Cheng Xu and the other two soon shook off the residents chasing them.
After all, their physiques far surpassed those of ordinary people. Even if they couldn't beat dozens of opponents, they had no trouble escaping.
But they couldn't keep running forever. After shaking the people off, the three rushed into a classroom.
The classroom was full of choking dust, but they had no choice but to endure it. They found a secluded spot and crawled under the desks.
For the time being, they were safe.
Cheng Xu couldn't help cursing. "Damn it, this mission is bullshit. We're supposed to save the people here, but they want to eat us!"
"Yeah, what a bunch of ungrateful wretches," Jiang Yue cursed.
"Next time we see them, we don't have to hold back. Just kill them," Zhao Yuqing said.
"Although our mission is to save the residents here, it shouldn't be a problem as long as they don't all die."
All three were in a terrible mood. Nothing had gone smoothly since they entered this instance.
It was supposed to be a simple welfare instance, but the instance rules had been changed, and they had accidentally entered a hidden map.
If not for all those setbacks, they would have returned to the real world long ago, eating hotpot and singing songs.
But now, they could only huddle in a corner, trembling.
Before long, a flurry of hurried footsteps sounded outside. Their pursuers had arrived.
The three held their breath. Soon, they heard someone speak.
"They must be hiding. Let's split up and look for them. If you see them, don't attack right away. Call for help first."
The footsteps gradually grew less frequent as the people scattered in different directions. The three breathed a sigh of relief. As long as there were fewer of them together, things would be easier.
Although they were no match for dozens of people, they could handle seven or eight with ease.
As long as these people split up, they posed no threat to them.
The three crawled out from under the desks and carefully made their way to the door. They exchanged glances, each understanding what the others meant.
They would wait here for someone to come.
Before long, two people approached the classroom door. All three got ready.
The door suddenly opened. The two residents outside saw the three standing behind it and froze for a moment.
When they came to their senses and prepared to shout, Cheng Xu and Zhao Yuqing immediately made their move. Each grabbed one of the residents, pulled him into the classroom, and clamped a hand over his mouth.
Cheng Xu took the short blade out of his inventory and pressed it against one man's neck. In a low voice, he said,
"Answer whatever I ask you. Don't shout, or I'll stab you to death!"
The man blinked hurriedly to show he wouldn't shout, and Cheng Xu took his hand away from the man's mouth.
"Don't you have anything to eat? Why do you want to eat us?"
"We do. We can grow vegetables on the open land at the school and in town," the man said.
"We haven't eaten meat in a long time, and the mayor thinks outsiders like you will bring disaster upon us, so...
"This is our first time doing anything like this, really. We've never done it before..."
Cheng Xu cut him off. The fact that they wanted to eat them just because they had no meat infuriated him.
He resisted the urge to stab the man in front of him to death and asked another question.
"Why can't those monsters enter this school? What exactly is here?"
The man hesitated, glanced at the blade in Cheng Xu's hand, and said,
"Xu Jing. It's him. As long as he's alive, those monsters can't enter the school."
"Xu Jing?" Cheng Xu paused, then said, "Isn't he already dead? You burned him to death."
"Yes, we tried to burn him to death, but he didn't die. He's still alive, though he's as good as dead. He spends most of his time asleep and is rarely awake."
"Why would he help you? What do the monsters outside have to do with him?"
"He created those monsters. As for why he won't let them enter the school, I don't know. Maybe he just wants to torture us this way."
Xu Jing had created those monsters to kill everyone, yet he wouldn't let them enter the school, indirectly protecting these people. Cheng Xu couldn't make sense of it.
But for now, they had to see him first.
"Where is he?" Cheng Xu asked.
"In the row at the southernmost end of the dormitory area, in the dormitory on the far left. There are guards there."
Cheng Xu turned to the other man and pressed the blade against his neck.
"Is he telling the truth?"
"Yes, it's true," the man immediately replied.
Cheng Xu nodded and slit the man's throat. Seeing this, the other man was about to shout, but his head was cut off with a single stroke.
Neither of them bled, because the Demon Blade had already devoured all the blood in their bodies.
Cheng Xu put away the short blade and said, "Let's go to the place he mentioned."
"Okay." Jiang Yue and Zhao Yuqing both nodded. They had a vague feeling that they were already very close to the truth.
If what the two residents had just said was true, then all they had to do was find Xu Jing to learn the truth about what had happened to the town.
Perhaps they could even complete the mission without a hitch.
The three carefully left the classroom and headed for the school's dormitory area. They had not gone far when they heard the sounds of a fight nearby.
The three looked in the direction of the sounds and saw Zhang Zhiqiang.
Zhang Zhiqiang was fighting two men. Although he was badly injured, he managed to snatch a blade from one of them and kill them both.
"Wasn't he dead?" Zhao Yuqing said.
"It's you?" Zhang Zhiqiang spotted the three of them and limped over.
"Damn it, you three saw I was in danger and didn't even help. You just left me there and ran!"
"We couldn't save you in that situation," Cheng Xu said.
Jiang Yue asked in confusion, "Weren't you killed? How..."
"You're the one who's dead!" Zhang Zhiqiang said angrily.
"I don't know why either, but those puppets didn't kill me. Maybe I passed out, and they thought I was dead."
"It's good that you're still alive," Cheng Xu said. "We found something."
Cheng Xu told Zhang Zhiqiang what they had discovered as he led them toward the dormitory area.
Soon, they reached their destination.
There were only two guards outside Xu Jing's residence. They were chatting and didn't notice the four approaching. They weren't on guard at all.
They were just two ordinary people, and they weren't professional in the slightest. There were four of them, so they could deal with the guards easily.
The four strode openly toward them. When the two guards saw them, they shouted and tried to flee.
But they were caught after only a few steps. The four showed no mercy and killed them outright.
After all, these residents intended to eat them. No one here was innocent, so killing the two of them wasn't excessive.
After dealing with the two guards, the four went to Xu Jing's room. Its windows had all been sealed shut, and the door had several locks on it.
Clearly, the residents placed great importance on this place.
That meant they had come to the right place.
Cheng Xu used the short blade to chop through the locks on the door.
The Demon Blade cut through iron like mud. The locks broke as soon as the blade came down.
Everything was going smoothly.
They all grew nervous despite themselves. They had a feeling they were very close to the truth.
This should be the key to whether they could clear the instance.
But the closer they got to this point, the more nervous they became.
Cheng Xu pushed open the door, and the four entered the room. It was somewhat dim inside, but there was still enough light for them to see clearly.
The only thing inside was a bed. A man lay on it, his body wrapped in bandages. Large areas of his skin had been burned, leaving hardly an inch intact.
But he was still alive. They could see his chest rising and falling; he was clearly not dead.
"Hello, are you Xu Jing?" Cheng Xu asked, standing beside the bed.
The man in the room gave no response. His eyes remained tightly shut, and he hadn't heard Cheng Xu at all.
They called out a few more times and gave Xu Jing's body a few pushes, but there was still no response.
Now they could be certain that the man in front of them was unconscious. He was probably in a vegetative state.
"He's in a vegetative state. What use is he?" Zhang Zhiqiang said irritably.
"We have to find a way to wake him up," Cheng Xu said. "He's the key to our mission."
But waking someone in a vegetative state was no easy task.
At that moment, Zhang Zhiqiang suddenly spoke again. "Leave it to me. I have a way to wake him up."