Chapter 3010: So Polite
The childhood personality also turned to look at him, a hint of doubt in its eyes.
Xu Huo felt that his memory was not as fully restored as he had believed—at least, he had no recollection of ever seeing an "anchor," and Dr. Zhang should have demonstrated it to him before. After his last evolution in the mobile district, his personalities had become interconnected, meaning there were no longer secrets between them. If the childhood personality had truly seen Dr. Zhang's "anchor," had that memory been completely destroyed by Dr. Zhang?
But after thinking it over carefully, he dismissed this possibility. Unless it was an experimental consumable, Dr. Zhang would not casually damage anyone's brain.
After a moment of contemplation, he set the issue aside for now. This spiritual realm was becoming increasingly unstable, and all the memory fruits were showing signs of blurred tremors.
Xu Huo emerged from underwater and returned to the surface, only to be astonished to find that the originally transparent flower had taken on color.
Could it be because the concealed deep memories had been stripped away?
Xu Huo studied it for a while, then tentatively reached out to touch it. The moment his fingers made contact, all of Ms. Yao's memories flooded into his mind like a movie—this sensation was not unfamiliar. In the Goddess Vine instance, the Goddess had a habit of killing people by forcibly cramming massive amounts of information into their minds. Once the intake exceeded a person's tolerance limit, their spirit would collapse.
However, Ms. Yao was just one person, and her life was not long.
During the process of receiving this information, Xu Huo oddly sensed a trace of emotional color.
Although he himself possessed a trait for judging whether others harbored hostility based on color, his assessment of others did not rely on emotional hues. It was more grounded in objective facts. A person's thoughts were often not that important; their words and actions were what mattered, and that was the primary factor determining how he treated them.
But Ms. Yao's memories were incredibly rich in color. Perhaps because of her unique nature, she saw everyone as having a color, as if they were naturally surrounded by a faint halo. The color of this halo could reveal the person's underlying character and emotional shifts.
She was highly skilled at distinguishing these emotional colors, making her adept at reading people. Even without systematic training in psychology, she could judge others' true emotions and some of their thoughts in the moment.
As the memories all poured into his mind, Xu Huo suddenly realized that this was how normal people experienced interactions with one another.
Compared to objective judgment, ordinary people first perceived others' emotions. They would instinctively adjust their behavior based on those emotions. Judging someone's intentions through their actions and subtle expressions was actually far more difficult.
Ms. Yao was better than most at capturing others' emotions, so when she comprehended the Mental Defense Line, she naturally incorporated this ability—she could quickly determine when and under what circumstances a person's resistance was weakest.
This truly required a special talent.
It was not the same path as his.
But it did give him some inspiration. A person's resistance was naturally weakest when they were most relaxed, so preventing others from detecting spiritual power could make things twice as effective with half the effort.
However, this was only possible if one could truly capture the Mental Defense Line.
Withdrawing his hand, he looked at the childhood personality. "Let's go out."
The childhood personality nodded and stepped into his shadow.
When Xu Huo went out, the players who had entered later were having their first group meal.
On the dining table were still the shadow figures of Ms. Yao and Wang Chengren. Apart from the Painting Woman, none of the players who had entered the instance first—including Wei Mang, Yang Zhao, and Sutton—were present.
Twelve people sat opposite each other on both sides of the table, their expressions grim. Clearly, the newcomers had already experienced how troublesome the shadow figures could be.
The Painting Woman's dark face was purely because she had no interest in the "food" on the table.
But when she saw Xu Huo walk in through the door, she immediately broke into a smile and waved at him.
Besides Ms. Yao and Wang Chengren, there were twelve shadow figures in the dining room. Apart from the Painting Woman and one younger player who had their own shadow figures, the others maintained the appearances of Sutton and the rest. Compared to before, they looked more like real people, even mimicking some small movements of the originals.
When Xu Huo entered, these shadow figures all turned their heads in unison, their eyes following his movements.
Ignoring them, Xu Huo walked straight to the table and sat down, then asked Ms. Yao at the head of the table, "What's the dish this time?"
Ms. Yao's expression was cold and grim, her earlier pickiness and harshness completely gone. But unlike a real person, she couldn't provide timely emotional reactions—she just stared at him with unfriendly eyes.
Xu Huo gestured with his chin toward the shadow figure standing nearby. The one wearing Yang Zhao's face stepped forward and lifted the lid from the plate in front of him.
A finger platter, drenched in blood sauce.
Seeing this, Xu Huo knew that the group that had entered the instance first was likely in dire straits. However, Wang Xiaohui was still nowhere to be found, indicating that there must be a completely inaccessible space within the instance grounds.
"I'm Wang Xiaohui's friend," he said, looking at Ms. Yao. "No matter how much you dote on her, you can't stop her from making friends. She's an adult and has the freedom to choose her friends. She also needs to experience the harsh realities of the world."
As a symbol of the instance, Ms. Yao operated under her own logic. She reacted to the mention of Wang Xiaohui, first scolding her in a high-pitched tone, then angrily agreeing to Xu Huo's request for a meeting. After that, she stood up and left the table, not even finishing her meal.
The players present looked at Xu Huo with uncertainty. Honestly, after seeing so many shadow figures that were hard to distinguish from real people, and with Xu Huo exuding a peculiar aura, some of them found it difficult to determine if he was actually real.
Especially given how the shadow figures treated him—they were nowhere near this polite with the others.
"Did we find Wang Xiaohui?" the Painting Woman came over and asked.
"We'll see," Xu Huo said, signaling for the shadow figures to lead the way. The shadow figures had already received Ms. Yao's permission and split off two to guide him to Wang Xiaohui.
"This place is so boring. Several people copied me, but I can't catch them, and they won't play hide-and-seek with me," the Painting Woman said. "There's nothing fun or tasty here. Let's get out."
"Wait a little longer," Xu Huo nodded. At the very least, he needed to find Wang Xiaohui and his own shadow figure first.
As they left, the remaining players in the dining room exchanged glances and followed behind.
The group followed the shadow figures into a lush garden. The shadow figures pointed to a pavilion in the middle. Where there had been nothing, a figure suddenly flickered into view. She sat in a wheelchair, her back to the crowd, holding a book and flipping through it. Based on her attire, it was undoubtedly Wang Xiaohui, who had gone missing upon entering the instance.