Coward?

Even Tao Yuan was so startled by the sight that her heart skipped several beats.

The livestream camera froze at that moment, and the constantly scrolling comments vanished in an instant, leaving dead silence.

Those dark eyes showed no emotion as they stared at her without blinking.

She had no idea how long they had been staring.

"Who are you?"

Tao Yuan took a step back. Her companions surrounded her in practiced unison, holding their weapons in front of them.

The eyes blinked and silently lowered, and only then did they notice the young man hidden in the corner.

Like a startled snail, the young man seemed frightened by how warily the group faced him. He slowly withdrew and stopped looking at them.

Sheng Qingqiao stepped forward and swung his blade down on the gambling table blocking their path. Wood chips flew as the table split cleanly in two, its halves creaking as they fell to either side.

Chips scattered through the air, and the young man hiding behind the table was exposed.

He wore a white short-sleeved shirt and shorts and clutched a rabbit doll with its eyes gouged out. He was curled up, his round eyes seemingly wide with shock as he looked at Sheng Qingqiao in fear.

The young man had a round, bun-like face and looked meek and harmless. He hardly seemed dangerous; if anything, the group looked more like the villains.

Sheng Qingqiao had been about to strike him to test his strength, but after meeting his eyes, he couldn't bring himself either to swing his raised blade or lower it. He stood frozen on the spot in embarrassment.

The young man's arms and legs were so thin that he was afraid a single slash might finish him off.

Tao Yuan tugged at Sheng Qingqiao, and he stepped back. Qin Rang went forward in his place.

His foxlike eyes curved, and his usual friendly smile appeared on his lips. He crouched down to meet the young man's gaze. "Hello, let's get acquainted. I'm Qin Rang."

Faced with Qin Rang's seemingly harmless face and friendly smile, the Puppeteer slowly lowered his eyes and shrank farther into the corner uneasily, still saying nothing.

Tao Yuan exchanged a glance with An Ying beside her, wondering whether this person was human, an NPC here, or some kind of eerie being.

Sheng Qingqiao focused on the doll the young man was clutching tightly in his arms. His intuition told him there was something off about it.

The rabbit doll looked ordinary: white fur, a somewhat dirty face, and an unattractive floral dress... But the rabbit's mouth, stitched with black thread, looked distinctly human, as though it might open wide in a smile the next second.

Startled by his own imagination, Sheng Qingqiao hurriedly looked away and stopped staring at the rabbit with its eyes gouged out.

Qin Rang received no answer, and his suspicions grew.

Here was a living, breathing person who hadn't deliberately concealed himself and had been hiding here for so long. How had they failed to notice him all this time?

The atmosphere grew tense. Qin Rang slowly slipped the hand at his side into his pocket and gripped a mask.

As though sensing that something was wrong with the atmosphere, the young man gritted his teeth and mustered the courage to meet their scrutinizing gazes. "Hello, Calamity Crossing Squad, I..."

He started to get up as he spoke, but the moment he moved, the sharp tip of a bamboo umbrella suddenly pressed against his forehead. The piercing pain stopped him in his tracks. His whole body went cold, and he didn't dare move again.

The icy umbrella tip gave off a dangerous, stinging aura. It seemed that if he showed the slightest sign of anything amiss, this umbrella made from its wielder's true form could pierce his head.

"Who are you? Human or eerie being?" An Ying pushed the umbrella a little farther forward, his expression cold. Bai Yang hurriedly shrank back, pressing himself tightly against the wall, too afraid to move.

"I'm human." He blinked, and clear tears immediately welled up in his large eyes. He wrapped both arms tightly around the doll in his lap, as though drawing a sense of security from it, and widened his big, clear eyes. "H-hold that steady... Don't hurt me by accident."

An Ying's hand froze around the umbrella. ...Why did it suddenly seem like I could smell the delicate fragrance of green tea?

"All right, all right." Qin Rang grabbed the sharp tip of the umbrella and, smiling, patted An Ying's hand. "Don't be so quick to act. We can talk this out. We're all the same kind, right?"

Following Qin Rang's gaze, An Ying glanced at the bluish veins on the back of the young man's hand. His brow relaxed, and he let Qin Rang guide his weapon back.

"Who are you, and where did you come from?" he asked.

Perhaps because he was afraid of him, the young man answered every question. "My name is Bai Yang, Bai as in white, Yang as in sun. I used to live in the Molan Danger Zone. I only came here a few days ago, and I didn't expect to be sucked into this instance."

Tao Yuan asked, "What were you doing hiding here just now?"

Bai Yang clutched the hem of his shirt and said nervously, "I was in this room when I came in. That person triggered a rule and drew an eerie being here. I was scared, so I hid."

Tao Yuan pressed, "If you were scared, why didn't you run?"

"My legs gave out..." Bai Yang lowered his head and nervously rubbed the doll's rabbit ears, his voice trembling slightly. "That was an eerie being. Even if I ran, could I have gotten away? Hiding here without triggering the rules might let me survive."

That sounded reasonable enough, but Sheng Qingqiao always felt something was wrong. He wasn't as smart as Tao Yuan or Qin Rang, but his intuition was accurate.

This person didn't look very capable or intelligent, but Sheng Qingqiao still felt something was off.

[What a pitiful little brother. Mohe is so far from Qihua, and they're two separate danger zones. It couldn't have been easy getting here, only to be dragged into this instance. So tragic.]

[With those skinny little arms and legs, he looks like cannon fodder.]

[Seriously? This kid is definitely good-looking, but why do I get the feeling he's such a green tea?]

After thinking it over, Sheng Qingqiao shook his head. "I don't believe a word of that."

When Bai Yang saw that none of them looked kindly at him, he blinked his big eyes again and cautiously added, "But I'm telling the truth."

The four silently exchanged glances. Why he had been hiding here wasn't the point. The problem was that a whole person had been hiding here, and they hadn't noticed him immediately.

Their vigilance had been honed by fighting eerie beings day and night. They didn't believe for a moment that this person hadn't used some kind of trick.

He might look weak and helpless, but could someone who had survived in the Mohe Danger Zone really have been so frightened by an eerie being that his legs gave out?

Even a fool wouldn't believe that.

But... at least for now, he didn't seem to be an eerie being or a bloodthirsty person.