Chapter 284: New Ways to Play the Game Rules
With no retreat behind them, the group had to jump over the fissure and needed a place to land, so they could only choose to open the cloth dolls. But what they never expected was that those cloth dolls were as fragile as paper—a kick or a punch would break them. And this time, no little hats popped out. Tang Xiao, who made the first move, simply vanished!
As darkness engulfed the castle building, Yan Jiayu and Peng Ru disappeared one after another. Xu Huo had already thrown the child away at the first moment. Using the strings, he managed to leap over the cloth doll encirclement. However, as he landed, a doll fell at his feet. He instinctively lifted his foot, but the next second, his vision blurred, and he was transported from the darkness to an open clearing.
[Player Passerby A has violated the rules and will return to the ticket area to repurchase a ticket and accept punishment. Note: This punishment is only effective within this instance.]
"Searching, searching for a friend, find a good friend, poke the eyes, cut the tongue, no screaming makes a good friend..."
"Searching, searching for a friend, find a good friend, plug the ears, block the nose, no causing trouble makes a good friend..."
"Searching, searching for a friend, find a good friend, snip the hands, snip the feet, no running away makes a good friend..."
The nursery rhyme music heard before entering the amusement park was severely distorted. Xu Huo opened his eyes to see a nose almost pressed against his face and quickly stepped back.
In front of him was a huge clown head placed on the ground. Its eyes blinked, its mouth opened and closed as it sang the nursery rhyme, then let out a strange laugh. It tilted its head and glared at Xu Huo with one eye, "Hehe, you broke the rules! Rule-breaking guests must return to the ticket area to buy a new ticket and accept punishment!"
Xu Huo frowned. How could he have broken the rules? He hadn't stepped on that doll.
The clown head clearly didn't care about that. It moved back a little and said, "Poke the eyes, cut the tongue, no screaming!"
"Plug the ears, block the nose, no causing trouble!"
"Snip the hands, snip the feet, no running away!"
With that, it spat out three bubbles of different colors from its mouth.
Xu Huo turned and ran, but unexpectedly, one of the bubbles suddenly blocked his path. It expanded rapidly and burst. He instinctively raised his hand to shield his face, but the next second, he felt something drill into his ears and nose. He tried to pull them out, but the things seemed to solidify, completely stuck in his nostrils and ear canals.
He went deaf.
His nostrils were also blocked, making it impossible to breathe.
The clown head leaped into the air and turned into confetti, and in front of him, the amusement park gate reappeared.
Yan Jiayu and Tang Xiao were standing ahead.
"Xu Huo!" Seeing him, Yan Jiayu quickly waved to greet him.
Xu Huo could read her lips but couldn't hear a sound. He took out his phone to communicate with them, "I can't hear anything. Peng Ru didn't come out?"
"She went back to the instance first." Yan Jiayu typed a line and added, "She's also deaf. We all broke the rules. You and she are deaf; Tang Xiao and I have one hand and one foot that are useless."
Xu Huo checked their conditions. Yan Jiayu's left hand and right leg were weak, while Tang Xiao's situation was the opposite. However, Tang Xiao's case was worse because he was right-handed.
"I made two crutches." Yan Jiayu pointed to the half of a large pair of scissors she had dismantled beside her. "I didn't expect them to come in handy so soon."
Tang Xiao, also leaning on half a pair of scissors, was far less optimistic. His face darkened as he said, "Losing combat effectiveness and entering the instance is like walking to your death."
"Don't be so discouraged," Yan Jiayu patted his shoulder. "There are three of us."
Tang Xiao couldn't accept that. "Going back to the ticket area means the little hats reset to zero. Even if I buy a ticket and go in again, I have to start from scratch. How can I possibly play those games in my current state? And even if we go back now, the random quiz game at Black Maple Valley is definitely over. Missing this opportunity makes clearing the instance even harder... I'm not going to make it!"
Xu Huo thought for a moment and wrote, "This time when you buy tickets and go in, you and Yan Jiayu follow the route map on the play guide to every game spot. Only go to the game spots; don't worry about the quiz game."
"Why do that?" Tang Xiao asked, puzzled.
Xu Huo gave a clear explanation, but Yan Jiayu had already understood. From their two previous guesses, she believed the play route was the real one.
"No problem, leave it to me," she wrote.
Xu Huo nodded. "Tang Xiao knows a lot of people. Find a few trustworthy ones to help."
That wasn't difficult, but Tang Xiao still wanted to clarify, "Do you know how to clear the instance?"
"I've roughly guessed it." Xu Huo said calmly, "I have other things to do, so I can't go with you."
"Can you really clear it?" Tang Xiao hesitated. Like Peng Ru, he felt some resentment after being sent back to the ticket area and punished. After all, it was Xu Huo who suggested going to the castle in the back. But Xu Huo hadn't forced or coaxed them into it. That's why Peng Ru left and he chose to stay—first, because his situation was worse, and he trusted Xu Huo and the other a bit more than Peng Ru; second, he knew he couldn't blame Xu Huo in this situation.
If this trip could really yield a way to clear the instance, the risk was worth it.
"I can't guarantee it 100%," Xu Huo looked at him. "But you can take a gamble. Instead of wasting day after day in the amusement park, try my method. Your current condition can't be changed; only clearing the instance quickly can save your life."
"Trust Xu Huo," Yan Jiayu said to him. "He's very smart."
Tang Xiao's gaze shifted between them, then he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll go along with you."
Xu Huo shook his head. "Not many people are willing to trust a stranger. Find a few reliable companions and help me lure some people to Black Maple Valley Castle."
"You can set traps in advance, but don't fight them to the death. Just lead them to the other side of the broken bridge and find a way to make them cross that fissure."
"We only ran into that little girl by chance," Tang Xiao said. "That area isn't a game spot. Even if you lure people there, there's no guarantee the cloth dolls will appear. If you're trying to make players break the rules to weaken them, that's hard to pull off."