Chapter 762: I Want My Things Back
The rain was falling, but it wasn't toxic. Teacher Pan and Gao Xiaoyue, reacting too quickly, jumped into the alley first, intending to hide in a shop. But the moment they landed, both were frozen in place, unable to move. Teacher Pan quickly shouted a warning to Sun Bo and Peng Fengnian, who were coming up behind them. They reacted swiftly, changing course mid-air and charging into the shop ahead.
"Teacher Pan!" Sun Bo turned back to pull Pan and Gao free. But by then, Xu Huo had already closed in.
"You go first!" Gao Xiaoyue slapped Teacher Pan on the back, shoving him out of the counting grid, then drew her gun and fired at Xu Huo!
A battered iron door fell to the ground. Xu Huo's figure immediately ducked behind it. As he landed, he braced one hand on the doorframe, and the item tangled with the photo rope transformed into a sharp rope blade!
Meanwhile, Sun Bo, who was dragging Teacher Pan toward the window, realized after failing to cut through the rope blocking their path that it was an item. But they were moving too fast and were too close to dodge. At the critical moment, Sun Bo shoved Teacher Pan out of the way and collided with the "Harms Self, Not Others" trap himself.
Sun Bo was also wearing protective items, but the defense wasn't thorough. The impact didn't cause a fatal wound, but it slashed his side. If the blade hadn't caught on his item, it would have nearly cut halfway through his abdomen.
At the same time, Teacher Pan, who had been sent flying, was trying to climb out the window under Peng Fengnian's protection. Because the light was too dim, neither of them paid much attention to the liquids smeared in inconspicuous places—like the piled-up table, the overturned cabinet, the old window frame... When Peng Fengnian smashed the window open and saw two wax figures outside, instinct made him pause. But that brief hesitation was all Xu Huo needed. Having already killed Sun Bo, he was now behind them both!
"Two-place anomaly!" Teacher Pan shouted, holding up a diamond-shaped crystal. But the item didn't activate. Xu Huo's sword swept across and slashed his throat—it should have been severed, but perhaps some item or trait had reduced the damage. Teacher Pan collapsed, clutching his neck, still able to speak: "Don't kill Peng Fengnian. He means you no harm..."
Xu Huo kicked him aside and turned to meet the dagger Peng Fengnian thrust at him.
"Extreme Fatigue" and "Important Call" were used simultaneously. The weariness on the opponent's face was visibly increasing, and he raised one hand to his ear. But in response, the "Crimson Sword" fell to the ground, and Xu Huo's arms suddenly ached with a sharp, piercing pain, nearly making them impossible to lift...
The two faced off. Xu Huo, having "lost his hands," was clearly at a disadvantage compared to Peng Fengnian, who still had one hand free. But Peng Fengnian's dagger shifted slightly to the right mid-strike, not aiming for his heart.
"Same-Sex Repulsion" activated in an instant. Peng Fengnian was blasted back against the window frame and rebounded. Xu Huo kicked him in the abdomen, sending him flying out the window, then turned to face Gao Xiaoyue, who was sneaking up on him.
Gao Xiaoyue had used a silencing item. She had moved from the doorway without making a sound. She thought she hadn't been exposed, so when Xu Huo turned around as if he had expected her, she was especially surprised.
Her hands didn't stop. A body bag materialized out of thin air beside Xu Huo, its zipper wide open, swallowing him like a mouth!
Gao Xiaoyue, now close enough, pulled out a steel cable to loop around him. But she couldn't hold it for even a second. A long sword pierced through the body bag from top to bottom, slashing it open with a "shriek."
Items, even if made of paper or cloth, aren't easily destroyed. But that sword cut through the body bag like it was paper. Seeing this, Gao Xiaoyue grabbed Teacher Pan and retreated quickly.
Teacher Pan, slung over her shoulder, saw the person coming out of the shop a moment later and hurled the green syringe far into the distance!
Xu Huo, who was in hot pursuit, instantly changed direction and reached out to catch the potion. But the moment he grabbed it, the glass outer tube shattered. The potion immediately vaporized into a pungent gas, spreading across several cubic meters in the blink of an eye.
Gao Xiaoyue stopped running and looked back at the smoke-filled area. "Is he dead?"
She didn't need Teacher Pan to answer. Xu Huo answered himself. He shot out of the smoke like a bolt of lightning, appearing on a rooftop less than a hundred meters away in an instant. In the next blink, he was right in front of them. As he brushed past, the toxic gas clinging to him hadn't even fully dissipated... Unaffected by the poison, catching up in an extremely short time, and predicting the opponent's escape route and direction—any player seeing this kind of ability would have to admire it. Unless they were the prey being tracked.
Two bodies rolled off the roof. Xu Huo successfully retrieved his potion. After confirming it was the one he had taken from the puppet's arm, he shook the toxic gas off his clothes and turned to head back toward the Museum City gate.
Peng Fengnian, leaning against the wall in the alley, watched his back and dialed Lin Zhenhuai's phone. "Teacher Pan is dead. Find a place to hide."
After all, even if they cleared the instance, they couldn't leave.
Lin Zhenhuai and Old Eagle had originally been responsible for distracting Xu Huo, and they had taken the severely injured He Xue with them. They hid him first, planning to deal with Xu Huo and then leave the instance. But when they reached the exit, they couldn't get out. They didn't see Xu Huo following, so they went back to bring their companion along.
After several attempts to leave the Museum City failed, the two sensed something was wrong. Just as they were about to contact Teacher Pan, Peng Fengnian's call came in.
Old Eagle was furious. "He dares to kill Teacher Pan!"
Lin Zhenhuai was much calmer. "What's wrong with a player dying at the hands of another player? When you kill, you have to be prepared to be killed."
"But Teacher Pan is different..." Old Eagle's words were cut off. "He's no different. Entering the game, this day will come sooner or later. Don't think about going out to avenge him. If Teacher Pan is dead, Gao Xiaoyue is definitely dead too. We're no match for Yu Huo. Let's hide first and meet up with our people."
Lin Zhenhuai and Old Eagle hid their companion and then split up to find their own hiding spots. But Xu Huo didn't immediately hunt them down. Instead, he found a place to carefully examine the information about the Corpse-Hiding Hotel from Teacher Pan's luggage compartment.
The mysterious disappearances of people who entered the Corpse-Hiding Hotel had indeed attracted the attention of some scholars. Starting from paranormal research, and then with the appearance of the game world, these people realized that the Corpse-Hiding Hotel might have been connected to the game long ago. It could be a naturally formed overlapping space, or an item born by accident. Either way, it was highly valuable for research.
The local government had sealed off the information and conducted its own research. They had sent many people in, and after suffering heavy losses, they finally made some progress.