Chapter 2454: Countermeasures
"No need." The woman stepped back, afraid he might shine it on her.
Xu Huo smiled. "As far as I know, there's no item in the game that can locate and kill a player just from a photo."
The woman chuckled. "Not knowing doesn't mean it doesn't exist. What if there really is one?"
Xu Huo didn't force her. He let the group of children take as many photos as they wanted, then developed and laminated them, letting them come collect one by one.
Several children, along with the adults leading them, lined up as if making offerings. After taking their photos, they would leave behind a few mushrooms.
The Painting Woman fiddled with the mushrooms, then turned to Xu Huo and said, "I saw rabbits in the woods earlier. Let's catch a couple and stew them."
Xu Huo glanced toward the woods ahead, then said to the gaunt woman, "Go with her."
The woman was pleasantly surprised. "Really?"
She had already noticed that the Painting Woman didn't seem very bright.
"Don't think about running. The nearest village here is Zhongmu Village, and there are over a dozen Instance players there. That's the safest place to go. If you don't want to get trapped after being left alone, you'd better not go off by yourself." Xu Huo warned.
The woman was all smiles, insisting she wouldn't, and happily followed the Painting Woman.
After they left, three more players appeared across the stream—two women and one man. The man at the front grinned when he saw Xu Huo and the others. "What did I tell you? There must be a village nearby."
"Brother," he called out to Xu Huo, "where did you come from?"
"Zhongmu Village, back that way." Xu Huo pointed in a general direction.
The three were hesitant and decided to stop by the stream. "We're not in a hurry. How about we go with you later?"
"This forest is too big, easy to get lost. We've been wandering for days before finding this place."
"Is that so?" Xu Huo gave the man a faint, knowing smile. "Then you've been walking for quite a while."
The man pretended not to catch the deeper meaning in his words and introduced himself. He called himself Old Chai, and the two female players with him were Zhi Zhi and Moon on the Willow Tip—all fake names, just aliases, enough to be addressed by.
Then he started fishing for information about the Instance, but refused to share anything he knew.
Xu Huo couldn't be bothered to spar with him. He brushed them off with the excuse of being a "Non-Instance Player" and went to pack up the mushrooms.
The Painting Woman returned quickly, each carrying several rabbits. Of course, the gaunt woman had long, thin cuts on her face and arms from sharp objects.
As luck would have it, the gaunt woman actually knew Old Chai. When they met, both their expressions changed. Seeming to divert attention, the woman pointed directly at Old Chai and said, "He's the one I told you about—the first to leave!"
In the group of eight, two had gone missing. The remaining six were naturally uneasy, but since they hadn't killed anyone after entering the Instance, the wiser choice was to continue sticking together, both to guard against the real Hidden Friend and against the impersonators.
Old Chai was the first to sneak away. Unlike the two missing ones, he hadn't managed to leave without a sound. Once he was gone, the rest had their own thoughts, and the woman, being the one left alone, had also run off.
Old Chai wasn't angry at being exposed. "Friend, don't get so worked up. In an Instance, teaming up and splitting up is normal."
Xu Huo nodded. "Strangers meeting by chance, not some life-or-death bond. It's normal." It was getting late, and the children needed to go back for lunch. Naturally, Xu Huo and the others had to go as well.
Originally, Old Chai and his group were determined to follow, but after seeing how deferential the gaunt woman was toward Xu Huo, they began to hesitate, even quietly putting distance between themselves and the others.
"Since you're here, you might as well come along." Xu Huo glanced back at them. "Forgot to mention, there are several more players at the village. Safety in numbers."
This wasn't a kind suggestion—it was telling them they had to go.
The three's expressions shifted slightly. Just as they were about to say something, Chi Cai and Bubble Bean appeared, having come out to look for Xu Huo.
The moment they met, Old Chai and his group realized they had no way out, so they could only force a smile and enter the village.
Since they had caught plenty of rabbits, the village prepared a big pot meal for lunch, and the players also sat down at the table. This time, the atmosphere was much better than before. Everyone ate their own food obediently.
After the meal, Xu Huo told the others about being trapped alone in a certain part of the woods, and also mentioned hearing someone call out "Chi Cai's" name.
"How is that possible!" Chi Cai was astonished. "I never left the village all morning. When I went to find you, I was with several others. They can all vouch for me."
"I didn't say it was definitely you." Xu Huo gestured for him to calm down. "What I mean is, acting alone might trigger changes in the Instance. For safety, it's best if no one leaves alone from now on. Try to stay within everyone's line of sight."
Some people were indeed planning to do that, but there were always those who didn't like being told what to do. "You're not even an Instance player. Why should we listen to you?"
The Yin-Yang Master sneered. "You sure have a wide reach."
Xu Huo signaled the gaunt woman to step forward and tell them about her earlier experience, with Old Chai corroborating.
"This is basically an open card. Non-impersonators can't kill. If they do, the real Hidden Friend will immediately target them," the green-haired female player said. "Judging from the disappearances, the Hidden Friend only has one target per day. The nine who died were probably mostly taken out by other players."
"As long as the rest of us don't kill each other, the next impersonator will show up soon."
Bubble Bean, the Yin-Yang Master, the eyebrow-pierced man, Yang Tian, the green-haired female player, the earless man, Chi Cai, the big man, plus Old Chai's group of three, the gaunt woman, and finally Xu Huo—there were thirteen players here. With any luck, there might be an impersonator among them today.
Once they figured that out, the players began observing each other, as if trying to see from others' faces whether they were impersonators.
"One more thing," Bubble Bean said. "I want to ask clearly upfront: has anyone here killed someone since entering the Instance?"
Silence.
"I'm not trying to investigate or hold anyone accountable, but those who have killed might be the Hidden Friend's next target. It's fine if someone disappears without a trace, but that kind of person definitely can't clear the Instance. And if they can't clear it, who knows if they'll go berserk and drag others down with them?"
"Let's not hide things from each other. Honesty is best, so we don't harm ourselves or others."
No one spoke. It wasn't that they didn't want to, but their time together was limited, and they couldn't be sure if anyone had killed before they teamed up.
"If no one wants to admit it, it's simple," Bubble Bean said. "There are over a dozen of us here. Let's split into groups of three and keep each other in check. How about that?"