# Chapter 272: Only Children Throw Candy When Fighting
(To be revised later) "Ah!" That player fell off the cube in terror, but his voice was abruptly cut off as his body was swallowed by the darkness below.
"Isn't this an abyss down there?" Yan Jiayu looked down.
The player who had killed someone to occupy the cube pillar stroked the stubble on his chin and sneered, "Naive. This is a different space, not something that can be explained by cliffs or abysses. Falling off a cliff or into an abyss might still allow you to climb back up, but falling into a different space—who knows what will happen."
"But instead of worrying about what's below, you should be concerned about the companions in the darkness."
Yan Jiayu immediately looked around, "Are there still people around us?"
"Of course," the bearded player said. "The number of players in the Cube Maze isn't fixed. When someone dies, someone enters. Who knows how many have come in by now? Better be careful."
Xu Huo withdrew his gaze and instead focused on the sounds around him.
The clown had said there were currently twelve players, meaning besides the seven people standing in the beams of light and the two who had died, if no new people had entered, there were at least three players still in the darkness.
Those in the light could see and hear, but he couldn't sense any living presence in the darkness. Clearly, the darkness of the Cube Maze had the ability to block sight and sound.
At least six cube pillars would appear wherever the light shone, but not every illuminated cube would have a flat surface. To answer the clown's questions, one had to stand on a cube pillar, meaning choosing a pointed cube not only made it impossible to answer questions but also came with high risk, because another prerequisite for answering was being on a cube illuminated by light.
Although each cube pillar lasted three minutes, to answer a question you had to stand on a lit cube pillar. So even if the cube's recovery time hadn't arrived, others might still snatch new cubes.
It was impossible to tell whether players in the darkness could see those in the light, but at least it could be verified whether props worked.
Xu Huo took out the Crimson Sword and casually slashed toward the darkness. To his surprise, the blade's light curtain disappeared upon touching the edge of the light—prop characteristics couldn't take effect in the darkness.
Having confirmed this, he relaxed slightly and nodded to Yan Jiayu.
The first thirty seconds had passed. The seven beams of light that had originally lit up all went out, and at the same time, six new beams appeared in different places.
The players on the cube pillars all began to move. Xu Huo also turned toward the nearest cube pillar. As he rushed over, two other players also appeared under the light. Dodging a heavy hammer swung by one of them, he raised his sword to strike the player on his left, but the opponent blocked the attack with a forearm guard and spat a hidden weapon at him!
It wasn't until the bean-green object flew in front of him that Xu Huo caught its form—it was actually a small mechanical fly! The fly emitted a puff of red smoke as it flew. He frowned, voluntarily retreated into the darkness, and landed back on his original cube pillar. He saw a third player who had accidentally inhaled some of the smoke change expression drastically and also retreat into the darkness.
"Who do you think you are to compete with me!" The player who had successfully occupied the newly appeared cube pillar swallowed the mechanical fly again and looked around smugly.
Xu Huo, now in the darkness, also looked around. He could no longer see or hear anything from the rest of the darkness, but unsurprisingly, wherever the light shone, he could see clearly and hear their conversations.
"Xu Huo?" Yan Jiayu, who had successfully grabbed a new cube pillar, called out toward his direction. When she got no response, she looked slightly nervous.
Xu Huo tried to respond to her, but clearly, the sound couldn't reach her.
"It's useless to call out," the bearded player said. "We can't hear sounds from the darkness. But the cube pillar lasts three minutes, so your friend should be fine."
Yan Jiayu nodded and couldn't help asking, "How long have you all been in here? Is it almost time for the questions?"
The bearded player didn't answer her, and the other players also remained silent. Everyone wanted to answer the questions early and leave this place. Telling other players the remaining time would only make things harder for themselves.
The second thirty seconds quickly ended. This time, Xu Huo aimed for a cube in front and to his right and jumped onto it. Because the distance was far, the cube swayed back and forth significantly as he landed. He pressed his hand on the strings to barely steady himself, but just as he straightened up, a candy suddenly flew out of the darkness and hit him. He caught it reflexively, but his body wobbled again.
Frowning in the direction the candy had come from, he said, "Friend, answering questions is inevitable. Even if I'm not here, another player will come in. There's no need to fight over cube pillars like this. If you start this, you'll only delay everyone else."
A cube pillar lasted three minutes, and at least six cubes appeared every half minute. He had successfully used the strings, which meant props could be used normally where the light shone. So the maximum of fifteen answer slots was sufficient.
In the previous round, players had only fought when snatching cube pillars, without secretly pulling tricks. Following this rule by default benefited everyone.
But the person who had ambushed him clearly didn't take his words to heart. His response was several more candies that hit like bullets!
After dodging them repeatedly, Xu Huo took out a glass jar, grabbed a few candies, and shot them back along the same trajectory. Then he said into the darkness, "If you want a war of attrition, I still have several jars of candy."
This time, the other side didn't throw any more candies.
"Pfft!" Yan Jiayu couldn't help laughing. "Only children throw candy when fighting."
The thirty seconds passed again. This time, Xu Huo didn't go for a new cube pillar. Instead, he quickly grabbed a handful of candies and shot them toward the direction from which he had been attacked!
"Ugh!" A figure appeared in the beam of light from that direction, but their rhythm was disrupted. The player had only gotten one foot onto the cube when the cube tilted toward them. In the moment of imbalance, the player grabbed the edge of the cube, barely buying a moment of time, then quickly used a rope to tie themselves and the cube together, stopping their slide.
But at that moment, an apple flew from another direction and hit them right on the forehead. An apple naturally couldn't cause much damage, but the player wobbled again from the impact, and the cube moved as well. The rope that had been tied around it came loose.
"I'll fucking—" The curse was cut off as the player disappeared into the darkness.
"Hey, hey, everyone calm down!" A female player standing in a beam of light quickly said. "Attacking each other benefits no one. If you want to fight, wait until we get out!"
Another player not far from her also said, "That's right. I absolutely will not attack others in the darkness. Please don't come looking for trouble with me either. I just want to get out of this damn place as quickly as possible!"