Chapter 698: Xu Huo Was Here
"It'll take another two days to clear the instance." Wei Xian didn't know much about the situation at the Four Directions Palace, and even after blowing up the sluice gate, he wasn't at ease. Instead, he worried that angering the instance boss would invite retaliation.
"If it wanted to kill people, it wouldn't matter whether the sluice gate was blown up or not." Xu Huo gave a slight smile and said to him, "We still have to stay in the game for two more days. Bian Jin and Yi Pei are seriously injured. Let's send them back to rest first. We have other things to do."
Wei Xian opened his mouth, but the question didn't come out. Instead, he reached out and carried Yi Pei on his back.
When the group returned to the county town, the morning light was already showing at the horizon. They casually found a courtyard to stay in. After resting and tidying up, Xu Huo and Wei Xian went to the residents' homes to gather some flammable items and placed them in the hotel, which was still half-standing.
Burning down the hotel building wasn't difficult, but once they left, the instance boss could rebuild it at any time, so it wouldn't have much effect.
"What's the use of this?" Wei Xian was following Xu Huo's instructions, digging out the stone carvings from the woods and carving childish graffiti on them. "Once we leave, the instance boss can control the locals to destroy all this stuff."
Xu Huo was doing the same thing. "At least it'll cause some annoyance. How can you say it's useless?"
Wei Xian choked, muttered "What's the point of just causing annoyance?" and then continued working with his head down.
Doing these things didn't take much time. When they finished, people were gradually returning from the pool area. These people still had numb expressions, crossing the stone bridge and the woods like puppets, then returning to their residences to wash up.
"Do they really have no awareness at all?" Wei Xian couldn't help asking.
After everything, the only ones who could remain completely unaware were probably children. Moreover, the reason Xiao Yun had degenerated into a xenomorph so quickly might also be related to her having eaten the flesh and blood of a player.
By noon, the residents of the county town gradually woke up. They seemed accustomed to the situation in the town, only panicking a little when they noticed the changes in the pool, but that was all. They had neither the ability nor the courage to investigate or resist.
In the afternoon, the men, women, old, and young of the county town began repairing the damaged houses. Someone contacted the bus driver who had brought the passengers to have materials delivered.
As for Xu Huo and the others who were still alive, no one paid them any attention. Except for a few children, everyone else kept their distance.
Xiao Yun and her brother hadn't returned, and the grandmother and grandson hadn't survived either. The county town had lost more than half its people, making it feel somewhat desolate.
In this atmosphere, Yi Pei and the other two were unwilling to interact with the locals. Only Xu Huo got on the bus and went along with the driver for a trip.
Since he hadn't cleared the instance yet, he couldn't leave the instance area. The farthest place he could reach was the boarding point.
After confirming that the driver came every day, he booked a travel package through the driver with a travel agency from another area, agreeing to pick up people in two days.
With nothing else to do for the remaining time, he played with the remaining children in the county town.
Yi Pei and the other two found it unbelievable. Wei Xian, especially, was restless after learning that the instance boss might have business dealings with a super player, making Xu Huo's behavior even harder for him to understand.
"How can he stay so calm?" Wei Xian even felt a bit resentful. If Xu Huo hadn't caused such a big incident, maybe the instance boss would have just handed over the stored corpses to the box carrier. If the box carrier made a wasted trip, wouldn't they inevitably take out their anger on them?
"Since things have come to this, there's no other way." Bian Jin lay flat. "Maybe the box carrier will be so furious that they'll flatten this instance too. Taking an instance boss down as a scapegoat isn't a loss."
Yi Pei also laughed.
Compared to the two seriously injured people, Wei Xian naturally felt unwilling. He had hidden underwater and hadn't been affected. Without this turn of events, he could definitely have dragged things out until the instance ended!
Xu Huo was teaching two kids how to throw darts and added a remark on the side, "If the Four Directions Palace hadn't been blown up, could you have held your breath underwater for three days? Or do you think the black-armored man couldn't go into the water?"
Wei Xian had no comeback and didn't dare to confront him directly, so he waved his hand and walked away.
"Uncle, I want to play!" The forgetful children quickly put the changes in the county town behind them and crowded around him eagerly.
Xu Huo smiled, handed over the position and the darts, leaned against a nearby tree, and toyed with the paper airplane the paper servant master had given him.
Two days passed like this. On the afternoon of the third day, the group safely received the clearance prompt. The tour bus Xu Huo had booked also entered the county town, forcing everyone—whether willing or unwilling—onto the bus, and then set the town on fire.
Wei Xian left right after clearing the instance. Yi Pei and Bian Jin hadn't left yet. They planned to leave the county town with the tour bus. Since the instance area was now unlocked, they could come and go as they pleased.
The convoy departed from the county town. Xu Huo turned back and went to the Four Directions Palace again. Without the black-armored man's obstruction, he walked straight into the palace, left behind the cultivated bone-eating worms, and then used a pen to write on a pillar: "Guess who was here."
This audacious move probably really angered the instance owner. The ceiling on the second floor suddenly collapsed, as if some twisted alien creature was crashing down on him!
Xu Huo was caught off guard and sent flying, crashing through the charred mountain of corpses and slamming into the opposite wall. But he stood up, patted off his clothes, looked up at the third floor, and smiled, "See you later."
"Boom, boom, boom!" The floor of the third floor completely caved in, collapsing the mountain of corpses and the second floor together. Amid the rolling and splashing dust, a white paper airplane was buried deep under the rubble.
"...Train E2497 will arrive at the station in three minutes. Please prepare to board."
Xu Huo had just arrived at the station when the announcement sounded. Scanning the situation inside the station, he walked to a corner and, like an ordinary passenger, took out his phone to browse.
This was normal behavior for ordinary people, but it stood out in a dimension train station. Usually, players played with items, so when he took out his phone, several nearby players moved away.
There were no corpses in the station, and everyone boarded the train without incident.
Entering the carriage, Xu Huo sensed that there were quite a few players heading to Zone 011 this time. After a brief pause, he called over the flight attendant, paid out of pocket, and moved to the front.
"Sir, here is today's special menu."
Elegant music, rich food. Xu Huo sat by the window, eating while enjoying the scenery outside, his tense nerves relaxing a little.
Not encountering the box carrier before the instance ended was lucky. Although he still wasn't sure if the box carrier would actually show up, he had still used "Truth Transcends All" to go to the Four Directions Palace and leave the paper airplane.
Of course, according to his wishful thinking, there might be an unexpected encounter between two super players. But he was also well aware that the chances were slim. More likely, the paper airplane would fall into the instance boss's hands.
However, in his view, this slim chance was worth a try.
(Chapter End)