Chapter 2449: Consider Another Possibility
Chi Cai was slapped loudly by the big man. After dodging him, he smiled but made no further response to the comment.
The big man wasn't tactless either. He then turned his attention to the others. "You're all Instance players, right? Quite a few of you here."
"My name is You Daqian. Pleased to meet you all!"
With such an intimidating physique and overly sharp eyes, it was hard to feel any warmth toward him. Even though he spoke politely, no one else present bothered to acknowledge him. Their focus was on the poisoned Yang Tian.
But the Painting Woman, who never read the room, immediately said through her communicator, "We, we're not players in this Instance."
The big man glanced at her and the Xu Huo she pointed at, then nodded. "If you're not Instance players, you can leave anytime. You're safe."
That was true. This wasn't a closed-area Instance, so non-Instance players wouldn't be trapped if they got involved. This was also why the others didn't believe Xu Huo's claim—if he wasn't an Instance player, there was no reason for him to stay here.
Still, they weren't determined to expose him. Whether he was or wasn't, they'd just treat him as one.
"Where did you find him?" Chi Cai was more concerned about Yang Tian. "There are plenty of poisonous things in the forest, but players don't usually fall for them easily. Were there other people around when you found him?"
The big man let out a "Hai!" sound. "If there were others, he'd be dead by now! The fact that he's still alive means he got lucky. Running into me made him even luckier. If it had been another player, they'd definitely have taken his head!"
That was the truth.
So the group moved their conversation to the wooden hut occupied by Bubble Bean. As a "non-Instance player," Xu Huo naturally wouldn't go with them. He and the Painting Woman returned to their own small hut, while Chi Cai brought the unconscious Yang Tian along.
Ignoring the other players' information exchange, Xu Huo was puzzled by the current situation.
The strangest thing was the middle-aged man. If he had been controlled and deliberately left the group after receiving an order, that would be a clear deviation from the rumored "Hidden Friend" incidents. Even if the "Hidden Friend" taking away a "friend" could only be seen by the person involved, the way the "friend" disappeared was completely different from the locals.
The locals weren't players and didn't have Space Teleportation Items. When they were taken away as "friends," they would suddenly vanish at some point. This necessarily meant the "Hidden Friend" had a way to quickly move them. Considering that when the incidents first appeared, specialized researchers had come to investigate, if it were simply a Mutant Plant dragging people underground or into trees, the truth would have been easily uncovered. This legend wouldn't have persisted to this day.
But the middle-aged man had used an item himself, as if deliberately avoiding others' sight.
If he had completely fallen under Spiritual Interference, walking off on his own wouldn't be strange. But the problem was that throughout the entire process, Xu Huo hadn't sensed any powerful Spiritual Interference. Even a interference pattern like that of the Goddess would leave traces. It was impossible to completely control a B-level player without leaving any trace at all.
The "Hidden Friend" had its own behavioral patterns. If it wasn't using different methods for ordinary people and players, then Xu Huo and the others were all within its behavioral pattern without noticing any clues.
The only possibility was that the middle-aged man had truly left on his own.
Chi Cai had said that Yang Tian lost contact while turning back to Zhongmu Village. He was rescued by "You Daqian" by chance and didn't die. Perhaps he hadn't intended to leave but encountered some accident on his way back.
The middle-aged man's situation was similar. When he returned during the day, he had injuries on his body, but he hadn't clashed with any players in the village, meaning whatever attacked him wasn't one of the players gathered there, or perhaps wasn't even human.
Both of them had been alone, and both had met with trouble while alone, leaving everyone else completely in the dark.
Xu Huo stood by the open window. From a distance, he looked at the forest soaked in mist outside and began to consider the possibility that the "Hidden Friend" wasn't a specific Instance boss.
Chi Cai returned. He discussed with Xu Huo, suggesting that all players move into the same Location Item. First, it would ensure everyone's safety. Second, they could react promptly to any situation, especially with Yang Tian. The man was still unconscious and had a grudge with the eyebrow-pierced man. Chi Cai didn't feel safe leaving him with Bubble Bean's group, but Bubble Bean and the others also refused to let Yang Tian stay with Xu Huo.
"Decide among yourselves. Don't involve me," Xu Huo said indifferently.
But Chi Cai tried hard to persuade him to agree. "There are only two of you. It's safer to stay with the group..."
He paused, then added, "Actually, I can see that Bubble Bean and his people are quite wary of you. If you're there, they probably won't dare to act recklessly."
"I know you're not an Instance player and don't want to wade into muddy waters, but since things have come to this and you're not planning to leave for now, why not act together? It'll be easier to gather information."
Xu Huo looked at him. "You're willing to trust a stranger so easily? In my experience, only two kinds of people dare to give trust so readily."
Chi Cai put on an expression of "I'm all ears," but after waiting a few seconds with no follow-up, he simply said, "I have no choice. They've formed alliances separately, and I'm worried about being left alone."
Xu Huo smiled and agreed to his proposal.
The new Location Item belonged to Chi Cai. Unlike other Location Items with some defensive capability, his new item didn't even have walls—it was just a small pavilion open to the wind on all sides. Its advantage was that this small pavilion could expand within a certain range, enough to accommodate all of them. And because it wasn't enclosed, players could come and go freely.
"What's the use of this item of yours?" the big man asked curiously. "At most, it can serve as an umbrella."
Chi Cai replied, "That's exactly the point. As long as it provides convenience for more people, that's enough."
The big man laughed twice, gave him a meaningful look, and then went to chat up the green-haired female player.
Before the night was fully over, Yang Tian woke up. Finding that his legs had no sensation, he didn't even bother to notice the cold eyes around him. He quickly injected himself with an antidote, but after several doses with no effect, he couldn't help shouting at Chi Cai and the others, "What did you do to me!"
"What could we do to you?" the Yin-Yang Master said. "We save you, and we're the ones at fault? You might as well have died in the woods."
Bubble Bean stopped him and got straight to the point. "What exactly happened after you and Chi Cai split up? Why did you end up so far from the village?"
They had already compared positions with the big man and roughly mapped out the area based on travel time. If Yang Tian had only been returning to the village, there was no way he could have ended up there.