"Mountain Inn": I Guess Xu Xi Is Involved Too

"I'm finished eating." Yang Wu seemed not to have noticed the subtle exchanges between the others. He asked casually, "What are your plans now?"

The Refined Man put his phone away without drawing attention to it and said helplessly, "The downpour's still going outside, so we can only stay at this inn for the night. Once day breaks and the rain stops, we'll leave if there hasn't been a mudslide."

Then he turned the question back on Yang Wu. "What about you? Why have you stayed here this whole time?"

"I came here to look for traces of my sister. I haven't found her yet, so I don't want to leave."

Yang Wu sounded deeply dejected. He seemed fixated on finding traces of his sister.

The Refined Man was about to offer some comfort for appearance's sake when something unexpected happened.

The Burly Man suddenly shot to his feet and began scratching himself uncontrollably.

"What's going on?! I'm so itchy—fuck! Why am I so itchy..."

Everyone else's expressions changed as they watched the Burly Man shout and claw at his skin. Within moments, he had scratched it raw.

The Burly Man scratched harder and harder, as though he meant to tear his skin off. Before long, his whole body was covered in blood.

"Help! Hurry, save me! Sa—ugh—"

As the others watched, the Burly Man suddenly began to convulse, his eyes rolling back. His behavior was bizarre, and he looked as though he might mutate at any moment.

Most horrifying of all, his body was slowly growing taller, and his arms were gradually lengthening.

No matter how they looked at it, he was becoming more and more like the White Humanoid they had locked in Room 106.

The Refined Man's scalp prickled, and a chill ran through him.

He had no time to think. He shouted to the others, "Run!"

The next second, he was the first to dash out the door.

Damn it, when did the Burly Man fall victim to this? And how?

Xu Xi and the High-Ponytail Woman also came to their senses and immediately followed him.

"Hey, wait for me!" Yang Wu followed behind them.

"Don't... go... save... me, ugh, ahhh—"

Left alone in the room, the Burly Man stared fixedly after them and reached out for help in vain. But it was as if his throat were stuffed with cotton, and his voice gradually failed him.

As soon as Yang Wu ran out of the room, he pulled a key from his pocket.

It was the key to Room 101.

He turned and, with quick reflexes, pulled the door shut just as the Burly Man lunged at it.

There was a bang, and the door shuddered under the impact.

Only after calmly locking it did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Inside, the Burly Man, still undergoing his mutation, continued to slam violently against the door. At the same time, pounding came from Room 106 as well.

The White Humanoid seemed to have gone berserk too.

The sound of pounding doors rose and fell around them. Everyone in the corridor knew that if it continued, the wooden doors, which were not particularly thick, would never hold them back.

"The other candle is... by Xiao Yuan's body. Let's go light it. Hopefully, it can still draw them in."

The Refined Man quickly thought of the candle the Short-Haired Woman with Glasses had held. He wanted to repeat their earlier trick and use the candle to keep them occupied. Unfortunately, they hadn't brought it with them, or they wouldn't have had to go back for it now.

He had nearly given himself away in front of "Yang Wu," who was facing him. If he didn't even know his own companion's name and called her only something like "the woman with glasses," it would likely cause unnecessary trouble again.

Fortunately, he had reacted in time and made up a name on the spot.

Xu Xi and the High-Ponytail Woman naturally understood who Xiao Yuan was, and why the Refined Man had made up a name.

Just as the three were about to go to the second floor for the candle, Yang Wu stopped them. "Leaving your mutated companion aside, the mutated resident of Room 103 has never gone crazy like this before. The candle might not work anymore."

Looking anxious, the Refined Man asked urgently, "Then what do we do? We can't just wait here to die, can we?"

"Don't worry. There's a cellar in this inn, and I know where it is. We can hide in there."

Shining his flashlight, Yang Wu hurried toward the inn lobby.

"Hurry, follow me!"

The Refined Man glanced at the other two. Their eyes met, and the three reached a silent understanding.

As Xu Xi followed the others, he instinctively turned his head to glance at the wooden door, which was trembling incessantly under the blows.

He suddenly remembered the tiny wound he had seen on the Burly Man's wrist.

Could the Burly Man's mutation have something to do with that wound?

But there was obviously no way to verify it now.

The viewers in the bullet comments were stunned by the series of sudden developments.

[Wait, what happened? Why did the Burly Man suddenly mutate??]

[I didn't miss anything. They entered Room 101, discovered that the passage under the wardrobe was a trap, and then turned the tables to lure out the guy from 202 who's looking for his sister. The Burly Man never went off on his own that whole time.]

[Why is this instance such a mess? Just when I was finally starting to understand the instance background after the guy looking for his sister came out, this happens.]

[We don't even know whether that guy is real or fake. Didn't you see the players' chat? They suspect he's the impostor.]

[Okay, now it's even more confusing.]

[I was just betting on whether the Burly Man would die. I lost. He didn't die, but he mutated.]

[Someone earlier thought that Boss Xu Xi has been talking more since he entered Room 101.]

[Has he? He hasn't said that much more, has he?]

[But it's more than when he first entered this instance.]

[...I keep feeling there's something fishy about the Burly Man's mutation. And Xu Xi's behavior since entering Room 101 has been unusual too. Like some earlier comments said, he seems to be subtly guiding something.]

[It does feel a little deliberate. The Burly Man's mutation came out of nowhere, and the whole sequence feels like there's a hand deliberately pushing things along behind the scenes.]

[Are you all that perceptive? I've watched and watched, and I still can't see what's deliberate about it.]

[Ignore them, previous commenter. They're just a bunch of conspiracy theorists.]

[It really isn't a conspiracy theory. I know what feels deliberate now: everything went too smoothly. Ponytail woman finds the passage—the moment Xu Xi realizes it's a trap—the four turn the tables and catch the guy looking for his sister—the Burly Man suddenly mutates—the White Humanoid abruptly goes berserk—the guy looking for his sister says he knows there's a cellar. Put it all together and think carefully.]

[Holy shit, so the guy looking for his sister is deliberately leading the players to the cellar? Then the Burly Man's mutation has something to do with him?]

[More than that. I guess Xu Xi is involved too.]

[What the hell are you all hinting at? Can any expert explain it in detail? I'm begging on my knees.]

[Previous commenter, go search for a blogger on a certain site. His ID is He Sanshui, and his real name is Ji Yang. His analyses are always detailed and reasonable. He happens to be livestreaming Boss Xu Xi's instance right now. I'm watching it.]

[Okk, thanks for the recommendation. I'll go take a look.]