Chapter 742: Pursuit
"If you're looking for him, you've got the wrong person." Xiao Ling shrugged.
"No mistake!" The leading man spoke and released a bamboo dragonfly, and in an instant a gale force wind arose, a powerful force rushing through the water channel space toward the area behind Xiao Ling and the other two, directly blasting through the stone wall at the bend, forcing Xu Huo, who had been hiding behind it, out into the open.
"Forced Removal!" The male player didn't even spare Xiao Ling and the others a glance, directly appearing on the stone wall behind them, his feet sticking to the rock as he made a rope-pulling gesture with one hand, reaching out toward the empty space ahead. "Bonds of Morality!"
Xu Huo, whose invisibility cloak had been stripped away, instantly appeared in everyone's sight. However, before that, a semi-transparent barrier had already risen in the air, blocking the effects of the prop the male player had used afterward.
But he couldn't stay in the air for long, and the movement speed of the strings was also slow. So the moment he came face to face with his opponent, he dove down and rushed onto the boat, using "Absolute Safe Distance" and "Moving Metal" to forcefully shove aside a player blocking his path, quickly charging toward the entrance.
"Dead End!" Another player beside him swept a hand across the water channel, and a transparent, mirror-like barrier appeared ahead, precisely cutting off Xu Huo's path forward.
Forced to retreat, he found that two more players had already filled in behind him. In the narrow passage, blocked front and back, the space available for Xu Huo to maneuver was extremely small. Both sides exchanged props in a barrage, but due to the effect of "Compressed Air," some props proved useless, and it could also block some physical attacks. After a brief skirmish, neither side gained the upper hand.
Xiao Ling and the other two joined the melee, taking advantage of the chaos to blast through the stone ceiling above. Yu Guangnan led the way, climbing out through the hole. Long Aotian, who went up after him, placed a ring-shaped prop at the exit. The leading player tried to use a prop to seal the hole but failed.
"Yu Huo! Hurry up!" Long Aotian shouted from above.
Xu Huo glanced at the players blocking the hole, then suddenly turned and lunged toward the stone wall beside the water channel barrier. He pressed both hands against it, and the rock began to powderize!
The two players nearby immediately pounced on him. The leading player, also fearing he might escape, moved forward to cover the position. But just as their eyes were fixed on the figure by the stone wall, an identical figure appeared at the stone hole.
The leading player was the first to notice the anomaly. He turned his head and saw that Xu Huo had already been pulled up by Long Aotian, while the figure by the stone wall had yet to disappear!
Kicking through the stones blocking the top, the leading player leaped out of the hole. Seeing Xu Huo and the others heading toward the Corpse Hotel, he immediately called for his men to follow.
In fact, the spot they had emerged from was right in the middle of a maze venue. But in this special situation, the venue, made of flimsy materials, couldn't pose any obstacle to the players. Xiao Ling charged straight through, smashing a hole right through the venue.
Across the street was the Corpse Hotel. But before they could get close, the hotel's main door automatically closed. The force of the impact shattered the glass on the door, sending countless fragments flying straight at Xu Huo and the others' faces!
"Clang, clang, clang!" Each of them used defensive props, but this one move slowed them down. The pursuing players had already caught up, clearly intending to let none of them escape. As they emerged from the maze, two players had already split off to flank them from left and right.
The leading player used "Bonds of Morality" again. Long Aotian, unable to dodge in time, found his hands locked behind his back by a pair of transparent handcuffs. If Yu Guangnan hadn't pulled him aside, he would have been sliced to pieces by another player's twin blades!
"Craftsman's Knife Work!" The twin-blade player then distanced himself again, crossing his arms and slashing from several meters away, sending six blade strikes—three horizontal and three vertical—flying toward them!
They had witnessed this move the previous night. The group simultaneously leaped into the air to dodge, but someone immediately filled the space above them. A colorful large net descended from overhead, then suddenly split into four smaller nets as it approached.
"Eye of the Dead" instantly appeared in his hand. Xu Huo slashed the net in half with his sword, then transformed the blade into a water gun. He fired a few shots at the approaching players, temporarily creating some distance, then flicked his lighter. The player closest to him burst into flames!
The explosion drew the attention of the other players. Xiao Ling took the opportunity to toss several smoke bombs and led the charge into the Corpse Hotel!
With a few "swish, swish" sounds, the five pursuing players also emerged from the smoke one after another. The player who had been burned only suffered superficial injuries and entered the hotel without any delay.
The Corpse Hotel was decorated in a luxurious style. Although it wasn't a real hotel for guests, its layout was similar. With time running out, Xu Huo had no chance to check the front desk's records. He directly pried open the elevator doors and went up to the third floor.
"Iron Will." Long Aotian swiped a hand across the elevator doors, and the gap in the middle was sealed by something like a metal band, barely blocking the path.
But staying here wasn't safe either. Xiao Ling made a "shush" gesture, signaling everyone to tread lightly.
Yu Guangnan took out a shoe cover machine, stepped into it himself first, and took a couple of steps to demonstrate the effect of muffled footsteps.
Xu Huo and the other two put on the shoe covers. Confirming that the players weren't coming up the stairs, they randomly picked a room and climbed up the outer windows toward the upper floors.
At least half of the rooms in the Corpse Hotel faced the direction of the Decapitation Cemetery. But the room layout was somewhat like a gear, with doors not aligned on a single horizontal line. Every other room had its outer wall protruding forward, probably by about two meters, making it impossible to see the person in the adjacent room if you stood even slightly back.
Yu Guangnan used a silencing prop. "So this is what the inside of the hotel is like. Forget the rooms, even the corridors could hide people."
Now wasn't the time to discuss the hotel. Xiao Ling's face darkened. "That group is relentless. It looks like they won't stop until they've killed us all. We need to find a way to take them out."
"These guys are stronger than players of the same level," Long Aotian said realistically. "The few of us probably can't beat them."
"Why are they so fixated on us?" Yu Guangnan couldn't understand. "I just happened to overhear them talking about props. But who doesn't know there are props in a new instance?"
"They might be after you," Xiao Ling said, looking at Xu Huo.
"It's not just me. All the players who entered the instance should be their targets," Xu Huo said. "Since they mentioned props, why aren't they looking for props instead of teaming up to kill other players?"
"It can only be one of two possibilities. Either they're trying to weaken their opponents this way."
"Or someone has already taken the props, and they've decided to just hunt down anyone who looks like they might have gotten a high-level prop."
(Chapter End)