Chapter 751: The Not-So-Smooth Plan
At such a close distance, the object Xu Huo threw went straight down the monster’s throat, and he immediately pressed the remote control. Music began to play from inside the monster’s belly:
“Xiao Ming had a secret, he told his friend Xiao Hua…”
The monster was clawing at its own mouth, but upon hearing the sound, it spun around in place, then lunged fiercely at Xu Huo again!
“Watch out!” Yu Guangnan, who had just arrived, saw Xu Huo cornered in the dead end of the corridor and couldn’t help shouting, simultaneously throwing out a whistle to divert the monster’s attention.
However, the monster clearly held a “new grudge and old hatred” against Xu Huo. It didn’t even glance at the prop flying past with the sound; its target was only the person directly in front of it!
But taking advantage of the brief gap, Xu Huo had already adjusted his angle. Using his trait, he slipped past the monster, simultaneously slashing at its back with his sword. However, he pulled back the moment the blade touched bone!
“Go!” With his goal achieved, Xu Huo didn’t linger. He set a fire in the corridor and called for Yu Guangnan to retreat.
The injured player had already been taken away. Xu Huo and Yu Guangnan climbed up along the outer wall, but the pursuing monster actually scaled the wall surface, clinging tightly to them from behind!
“Accelerated Fall!” Sun Bo appeared by the window, once again using a prop to knock the monster back to the ground, buying time for Xu Huo and the others.
“Hurry up!” Gao Xiaoyue threw down a steel cable. The moment Xu Huo and Yu Guangnan grabbed hold, they were quickly pulled up to the seventh floor.
“Owww! Owww!” The monster, slammed back to the ground, raised its head and roared. It paced back and forth, grinding its claws against the ground, but it had clearly learned its lesson. Knowing it couldn’t get up there, it circled in place for a while, then stared intently at the upper floors for a good long time before finally giving up and entering the first floor.
Back upstairs, Xu Huo thanked Sun Bo. Sun Bo said, “Now you understand. Sniping the monster is very difficult. It can even destroy some props. Superficial wounds from blades are useless. It can bounce back in a single night.”
“At least now we can confirm it can’t leave the hotel premises.” Xu Huo said, “If there’s no nest or excretion site for it anywhere in the entire hotel, it means its activity area isn’t limited to the Mirror Hotel. There must be a secret passage inside the hotel.”
“We didn’t see it in the Corpse-Hiding Hotel. Could there be a triple space in this hotel?” Xiao Ling asked with doubt. “Doesn’t that make it even harder for us to get out?”
“Even if we prove there’s another space, that doesn’t mean that space has an exit passage. Otherwise, the monster should have appeared in the Corpse-Hiding Hotel too.”
“If multiple spaces are confirmed, and the monster can move freely between them, there must be passages for entering and exiting.” Xu Huo said, “This potentially existing passage is currently our only hope.”
The space is intact. The only weak points are the passages. Actually, it’s strange to hear the footsteps of outside players in the Mirror Hotel. If this phenomenon is caused by the appearance of a spatial passage, then it shouldn’t be mobile. Unless the entire hotel’s space is undergoing changes at such times, but Peng Fengnian and the others just haven’t noticed.
“What do we do next?” Xiao Ling asked.
“Exhaust the monster’s stamina.” Xu Huo said, “See if it can lead us to the clues.”
Over the next period of time, they placed various noise-making tools or props on different floors to lure the monster. This time, there was no need for a direct confrontation. The focus was on attrition, and ideally, they could take the opportunity to plant a tracking prop on it.
As the noises appeared, the injured monster was frequently drawn out. Taking this chance, Xu Huo, Peng Fengnian, and the others re-searched the hotel rooms again.
Most rooms had similar layouts, visible at a glance, with nothing noteworthy. Xu Huo also didn’t find anything else, such as the wax figures that had appeared in the Corpse-Hiding Hotel, or the mannequins and dolls from other venues, let alone any potions.
If the instance really contained the S version potion, and the hints about the potion in the psychotherapy room were indeed left by Dr. Wu, then this hotel with multiple spaces was the most likely place to store the potion.
Could he have stored the potion in the third space?
Thus, while avoiding the monster, Xu Huo and the others searched the entire hotel from top to bottom, confirming that there was indeed no nest or excretion site for the monster.
“The sound disappeared?” Xiao Ling stopped in the corridor and looked up at the window. “The music is still playing, but the monster’s sound is gone.”
Xu Huo first checked the time. “It’s almost dawn.”
It was now close to six in the morning. The darkness outside had receded somewhat. He turned to meet up with Peng Fengnian and the others, learning that the monster’s last appearance was on the eighth floor, so he headed there.
As soon as he entered the eighth floor, he immediately released his spiritual realm. But unfortunately, he didn’t perceive anything on this floor.
“What are you looking for?” Lin Zhenhuai followed him up.
Xu Huo casually opened a nearby room door. Pushing it open, it was still a normal hotel room. His expression darkened, and he closed the door again.
“Trying to see if I can find the passage the monster uses to leave.”
Regarding the spatial knowledge of the instance, Xiao Ling and the others didn’t have much reserve. However, Lin Zhenhuai had a prop that could perceive small-scale spatial fluctuations. He said, “Every time the monster left, I tested it. The prop had no reaction.”
If the passage really existed, the most likely time for them to “pick up a bargain” would be right when the monster disappeared. By the time Xu Huo came up and checked room by room, it would be too late.
Xu Huo didn’t explain further. He only needed to take a few more steps to inspect the entire floor. Finding nothing, he returned to the previous room with the others.
On Peng Fengnian’s side, the same few people were still showing their faces. Besides that Teacher Pan, there were two other players who hadn’t left their rooms.
Xu Huo didn’t care about that. He was only concerned about the previously injured player.
“His spine was crushed.” Peng Fengnian sighed. “His external injuries are also severe. If we can’t get out in time, he’ll probably die here.”
Everyone fell silent for a moment, then began to integrate the detailed information.
Except for the eighth floor, where the monster last appeared, the monster had been wandering between different floors at other times without disappearing. During this period, the wound the steel cable had made around its neck had already healed by half. It was unknown if its burned fur would grow back.
Of course, the tracker hadn’t been successfully attached either. Because once it noticed something extra on its body, its first action was to get rid of it. Even a tracker embedded into its flesh would be torn off along with a piece of skin.
“Are there any traces of it vomiting?” Xu Huo asked. “I stuffed a player into its stomach.”
Peng Fengnian looked at him in surprise. “No, there aren’t. But since that’s the case, why didn’t you just throw a tracker in instead?”
“I grabbed whatever was handy in the heat of the moment.” Xu Huo gave a reasonable explanation.
Xiao Ling and the others were both speechless and regretful, but Peng Fengnian gave him a couple of extra glances.
(Chapter End)