The fog before Liu Shuai dispersed, and a smile appeared on his lips.
For him, the maze before him was not difficult to escape, because he had already learned how to clear this Instance.
Any Instance below S-rank was not too difficult as long as he had a guide. Even if he were the only one left, he could still make it out.
But he was in no hurry to leave. Before he did, he had a few people to kill.
Sun Jingyu's analysis had been correct. After the Instance was revamped, there were indeed two opposing forces.
One was the Amusement Paradise Director, and the other was the boss of the hidden quest.
As one side grew stronger, the other weakened. To complete the hidden quest, he had to sacrifice these teammates here.
That would weaken the boss of the hidden quest, making the quest easy to complete.
The hidden quest in this Instance was extremely important. It involved a key item that would determine whether the deity they worshipped could descend upon this world.
That was the Blood Moon Guild's greatest goal.
The deity would descend and reign over the world, and he would be the one who had contributed the most to it all.
Liu Shuai's expression turned sinister, and a fanatical gleam appeared in his eyes, mixed with excitement.
Now, he had to hunt down the three companions he had only recently met.
Although he thought the three were decent enough, he felt no qualms about killing them.
It was their honor to become sacrifices for the Blood Moon Goddess's descent.
He walked along the narrow path. He knew the place well and would never get lost in this maze.
Although he had a guide, he remained cautious. There were still things in this Instance that he did not know about.
For example, the Puppet Girl.
She had appeared twice. The first time, she had killed the bald man from his guild. The second time, she had led them out of the maze.
The girl was never mentioned in the guide, which made him wary, though she probably would not be much trouble.
He listened carefully to his surroundings. Footsteps sounded ahead, light and unlike the heavier tread of a man.
It should be Wang Ruoxi, he thought.
He had already run into the first person. Things were going smoothly.
Liu Shuai hid the sinister look on his face, becoming that guileless, somewhat foolish-looking young man again.
When he reached the bend ahead, he saw a woman standing at the fork in front of him.
His guess had been right. The woman was Wang Ruoxi.
A flash of excitement crossed Liu Shuai's face. He walked over eagerly and said,
"Ruoxi, it's you! I finally ran into someone. If I hadn't met you, I really wouldn't have known what to do."
Wang Ruoxi looked at him and said, "Oh, it's you. Have you seen anyone else?"
"No," Liu Shuai said. "I don't know where they went. Luckily, I ran into you."
"Oh," Wang Ruoxi said flatly.
A flicker of doubt crossed Liu Shuai's mind. Wang Ruoxi seemed different from before, but he could not say how.
She simply felt different, as though she were another person.
"Ruoxi, what do we do now?" Liu Shuai asked, his face miserable.
"This Instance doesn't have a guide. It's way too hard."
"Let's go find the others first," Wang Ruoxi said. She walked past him and came to a stop behind him.
"I've already searched over there. There's no one there, so let's look this way."
"Okay," he said, following behind Wang Ruoxi.
A smile appeared on his lips. The woman had no guard up against him at all and had even turned her back on him.
What a great opportunity!
He took a dagger from his inventory, deftly twirled it in his hand, then stabbed it straight into Wang Ruoxi's heart from behind!
His movements were smooth, and it all happened in an instant. Wang Ruoxi had no time to react, let alone dodge.
Everything went smoothly.
He deftly pulled out the dagger. Blood poured from Wang Ruoxi's body, staining her clothes red in an instant.
Yet Wang Ruoxi remained standing in front of him, without even turning around.
Liu Shuai suddenly sensed something was wrong. By now, Wang Ruoxi should at least have turned to look at him, or fallen straight to the ground.
But she remained standing where she was, without moving a muscle.
As he wondered what was happening, he suddenly felt something cold pierce his body, followed by intense pain.
Two sharp knives had pierced his body from behind.
Liu Shuai spun around. Two men stood behind him, their expressions blank. They were the ones holding the knives, and each had stabbed him from behind.
The two were Zhao Guodong and Sun Jingyu.
"How could this happen? When did they see through my intentions?"
He could hardly believe it. He had always thought he was a good actor, and he could not understand why the three of them had seen through him.
Sun Jingyu and Zhao Guodong pulled out their knives. His injuries sent Liu Shuai straight to the ground, and as he looked at the three people's vacant eyes, he suddenly realized something!
Those three were fakes.
He had not been found out, but the three of them were fakes. Something was controlling them.
"How could this be? There was nothing like this in the guide!"
He felt that something was terribly wrong.
He immediately took a bottle of healing potion from his inventory and drank it without hesitation.
It was a potion made by a Shaman-type Ability User in the guild, capable of treating ordinary wounds.
Fortunately, his injuries were not fatal. The potion should keep him alive.
After he drank the potion, his wounds stopped bleeding so heavily. He rolled over, got to his feet, and vanished before the three of them.
He was an illusion-type Ability User, and invisibility was his most basic ability.
But even after he turned invisible, blood continued dripping from his body, leaving a long trail on the ground.
Under those circumstances, invisibility was clearly useless.
Liu Shuai hurriedly covered his wounds and looked back. The three behind him showed no intention of pursuing him.
Relieved, Liu Shuai quickly became visible again. Invisibility was useless and consumed his power, so he was better off not using it.
There was a bend ahead, and he rushed toward it.
His priority was to escape the immediate danger.
He thought the three of them must have been controlled by something in the haunted house and were as good as dead.
That was just as well. He no longer had to worry about them.
He would escape this place first, then try to complete the hidden quest once his injuries healed.
But the guide had never mentioned any monster capable of controlling people.
He found that very strange.
Just then, a figure suddenly appeared ahead: a little girl.
The Puppet Girl was smiling at her, her smile friendly and innocent.
If she had not been holding a hammer larger than her own body, that smile would surely have felt very welcoming.
Liu Shuai hurriedly stopped. He knew very well that the Puppet Girl was not to be trifled with.
But even though he had no intention of provoking the girl, she had no intention of letting him go.
The Puppet Girl swung the huge hammer at him. Liu Shuai tried to dodge, but the space was too narrow. There was no way to avoid it.
He hurriedly stepped forward, grabbed the hammer's handle from the girl's hands, and pulled hard. The Puppet Girl's body pitched forward, and she landed flat on the ground.
"Is that all you've got?"
Liu Shuai had not expected the Puppet Girl to be so weak.
But he had no time to concern himself with the girl now. The most important thing was to escape the haunted house.
After running a few steps, he looked back again. A single glance made his heart tremble.
The Puppet Girl's body had somehow shattered into many pieces.
The puppet's limbs were scattered across the ground along with a pile of iron, wood, and other bits.
"How could this happen!" Liu Shuai felt utterly despairing!
He had only given the Puppet Girl a pull. He had barely used any force.
The puppet could lift such a huge hammer and swing it around with ease. How could she be so fragile!
If she really were that fragile, the hammer alone would have crushed her flat.
He knew very well what the consequences were for damaging Paradise's property!
Death! The consequences were extremely severe.
At that moment, fear welled up in his heart, gradually spreading until it engulfed his entire body.
He had never imagined he would die for such a reason.
"No, impossible! I'm not the one who damaged this puppet!"
"This shouldn't be blamed on me. She's framing me!"
But Paradise's rules would give him no chance to explain!