying to make us turn on each other, are you?"
This proposal was most in line with the players' interests. Even more so, if the Hidden Friend was actually lured out, they might get a glimpse of its true form and gain unexpected rewards—under normal circumstances, they wouldn't use this method to draw out the instance boss. But now that so many of them had gathered, they could take the risk.
"No, you're forgetting one thing." Chi Cai quickly interjected. "The Hidden Friend only needs one friend per day. If it kills the murderer, killing one person a day—when would it ever be our turn to play its role?"
"So far, seven people have gone missing in this instance. No one knows whether they were killed by players or by the Hidden Friend. What if it follows a sequence?"
The few people present looked somewhat skeptical. The ear-missing player frowned and said, "It only needs one friend, but it never said the Hidden Friend could only kill one person a day."
"The instance introduction doesn't say that... but can you guarantee it?" Chi Cai asked.
They couldn't. Who knew if this instance boss had a hard limit?
"Killing one person isn't a big deal." The green-haired female player stood up from the grave mound and shook the dirt off her boots. "If it really kills in sequence, it's only a one-day delay."
But Chi Cai's words still made the eyebrow-pierced player back off. "I'm not participating. Do whatever you want."
He left immediately, abandoning his previous companion.
The green-haired female player turned her gaze to the remaining people, as well as the three hiding in the distance.
Those three also hesitated. Only the middle-aged man and the ear-missing player were eager to give it a try.
"You want to kill people indiscriminately?" Chi Cai couldn't help but say. "Others are living just fine. Why should they die just to test the instance rules?"
The green-haired female player stared at him with a deep, dark gaze. "Then how about you go die?"
Chi Cai shrank back a step, but his voice was firm. "Don't forget, only one person can clear this instance. Think about why others might fail!"
The green-haired female player looked at him with amusement. "Why else? The one playing the Hidden Friend couldn't find a friend!"
"That's one possibility, but there's a bigger chance that the instance boss has its own likes and dislikes and judgment. You can't say that's impossible, can you? Do you dare to bet on it? If you control or force the villagers to kill their own relatives and friends, are you sure that debt won't be counted against you?!"
The green-haired female player stared at him, watching his forced calm, and suddenly burst out laughing. "I was just joking. So scared, huh, pretty boy."
The last three words didn't sound like an insult, more like flirtation.
She left after speaking. Chi Cai breathed a sigh of relief and quickly wiped his forehead. "I really can't get used to reasoning with people who don't reason."
"Not at all," Xu Huo praised. "I think you did quite well. If it were me, it probably would have come to blows."
Chi Cai smiled and said, "Let's go back and check. Hopefully, they won't actually do anything."
Using items to travel, they were only a few seconds behind those who had left earlier. Zhongmu Village was calm. The people who had gone searching hadn't returned yet, but those who stayed in the village were relaxed after hearing that the girl had returned safely.
Back in the wooden house, Chi Cai told Xu Huo that he used to be a teacher, had always been talkative, and couldn't keep his mouth shut, so he asked for his understanding.
Xu Huo didn't say much, but the Painting Woman, annoyed that he was disturbing her game, gave him a bag of sour fruit to shut him up.
Even after being teased, he wasn't angry. He just nodded and said, "That's a good idea... slurp..."
The forest on the fifth day gradually sank into darkness.