Chapter 357: The Person Hiding in the Wall
"Where is he?" Liu Zhengping was the first to lose patience and spoke up, stepping out from behind the tree. At that moment, You Qiwen, who was nearby, suddenly shouted, "Watch out!" and tossed a broad-bean-sized light point into the sky. The bean flew seven or eight meters high before erupting with brilliant light, instantly illuminating the woods—among the interwoven branches and leaves, a giant spider hung suspended, its scythe-like legs reaching downward!
"What the hell is that!" Liu Zhengping's feet sprang, and he abruptly retreated ten meters.
Wei Landeng, off to the side, raised a toy rocket launcher and pulled the trigger. The liquid sprayed out, drenching the spider-person, leaving sticky, long strands dripping from its human body and legs. "Is it Mr. Dong?"
"That's him! It's a prop!" You Qiwen held a sword hilt; when he slashed through the air, a blade composed of electric current automatically formed in front of him. As the electricity struck the spider-person, Fleury, behind him, charged to its front, pressed both hands down as if on a table, and roared, "Face-to-Face Negotiation!"
The struggling spider-person was bound by a special force, its legs involuntarily lowering. Entangled by the electric current, it convulsed and fell to the ground.
"Draw a Circle as a Prison!" Chen Tu slapped the ground. Behind him, Chen Nan leaped up, driving both knees toward the spider-person. A golden arc shockwave struck the spider-person squarely in the lower back, slamming it hard into the muddy ground.
At that moment, Xu Huo swung his chainsaw at the spider-person, but unexpectedly, upon contact with its body, the chainsaw automatically softened into harmless rubber!
The "Target-Specific Chainsaw" only works on people!
Xu Huo's expression shifted slightly. He quickly withdrew from the fight. The Chen brothers, who had completed their combined attack, also retreated before their traits expired. Wei Landeng and Liu Zhengping stepped in to fill the gap—one bombarded with corrosive bullets, the other manipulated the plants in the woods to bind the spider-person's legs.
The group of players coordinated reasonably well, but Xu Huo knew it was useless. If the spider-person's attribute wasn't human, it was likely a prop that had gained sentience. Special props wouldn't be destroyed so easily, and from the moment they met, the spider-person hadn't even attacked!
Sure enough, the next second it moved, breaking free from Fleury's "Face-to-Face Negotiation" and quickly scurried toward the maze garden!
"Don't let it escape!" Fleury immediately gave chase, shouting ahead, "Intimate Distance!"
The "fleeing" spider-person seemed to step onto a conveyor belt, visibly dragged backward a stretch. But it quickly used its spider legs to prop itself up and leap into the maze garden.
The players stopped outside the flower walls. Liu Zhengping asked, "Do we go in?"
"Go in! Everyone be careful, don't get separated!" You Qiwen was the first to vault into the garden maze.
Wei Landeng and Fleury followed behind.
The Chen brothers looked at Xu Huo. The two had barely spoken along the way, but doubts lingered in their minds.
The missing players were presumed dead by default, but no one had actually seen the murder scene. The disappearances of Li Chao and the Ma couple were explained by Hu Shan and Mr. Dong respectively. In this instance, it was reasonable to assume they died at their hands.
Earlier, they had wondered why Xu Huo was the killer, yet Mr. Dong voluntarily claimed the two had left. Now, seeing the spider-person, they felt something was off. Perhaps they had misunderstood—Xu Huo saying the Ma couple was dead didn't necessarily mean he killed them; he might have witnessed Mr. Dong doing it.
At that moment, Xu Huo took out the Silent Figure and said to them, "Cover for me. I need to go back to the main building."
Though puzzled, the Chen brothers didn't press further. Time was limited, so they nodded and entered the maze one after another.
Xu Huo circled around from the side back to the main building.
Only after realizing that Mr. Dong might be a prop did he understand what had felt off earlier.
Mr. Dong had been very close to He Pu five years ago, but the current He Pu was clearly no longer the same person. While Mr. Dong caused minor trouble, he didn't react with normal emotions—like hatred or reckless destruction—but instead continued to act as a butler.
This was likely because the prop itself lacked complete emotional cognition, appearing more "rational."
Thus, the relationship between him and He Pu wasn't that complicated. Mr. Dong was clearly dissatisfied with the current He Pu's existence, which was why he killed the "extra guests" He Pu invited. He might not have acted against He Pu simply because he couldn't. Acting as a butler had nothing to do with "enduring humiliation"; it might just be instinct.
Like the Painting Woman—she looked human and mimicked human behavior and emotions, but she had no intuitive concept of "emotion."
So, shifting to He Pu's side, if Mr. Dong was his prop, controlling a prop should be easy. Why would he let Mr. Dong kill his guests? Precisely because he wasn't the original He Pu; even in his own instance grounds, he couldn't deal with Mr. Dong.
Thus, He Pu's purpose in inviting non-task players was clear: to seek outside help.
Additionally, the unsigned invitations had been circulating for a long time. The Rose Castle instance had a high mortality rate, and killing task players for amusement didn't conflict with targeting Mr. Dong. Task players were level-restricted, but non-task players weren't.
The second task of the instance was to uncover the truth. The reason for the missing guests lay with the castle's key figures, but the truth was something deeper. The information Xu Huo had gathered so far pointed to what should be closest to the truth.
Though he had a good grasp of the truth, He Pu certainly wouldn't let players clear the instance easily. And while Mr. Dong bore no malice toward players, that didn't mean he would show them mercy. Getting him to reveal the "missing guests" would be difficult.
But luck was on his side—he had discovered someone hiding in the castle.
The three dead players were a certainty, but the two missing ones weren't necessarily.
If one of those two hadn't died, the energy he had sensed inside the wall of He Pu's room during dinner was very likely a player.
There was no need to go to the third floor, or to Hu Shan's or Mr. Dong's rooms. If the person hiding in the wall was really a player, they wouldn't dare approach when those three were in their rooms.
Using the Silent Figure to conceal his own sounds, Xu Huo found You Qiwen's room without much effort.
That guy had noticed him, but perhaps thinking he hadn't been exposed, he stayed hidden in the wall.
Xu Huo didn't look his way. As he opened the adult fairy tale book, his flying sword stabbed toward the wall!
A trail of blood followed the blade. He strode over and pulled the sword out. A human-shaped object was dragged out from the wall, the brick-and-mortar patterns covering its body receding like leeches—a person clutching the sword knelt on the ground.
[Congratulations to player Passerby A for finding the "missing guest." Do you wish to submit the truth of the guest's disappearance?]