Chapter 268: Humanity Is the Last Bottom Line
He reflexively kicked off his shoe, but it was too late. That skin-retaining worm had already burrowed in through his heel, swiftly crawling up his calf toward his thigh!
Xue Ge conjured a short dagger in his hand and slashed at his own leg, but at that moment, a flying arrow pierced his wrist. The dagger clattered to the ground, and the skin-retaining worm took the opportunity to pass his waist.
"No... no!" Xue Ge tore open his clothes in terror, directly clawing at his own flesh to try and pull the worm out. However, the worm touched his hand and burrowed in through the wound, quickly traveling up his arm to his shoulder, bulging at his neck before disappearing beneath his jaw!
"Urgh... urgh..." The man, half-kneeling on the ground, let out strange sounds, then collapsed in agony, convulsing violently.
"What's wrong with this guy?" Yan Jiayu dragged back the dying female player, grimacing at the man on the ground who seemed about to twist his own limbs off. "A cannibal player's aftereffects?"
"Aftereffects of a cannibal worm." Xu Huo pointed at the nearby trees and ground. "Be careful, don't let those worms touch you..."
Before he could finish, a skin-retaining worm that had burrowed into a tree suddenly crawled out, landing directly on the back of her hand.
Seeing the worm leave a bloody hole upon contact, Yan Jiayu widened her eyes in shock. She immediately clenched her fist, causing her muscles to swell, then gripped her upper arm with her right hand and squeezed. With a "pop," something seemed to be crushed inside.
Then she slid her hand down her arm a couple of times. A trickle of bloody fluid flowed from the wound on her hand, and she applied some medicine on top. "It's fine now."
Xu Huo stared at her for a few seconds, then couldn't help but smile. "That worm might be poisonous. You'd better drink some antidote."
Yan Jiayu nodded, pulled out a bottle of antidote, and chugged it down. "Milk-flavored antidote. I specifically traded for it in an instance."
Xu Huo retracted his thread, confirmed she was truly fine, and then finished off the man whose brain was nearly devoured by the worm with a single sword strike.
"His facial skin is moving." Yan Jiayu poked at it with her stone staff. The fleshy worm broke through the skin and crawled out, its body now three times its original size, its movements sluggish. It fell to the ground and quickly died, while the flesh on both of Xue Ge's cheeks had sunken deeply in.
"Are there species like this in instances?" Yan Jiayu was also shocked. "Can it hollow out a person?"
"While humans evolve, other species can also mutate." Xu Huo had already received Xue Ge's player inheritance. In his luggage compartment, there was half a jar of these worms.
"Just looking at this worm, it could actually be quite useful in this instance." Yan Jiayu scratched her head and said, "But I think this is a bit too inhumane. Although many people lose their moral bottom line after starting the game, we shouldn't abandon the bottom line of being human."
"My master once said that it's not shameful for a person to abandon their humanity in a critical moment, but they shouldn't give it up from the start. Because humanity is a person's final bottom line, not a choice made without the torment of contradiction."
Xu Huo agreed with her. "So how should we deal with these worms?"
"If we release them, they might accidentally hurt others... What do you think?" she asked.
"Then let's kill them," Xu Huo said. "Treat it as part of the food chain. We just encountered danger and then dealt with it."
Yan Jiayu thought it made sense and said, "How many escaped? I'll go find them."
Xu Huo explained in detail, and the two worked together to find and crush the five skin-retaining worms hidden in the trees and soil.
After finishing, Yan Jiayu pointed at the female player and asked, "How do we handle this person? She says she has instance strategies, but she'll only tell us if we spare her life."
Xu Huo glanced at the person on the ground. "Kill her too."
The female player's pupils trembled violently, and she quickly begged for mercy. "I'm absolutely not lying to you. The amusement park game isn't that simple. The further you go, the harder it gets. Plus, there are players trapped in the instance disguising themselves as game points to kill and rob. I know all this. Trading one life for this information is absolutely worth it for you!"
Xu Huo looked behind her. The female player gritted her teeth and reluctantly pulled out a bloodstained map. However, the map was just an enlarged version of a tourist guide route, nothing special.
"You need to use this item." She took out a magnifying glass. "The words on the map are written with a special potion. You can't see them without the item."
Xu Huo looked through it, and sure enough, the words appeared. But this map had likely changed hands several times, with inconsistent handwriting—some old, some new—and the descriptions of the game points were also different.
"A map that still requires you to verify the truth yourself." He shifted his gaze to the female player, his eyes growing cold.
"You... you're going too far!" The female player erupted in anger, but with her bones broken and muscles torn from the earlier beating, both her speed and strength were severely weakened. Before she could even stand up, Yan Jiayu sent her to the afterlife with a single strike of her staff.
Without taking the two players' small hats, they buried the bodies on the spot and left.
Not far from there, there was indeed a camp, but it wasn't the place those two cannibal players had pointed to.
The accommodation camp was a two-story fairy tale castle, deep in the forest, covering a very large area. In front of it was a stone bridge, and beneath the bridge lay a vast lake.
"This looks so realistic," Yan Jiayu couldn't help saying. "Are we really in an instance?"
"The amusement park instance should be a specific place connected to other game worlds." Xu Huo glanced at the completely different vegetation around them and added, "I just don't know how many different places there are."
Just then, it started to rain, quickly turning heavy. The two ran into the castle through the rain. Two plush rabbits hopped over to offer towels and then led them to register.
In the castle's main hall, quite a few players were lingering, some even lying casually on the floor.
Xu Huo looked at the accommodation prices and immediately understood why. He asked the plush bear handling registrations, "Can we rest here without paying?"
The plush bear stared at him. "Of course you can! The amusement park is friendly to every visitor. Even if you're poor or stingy, we'll set aside a place for you. But delicious food and restroom access won't be provided for free."
"Even going to the bathroom costs money? This is more of a rip-off than a real amusement park!" A player not far away cursed as he walked out of a corridor. When he saw Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu looking at him, he glared back. "What are you looking at!"
Xu Huo paid, and the plush bear's tone immediately became sweeter. It called over two little rabbits to take them to their room and told them that the food and fruit in the room were free. If they needed other food, like candy or cake, they could order it.
The two followed the little rabbits into the corridor. Since it was a fairy tale castle, the paintings on the walls were mostly whimsical, and the decorations were shaped like candy, balloons, or flowers. The air was also filled with a rich, sweet fragrance.
After entering the room, Xu Huo gave the little rabbits a few candies. The little rabbit then whispered to him, "Although the amusement park doesn't welcome guests buying meat, it can provide fresh and tender vegetables."