Chapter 2649: Don't Court Death Yourself
Without a doubt, these few people chose to cooperate. The bald man was a stranded player, but he had nothing to do with the National Heirloom Treasure instance. He had merely happened to team up with the others, hoping to snatch some benefits. However, he still provided some value—using his own experiences to verify whether the other two's statements were correct or not.
The attacking faction's clearance quest overlapped somewhat with the defending faction's. They also had to find the national heirloom treasure, but not to help Lian Qingkong—rather, to let another force take its place.
This wasn't surprising. If the attacking faction's quest was merely to stop the defending faction, they wouldn't have let Gong Shu live at all.
Among these people, the old man and the female player had both arrived not long ago. The other male player was a stranded player from the attacking faction, and his goal was clear: prevent anyone from having a chance to clear the instance.
The female player, on the other hand, wanted to find more clues through the people who came looking for Gong Shu.
As for the unlucky guy who had been caught, he was actually from the defending faction and had been there for over half a month. His path to finding Gong Shu had been rather roundabout. He had first found a distant relative of Dou Hui, and only after failing to get answers through interrogation did he obtain this seemingly useless lead about Gong Shu.
The library had already collapsed. The few of them sat dejectedly in a small restaurant next door, not daring to run, not daring to fight. After all, Xu Huo hadn't even let the bald man go, let alone the others.
"Teacher Gong, are you hungry? Want to order something to eat?" Xu Huo asked the boss for a menu.
"Just ask whatever you want to ask. I haven't been back for several days, so I need to go check on the children," Gong Shu said wearily.
Xu Huo glanced at the others. The female player reacted quickly and immediately said to Gong Shu, "We were poor hosts the past few days, and our attitude was bad too. But we're just anxious about not being able to clear the instance. Rather than dying in a foreign land, of course we want to go home... Old sir, the player who captured you is already dead. On his behalf, I apologize to you. You haven't eaten well these past few days, so why not rest up first? That way, the children won't worry when they see you."
Gong Shu was slightly moved. He slowly ordered two dishes from the boss. Xu Huo added a few more and invited them all to eat together.
In truth, these people had already questioned Gong Shu before. They had even wanted him to write down everything about the fake genealogy he had compiled and everything concerning the Dou family.
However, Gong Shu was old, and the events were so long ago. It would be strange if he could still remember clearly. So he had lied, saying the library might have some preserved materials.
In reality, there was nothing in the library. Those tattered books were all cobbled together from scraps. The original books had long since been looted.
Gong Shu simply didn't want to die in front of the children. He harbored a death wish, so he didn't resist at all. It was only because these players still clung to hope that they hadn't killed him.
"The genealogy is really gone. Even if you had it, you wouldn't find anyone," Gong Shu said while picking up food with his chopsticks. "Back then, those close to the Dou family either died or went into hiding. Twenty years have passed. Who knows if anyone is still alive? How could you possibly find them?"
"That's our business," the unlucky guy said. "Just write it down."
Gong Shu didn't say much more and silently nodded.
One meal, six people at the table, five of them eating like chewing wax. Afterward, the group returned to the orphanage.
The children were very happy to see Gong Shu back. Neighbors living nearby gathered their courage and came over to help process the fresh vegetables and fruits Xu Huo had brought.
Gong Shu regained some vitality and finally shed that deathly demeanor. He took the initiative to tell Xu Huo about the compilation of that genealogy.
In truth, most of the people in it were forced connections. The families and names involved were all provided by the Dou family—those with too much power required their consent to claim kinship, while small, insignificant families were useless even if claimed. The sense of propriety had to be handled carefully, and it was impossible for Gong Shu to do it alone.
Gong Shu still remembered some of those people. Many of the "relatives" found through that list had died in the war. When Dou Hui first fled, someone went to the ancestral hall and took that genealogy. Although they knew some people had no real connection to the Dou family, they still killed out of displaced anger. Almost everyone who could be found was killed.
Only those scattered in other countries, or those who had fled early, managed to survive by luck.
"Are there descendants of the Gao family living in other countries?" Xu Huo paused. "Eternal Tower or Moon Horn?"
"Both," Gong Shu said. "I remember this quite clearly. One family even had a high-ranking official in Moon Horn. At the time, I asked the Dou family if including others would cause trouble, but they said those were their legitimate relatives, no falsehood."
"Who knows if it's true? I wrote whatever they said."
Legitimate relatives—they could also be the Dou family's relatives. After Dou Hui fled and then returned, he went to neighboring countries to run around, likely trying to stage a comeback.
Regardless, it was a lead.
Xu Huo asked him to try his best to recall everything about the Dou family, while he himself went to deal with those few people outside who were secretly discussing joining forces to take him down.
Stepping out of the room, he looked at them with a half-smile. "Have you decided? How are you going to kill me?"
The few exchanged glances, then tacitly spread out, forming a semicircle in front of Xu Huo.
Xu Huo, however, glanced at the unlucky guy, who was quietly stepping back. "There's still a smart one here."
Hearing this, the unlucky guy immediately said, "I'm in the same faction as you. We can cooperate perfectly. There's no need to fight to the death!"
"You've got one thing wrong. It's your death, my life." Xu Huo touched the bone ring on his finger. "I'm not killing you because you still have your uses. Don't court death yourselves."
The unlucky guy's expression turned grave, his eyes shifting multiple times. Honestly, Xu Huo didn't seem particularly strong. Even his evolution rate wasn't outstanding among B-rank players. Of course, it was possible he was using an item to disguise himself, but that was completely unnecessary. The stronger you are, the fewer troubles you face when moving through instances. Playing the pig to eat the tiger in the face of numerous unknown players in the same instance was just asking for trouble.
But that move of his earlier was absurdly powerful. At least, the unlucky guy had never seen an item that could destroy so many items in one second. Even if it wasn't a super item, it was definitely top-tier among A-rank items—and incredibly rare. As long as there weren't strict limits on its usage, a few exchanges would probably let him find an opening to destroy the opponent's items—how long could that fight last?
"Just say the word. I'll do as you say," the unlucky guy decided after a mental storm, choosing to bow to reality.
"Before that, there's one problem to solve." Xu Huo signaled him to wait, then looked at the stranded player from the attacking faction.
The man's face changed. The killing intent rushing toward him made him instinctively want to flee, but before he could make a move, his body was locked in place by some force—he was frozen, unable to move!
There were plenty of items that could immobilize a human body, but they were absolutely different from time items. The moment the man froze, the others present realized this was the effect of time power!