Chapter 2989: Fresh Food
Xu Huo looked around. Besides the glass windows, floor tiles, and wall decorations... everything around him had the potential to reflect light. Catching the opponent might be difficult, especially since she was also the only "person" he had encountered in the manor besides Wang Chengren.
Deciding not to attempt another attack, he followed behind the woman.
The two of them twisted and turned through the eastern part of the manor, passing through a corridor decorated with dozens of hanging long mirrors. The woman pushed open a small door at the end.
"Click." As the door swung open, the full view of the dining hall ahead appeared before Xu Huo.
This dining hall, which he had inspected just half an hour ago, was now completely filled with people.
Besides Wei Mang, there were four players from the Enforcement Department, sixteen staff members from the Wang family, and three other unfamiliar faces.
Seeing a newcomer arrive, most of the people sitting at the dining table shuddered. The dozen or so staff members kept their heads down, not daring to breathe too loudly. However, the few players and unfamiliar faces subtly lifted their heads to size up Xu Huo.
The scene was somewhat strange. Xu Huo had clearly been invited by Wei Mang, but when they met again, the other person showed not surprise but confusion and wariness.
He walked to the seat the woman had indicated and sat down. Soon, other servants filed out carrying dishes and utensils.
How to put it, the scene was truly eerie. At least half of the servants' faces overlapped with those of the servants sitting at the dining table. But the ones at the table were trembling, while the newly arrived servants were all expressionless, just like the woman who had come to fetch Xu Huo earlier—completely devoid of any human warmth.
The utensils were so polished they could reflect images. Multiple shadows were cast upon them—the same face could appear twice, four times, eight times, or even more!
Then came the most interesting part: Wang Chengren and his wife appeared.
One had been missing, the other had been living in a sanatorium. Now, both were dressed in fine clothes and appeared in the dining hall, looking much younger.
The two sat on opposite sides of the long dining table. Wang Chengren's wife, Ms. Yao, spoke flatly: "Eat."
The servants simultaneously lifted the lids off the plates. As a wave of fresh, bloody scent hit them, everyone finally saw what was on their plates.
"Ugh!" A young woman let out a dry heave. On her plate lay a beating heart.
The other plates were no better—chopped organs, an unknown sauce reeking of rot, and messy strands of hair used as decorative garnishes.
The more timid ones couldn't hold back their tears, but no one dared to leave their seats. Even the players sat stiffly in their chairs.
"Not appreciating good things," Ms. Yao suddenly spoke. She cut into half a piece of liver on her plate with refined movements, fed it into her mouth, chewed mechanically, and after swallowing, stared straight at the crying person. "You eat my food, drink my drink. If you had any conscience, you'd be grateful. Or are your hearts and livers black, born ungrateful?"
The person who had been scared into crying dared not weep anymore. Trembling, they picked up their knife and fork, but when they brought the raw food to their lips, they simply couldn't open their mouth.
At that moment, the servant standing behind them—who looked exactly like them—reached out and pressed down on their shoulder, stopping their trembling movements.
At the other end of the table, Wang Chengren's red-stained teeth and lips parted as he said, "Whether the heart and liver are black or not, we'll know once we dig them out."
"Don't kill me!" The man screamed in terror, frantically shoving the fork into his mouth, but it was too late. The servant behind him covered his mouth and, with absolute force, dragged him up and pulled him toward the glass door at the back.
Xu Huo had set up a space barrier in front of the glass door in advance, but unexpectedly, the servant passed right through the space barrier and disappeared into the glass door behind. Fortunately, the man wasn't dragged through. Unfortunately, before the man could catch his breath, he sank into the shiny floor tiles the next second. The ground seemed to turn into a bottomless abyss, and the man's figure sank layer after layer, growing fainter and more blurred, like a reflection in an abyss mirror.
A muffled sob sounded only for a moment before being suppressed. The players at the table also had grim expressions, clearly not seeing this scene for the first time. They had already taken up their knives and forks.
Although players who had passed the initial trial train would no longer be affected in their eating choices by consuming humans, few were willing to eat their own kind, even to save their own lives.
Xu Huo looked at Wei Mang. Wei Mang was also looking at him, as if scrutinizing something.
"Found Wang Xiaohui?" Xu Huo asked silently.
Wei Mang shook his head slightly but didn't indicate much else. Instead, he cut into the thing on his plate.
Xu Huo didn't pick up his knife and fork. Compared to the others who were moving slowly, he stood out sharply. Two servants silently positioned themselves behind him.
"You stole a bite, didn't you?" Xu Huo suddenly turned around, pointing at the cut surface of the food on his plate and said to one of the servants, "You stole a bite."
The servant's wooden expression froze for an instant. He seemed instinctively to want to open his mouth, but his lips wouldn't part. He could only stand rigidly in place.
At that moment, Ms. Yao suddenly overturned the tray in front of her. With a clatter, all the servants standing around knelt on the ground.
This startled the people at the table. Just as they were hesitating whether to kneel as well, Ms. Yao stared wide-eyed at Xu Huo and shrieked repeatedly: "You have no heart! You have no heart! You have no heart!"
Wang Chengren stood up and called two servants to help Ms. Yao away. He was about to leave as well, but Xu Huo stood up at that moment. However, the moment he rose, the lights in the dining hall flickered. The next second, the servants who had been bringing dishes, along with Wang Chengren and his wife, all vanished. Looking closely at the table, they appeared on the plates, water bottles, and flower vases—like rows of paper figures standing there. They stared at the people outside the table for several seconds before turning and walking away, heading toward another dining hall behind them.
At that moment, a player sitting at the same table finally couldn't take it anymore and chopped everything on the table into pieces. Another player immediately used flowing modeling clay to wrap up the fragments, preventing any possibility of reflection.
The Wang family staff were even more on the verge of collapse. Some even fell to their knees, sobbing loudly.
"Who are you?" A player with an unfamiliar face suddenly turned the spearhead toward Xu Huo. "A player from Zone 014? Those reflection people actually didn't kill you!"
The other players, including Wei Mang, looked at him warily. Xu Huo frowned slightly. "Have you seen my shadow before?"
Their expressions answered that question. Wei Mang added, "The shadows are becoming more and more like living people."
Xu Huo looked at the Enforcement Department players. "My surname is Xu."