Chapter 360: A Puzzling Truth
(To be revised later) Mr. Dong remained silent.
“Was this place also an instance site five years ago?” Xu Huo asked again.
“No.” Mr. Dong took a small notebook from his pocket and began cataloging the damaged items in the room.
Watching him busy himself, Yu Shuai said in shock, “What do we do?”
“Go back to our rooms and sleep, of course.” Xu Huo pointed out the window. “The other players will be here soon.”
This time, Yu Shuai didn’t retreat into the wall but quickly left through the front door.
By the time Xu Huo returned to his room, You Qiwen and the others had just entered the second floor. Seeing Mr. Dong standing in the open doorway, tallying items, they broke out in a cold sweat and tried to minimize their presence as they separated.
Ten minutes ago, they had been confident enough to want to kill Mr. Dong. After all, he was the one holding their belongings and one of the reasons guests had disappeared—killing him might earn them extra points in the game. But after wandering through the maze without being able to harm the Spider-Man, they realized it was pure fantasy.
Their only consolation was that Mr. Dong didn’t seem intent on revenge; otherwise, they would have been dead for sure.
Mr. Dong stayed on the second floor all night, and the players kept their eyes open until dawn. Only when the servants began their morning routines did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Chen Tu and Chen Nan hadn’t slept a wink. At first light, they immediately sought out Xu Huo. “What happened last night? Was there a big fight at the castle?”
“Nothing major.” Xu Huo was injured but didn’t intend to hide it. “I clashed with Hu Shan last night.”
The brothers exchanged a shocked glance. Chen Tu said, “No wonder Mr. Dong left shortly after we chased him… It seems he doesn’t have any ill will toward the players.”
Xu Huo nodded. “Mr. Dong is neutral toward the players. He doesn’t care whether we live or die.”
“Then there’s no need to deal with him at all,” Chen Nan said. “If you ask me, Hu Shan is the more dangerous one.”
Xu Huo’s gaze darkened. Honestly, when Mr. Dong returned last night, he breathed a sigh of relief. The difficulty of the Rose Castle instance lay in the boss’s determination to wipe out all players. In a one-on-one fight, he couldn’t beat Hu Shan, and if the delay dragged on, He Pu might personally step in.
Now that He Pu and Mr. Dong were mutually restraining each other, it had become the players’ only chance to survive.
“Call the other players over. I know where the missing guests are.” Xu Huo dropped the bombshell.
The players, who were running out of time and at their wit’s end, hurriedly gathered upon hearing the Chen brothers’ relay.
“You really know? Don’t mess with us,” Liu Zhengping said impatiently.
“They’re in the wardrobe in He Pu’s bedroom,” Xu Huo said.
“How do you know?” Fleur looked at him in surprise. “Didn’t you say yesterday that you didn’t find anything up there?”
“He Pu arrived too quickly. I really didn’t have time then. I discovered this last night, and I got hurt in the process.” Xu Huo pointed to his injuries.
“You fought He Pu?” You Qiwen was stunned.
“Of course not. If I faced He Pu head-on, do you think I’d come out unscathed?” Xu Huo retorted.
You Qiwen’s expression tightened. “You completed the first task?”
Xu Huo nodded. Under the varied gazes of the players, he said, “Completing the first task isn’t enough to clear the instance. The reason I’m sharing this information is that I want to know the truth behind the guests’ disappearance.”
“Isn’t it just the people in the castle killing them?” Wei Landeng frowned. “At most, the instance boss is exploiting game loopholes to target players. Is that wrong?”
“If it were right, he wouldn’t still be here.” Liu Zhengping scratched his head in frustration. “I thought this was just a simple D-rank instance, but it turned out to be this hard.”
“It’s not just about difficulty,” Fleur said gravely. “The instance boss never intended to let any player leave alive.”
“There’s no need to be that desperate,” Chen Nan couldn’t help saying. “We already know where the bodies are, don’t we?”
“Knowing is one thing. With He Pu around, we don’t even have a chance to get near the bedroom. Once we make a move, there’s no turning back,” You Qiwen said. “Worse still, tonight is the music appreciation event.”
Sharing Xu Huo’s thoughts, You Qiwen also believed that if He Pu didn’t plan to let any player go, tonight would definitely be the time to act. The instance wouldn’t end until tomorrow night at midnight, so the players wouldn’t even have a chance to stall for time.
“The music appreciation event might actually be our last chance,” Xu Huo said. “The music room is right next to He Pu’s bedroom. There are seven of us. Buying some time isn’t impossible. The key is the truth behind the guests’ disappearance.”
“Let’s pool the information we’ve each gathered,” Wei Landeng suggested. “Maybe we can find some clues.”
“I’ll go first,” she said. “I found that except for the butler, Mr. Dong, all the servants in the castle started working here about five years ago. And He Pu isn’t satisfied with the chef’s cooking. The chef complains to the servants, saying he once consulted the previous head chef who was fired, but the dishes he learned still don’t please He Pu. Instead, He Pu relies on Hu Shan.”
“He Pu’s daily needs—food, clothing, shelter—are almost entirely handled by Hu Shan alone. From this, I think they’re on the same side. At least some of the players were killed by Hu Shan.”
“The five-year mark is strange,” Fleur interjected. “Not only did the servants change five years ago, but He Pu and Mr. Dong’s relationship also seemed to hit rock bottom around then. Photos left in the study show they used to be close, but judging by how they’ve interacted these past few days, that’s not the case anymore.”
All the players could see that He Pu and Mr. Dong didn’t get along. But the strange thing was that despite their bad relationship, He Pu still employed Mr. Dong. If he was dissatisfied, he could have simply kicked him out.
“At first, I thought He Pu was under Mr. Dong’s control,” You Qiwen said. “Now I think their conflict hasn’t escalated to that point. So while Mr. Dong might go easy on us, if we fight He Pu, he’ll definitely intervene. We’d be facing three strong enemies.”
“It’s understandable for a person’s habits to change due to illness, but even their taste in food changing is very strange,” Chen Tu said. “What do you think? Could it be related to the lamb issue?”
Liu Zhengping and Wei Landeng’s expressions immediately changed. The former said, “You might as well say He Pu has a split personality.”
“That’s not impossible,” Chen Tu said seriously. “If He Pu didn’t eat people before but started for some reason, it could completely lead to a drastic change in personality. After all, people who eat humans can’t be judged by normal standards. There’s no telling what they might do.”
“That makes some sense,” Wei Landeng agreed. “He Pu and Mr. Dong might have fallen out over this.”