Chapter 2580: Say Hello First
The tourist should have bought a set made of ordinary fabric, but when it arrived in their hands, it suddenly transformed into a ghost costume capable of concealing one's figure.
Xu Huo stood on the aircraft of the parade procession, pulling out his communicator to contact the Painting Woman.
A tinkling musical sound came from somewhere in the parade. The next second, he was standing at the spot where the music originated. Ignoring the people trying to block him, he flipped up the hem of a large demon costume and found the Painting Woman's backpack inside.
"What do you think you're doing? Get down, don't mess up our performance!" the performer inside the large demon costume growled.
Xu Huo waved his hand, and the performer's mouth snapped shut, leaving him only able to glare furiously.
Xu Huo crouched down to look at him. "Where did the young woman carrying this backpack go?"
He raised his hand again, and the performer's sealed lips parted. Suppressing his anger, the man said, "How should I know? She was darting around the parade causing trouble and even injured two people. Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're players. Watch out, or I'll call the Enforcement Team to arrest you!"
Xu Huo stepped out, holding the backpack as he stood on the aircraft, scanning the surrounding performers and tourists.
His spiritual power drifted from the front of the procession all the way to the back, finally stopping in the darkness at the tail end. Compared to the front, the atmosphere there was closer to a riot of demons and monsters. In the absence of light, not only was vision obstructed, but even spiritual power seemed to be blocked out.
Xu Huo lifted his foot and stepped directly onto the last aircraft of the procession. He clenched his right fist and pressed it down hard. All the performers half-hidden in the darkness, along with the aircraft, were crushed toward the ground by gravity. For a moment, sounds of collision and shattering rang out one after another. After the aircraft was damaged, all the demons and monsters fell to the ground. Gravity kept them from moving, but most of the performers stood firmly in place, slowly turning their heads under this immense pressure.
As expected, there were almost no ordinary people among this last batch of performers. Compared to the front and middle sections of the procession, the danger level at the tail end had increased significantly.
Xu Huo raised the backpack high. "Release my friend, or else this instance will have to end prematurely tonight."
As he spoke, his spiritual power materialization had already covered all the shadows on the ground. The instruments Yao Yuan had given him earlier also flew out. Although spatial instruments were in the minority, combined with defensive instruments, they were enough to instantly cut apart these performers.
At the same time, combat robots equipped with new energy weapons emerged. Once activated, they could carry out at least half a minute of continuous bombardment.
Of course, this was just a greeting. If these performers didn't cooperate, there was something even more enthusiastic waiting for them.
After a few seconds of standoff, the hem of one demon costume stirred. The Painting Woman's head suddenly popped out from inside. She flashed Xu Huo a smile, then ducked back in and dragged two people out.
Two familiar faces, at that.
Xu Huo touched his bone ring, and the heavy pressure disappeared. All the instruments and robots also retracted toward him.
The parade continued on its way, and as the procession moved farther away, the surrounding lights gradually brightened.
Xu Huo walked over to the Painting Woman, looking down at the unconscious Shi Potian and the pregnant female player. "Wake them up first."
That was easy. The Painting Woman swung her arm and slapped each of them twice across the face. As their cheeks quickly reddened and swelled, the two slowly regained consciousness from the pain.
Seeing the Painting Woman crouching in front of her, the pregnant female player immediately backed away in alert. Shi Potian was a bit better—he had interacted with the Painting Woman before and immediately assumed she had helped him.
"What a coincidence, you're in this instance too!"
"We came to play," Xu Huo said. "We just happened to run into you."
Shi Potian looked terrified. "This instance is too creepy. I was caught completely off guard and still have no idea what happened."
Xu Huo helped the pregnant female player up and added, "The horror-themed night parade only happens every few days. Are you waiting for this specific theme to clear the instance?"
"We're not sure yet," the female player said, calming down. After thanking them, she continued, "We just arrived today. There's very little information about the instance background. The night parade happens almost every day, just with different themes. The instance boss hides among the parade performers to kill people, so it might not only come out tonight."
"But clearing the instance can only happen during the night parade."
Xu Huo nodded slightly. "Then be careful."
He tossed the backpack to the Painting Woman and signaled for her to leave.
"Why not just go together?" Shi Potian looked at the female player. "There's no point today anyway. Might as well rest well and come back tomorrow."
Although the two hadn't lost any limbs, they were both injured to some extent. Besides, after all this time with no leads, it was better to go back and think things through.
So the four of them left together.
Xu Huo's earlier actions had caught the attention of some players. Seeing them traveling together, two people came up to try and team up with them, but when they learned that Xu Huo and the Painting Woman weren't players in this instance, they left with some disappointment.
Shi Potian and the female player exchanged a glance from behind, then quickened their pace to stay close to Xu Huo.
The cultural street was bustling at this hour, packed with people everywhere. Sometimes, one would accidentally get swept up next to the parade. Xu Huo simply opened two teleportation portals and directly exited the cultural street.
Xu Huo and the Painting Woman were heading back to the hotel, so they parted ways with the other two after leaving.
"Why did you leave the backpack behind?" Xu Huo asked the Painting Woman once they were alone.
"I didn't leave it; it was stolen," the Painting Woman explained. "There was a very interesting ghost inside. Anything it touched would fall off on its own. I was too busy chasing it, and another ghost stole my bag."
"Was it a performer in a ghost costume, or a prop?"
"A prop," the Painting Woman replied. "I wanted to catch one to play with, but I couldn't outfight the big ghost."
Xu Huo nodded. "Don't wander too far next time, especially in spatial instances."
The Painting Woman blinked to show she understood.
The You sisters were waiting for them in the room. Seeing them return safely, they breathed a sigh of relief. You Xin said apologetically, "I'm really sorry. I failed in my duty as a bodyguard. You can deduct from my pay if you want."
Xu Huo waved his hand to indicate it was no big deal. "Has there ever been an instance on the cultural street before?"
"It's a local fixed instance. The local government should have it registered."
"I checked," You Xin said. "Neither the local government nor the district government's records have any relevant information. This might be a newly spawned instance. A lot of people died tonight, so someone should have reported it by now."
"A new instance." Xu Huo paused. "Let's switch hotels."
"It's hard to define the area for a new instance. Staying near the cultural street might accidentally get us pulled in." You Xin immediately used her terminal to book a hotel on the other side of the city. "I'll go cancel our rooms here."