# Chapter 593: Corpses in the Refrigerated Truck
"Don't joke with me." Huang Junjie couldn't be as relaxed as Xu Huo. He had already seen the clues—the Twin Serpents hadn't placed many players in the resort, but the place they were heading to now was likely the Twin Serpents' lair, and who knew how many D-rank players were there.
Apparently, he wasn't the only one thinking this. As the convoy was moving, a player suddenly jumped down from the front and ran toward the roadside.
The convoy didn't stop because of this, nor did any black-robed figures chase after him. However, the moment that player left the main road, he suddenly disappeared.
"Did he use a ticket?" Huang Junjie asked in shock and uncertainty. "Or did the gray-robed people do something?"
Which one it was remained unknown, but from then on, everyone in the convoy obediently stayed close to the center as they drove, until they left the resort and entered a small town not far away.
This town was a rest stop along the way, with complete facilities, but it had already been cleared of people.
After the convoy stopped, the gray-robed man explained to everyone that the resort area had entrances to random instances, with an unknown number and unclear triggering methods. So the Special Defense Department had evacuated everyone living nearby. Now, there was basically no one to be seen in this place.
"Everyone should avoid wandering around. If you don't want to join the Twin Serpents, you can leave after dawn," the gray-robed man said. "This place is more dangerous at night than during the day."
After giving these instructions, he left the remaining six white-masked players and Huang Junjie's group of three in a small building, with only a few black-robed figures to watch over them. Everyone else followed Sima Xiao'er away, looking quite unconcerned about those who remained.
"Can we really leave when dawn comes?" a female player quietly asked the others. "Do you think the Twin Serpents organization is reliable?"
"Hard to say," a male player said, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back on the sofa. "Anyway, I think it seems real. Didn't you see how they all gathered around that Sima Xiao'er?"
"Besides, we're all E-rank players. What could they possibly want from us? And going through all this trouble?"
What he said made sense, so another person chimed in, "I think it's about sixty percent credible. You might not know this, but it's said that the Special Defense Department has players with prediction traits who can forecast where certain random instances will appear. They evacuated people in advance without any casualties."
"Is that true?" Guan Zuhong asked skeptically. "Are traits really that amazing?"
"Of course they are. It's just that we've never encountered such rare talents," that player said. "Anyway, I'm definitely joining the Twin Serpents. Maybe I can make something of myself in the organization."
"Then why don't you join the Special Defense Department or the Player Association?" Huang Junjie asked.
That player was quite honest. "I'm not that strong to begin with. If I joined the Special Defense Department, I wouldn't get much attention. Instead, I'd have to accept their missions. Whether it was the Hai City riots before or the recent border conflicts, it was always the Special Defense Department players charging ahead. They even have to scout random instances."
"So many people have died. I don't think I'm that lucky. It's better to get stronger first and think about other things later."
"Anyway, it's all a gamble. What difference does it make where you place your bet?"
These words made the others present thoughtful. They became a bit more settled and stopped being so anxious to leave.
Then the players each found rooms to rest in. Xu Huo didn't stay with Guan Zuhong and the others but took a room by himself. The winter night was long. After everyone else had fallen asleep, he changed his face and walked out of his room. The black-robed figures weren't stationed outside every player's room, so he easily left the small building, avoided the night-watch black-robed men, and chose a high vantage point to settle down.
After entering this town, his phone had no signal again. About twenty minutes ago, several more vehicles had entered the town and headed toward the warehouse in the back.
He watched from the rooftops for a while but couldn't find a good opportunity to enter. So he simply patted his back and called out the Painting Woman.
She had been pressed against his clothes all night and was finally able to come out and move around. The thin paper figure landed on the ground and took human form, enthusiastically throwing herself at Xu Huo.
Holding her forehead with one hand, Xu Huo said, "Go check what's in the warehouse."
The Painting Woman made an "okay" gesture, then turned back into a piece of paper and floated toward the warehouse, squeezing through the crack in the door.
Inside the warehouse at that moment, the corpses brought in by truck were being laid out one by one on a large central table. About twenty black-robed figures stood around the table, carefully cleaning the bodies, then changing them into clean white robes and arranging them properly before carrying them into the temperature-controlled glass cabinets nearby.
The whole process was like a solemn funeral preparation. But before closing the glass cabinets, they would scatter some flowers inside and spray perfume.
"Is this really necessary?" a black-robed figure complained quietly. "Perfume and flowers, and making us work overtime all night. How is this any different from before we became players?"
"Just do your job!" another person scolded him, then said, "Bring another corpse up."
The complaining player curled his lips and dragged another corpse from the truck. "At least there aren't many people today."
Footsteps moved away from the truck, but Zhou Ning, hiding deep inside the vehicle, felt no relief. Earlier, the team marked only with the number "four" had gone downstairs. She thought there was a special situation, so she quietly followed. But who would have thought that once they entered the activity room, the black-robed figures would start a massacre? After taking a shot of anesthetic, she realized she couldn't escape. So when the black-robed men made their move, she used a little trick along with an item to make them think she was dead.
The item's effect only lasted a few minutes, barely enough to sustain her until she was carried from the passageway onto the truck. The anesthetic hadn't fully worn off yet. Although she could move, there was absolutely no way she could escape from so many players. As she watched the corpses in the truck growing fewer and fewer, she knew that once they reached her, the black-robed figures would realize she was faking death...
Just as she was about to use her ticket to escape into an instance, the lights in the warehouse flickered twice. Then she saw someone who absolutely should not have been there crouching in front of her:
Li Chun!
The Painting Woman smiled at her and made a "shush" gesture, then reached out her hand toward her. The next second, the lights in the warehouse went out. Zhou Ning felt herself being wrapped in something and carried out of the truck. When the lights came back on, she found herself in a pile of clutter in the corner of the warehouse. Peering through the gaps, she saw the black-robed figures carrying a female corpse down from the truck.
There was only one "female corpse" left in the truck. She wasn't there anymore—Li Chun had taken her place!
Just as she was about to go out and rescue her, Li Chun was carefully placed on the table. The two black-robed figures doing the cleaning even remarked that she had a nice figure, though it was a pity she died young. Then they smoothly changed her clothes and carried her into the glass coffin.
Zhou Ning was utterly confused. She touched her pocket and felt Li Chun's phone. She immediately suppressed all her thoughts. Since Xu Huo had brought Li Chun, he must have his reasons.
(Chapter End)