Did It Have to Be This Dangerous?

Time passed slowly, and the deducers gradually arrived at the guide's building.

When Yu Xing and the others arrived, they saw their guide Gao Yiling, already holding a tour guide flag taller than herself, waving it outside the residential area.

The unbearable stench of the corpse had quietly disappeared, and Gao Yiling was still wearing the dress that made her feel no cold at all, with no abnormality on her face.

There were few townspeople coming and going outside the residential area, making it seem rather quiet.

As Yu Xing approached, she heard Gao Yiling repeatedly apologizing to the participants. "I'm so sorry, I forgot to tell you the location after notifying you of the time. It was my mistake, I'm so sorry!"

The expressions on the deducers' faces varied, but the central message was the same: So you knew it was your oversight.

Such a guide goes beyond being merely unqualified; he is downright harmful.

A silver-haired woman on Fallen Path, at the behest of the flower seeker, asked Gao Yiling, "Guide, you forgot to inform us of the meeting point. We've already had enough of a frustrating search; what about those who couldn't be found?"

Gao Yiling's face fell. "Well... our tour itinerary is fixed. If they don't come, I can't wait. The overall group itinerary is the most important thing."

"But isn't this your fault?" The silver-haired woman narrowed her eyes, her lips curling into a rather aggressive smile, but right now all the deducers desperately needed her reckless charge. "Because of your miscommunication, some tourists missed out on the tour. How are you going to compensate for this loss? Is this how your travel agency operates?"

"That's right, everyone knows your family is going through a difficult time right now, so we haven't blamed you for your dereliction of duty. But you can't let your dereliction of duty harm the rights of us passengers!" another voice chimed in from the crowd.

Gao Yiling lowered her head, her nose and ears flushed red, whether from shame at being scolded or from suddenly feeling the cold in the air.

"I... I'll talk to the travel agency later and ask them to refund part of the money you paid, but I can't wait any longer. If the whole process is delayed, we won't be able to catch up with the later stages."

She gripped the tour guide's handle tightly and added, "Also, we'll probably encounter some passengers who haven't joined the group during the process. We can let them join later. As for compensation, we'll have to discuss that later."

Upon hearing that others could join in midway, many people breathed a sigh of relief.

Her words at least prove that not gathering is not a condition for death. Once this is established, compensation is irrelevant, since they are not real tourists.

Upon hearing them mention this topic, Yu Xing glanced at the system time and looked around again.

It was already 2:57 PM, but only 34 people had gathered, more than 30% less than expected.

Among the assembled group, the flower seeker's tall, slender figure stood out, his sharp, long scissors gleaming coldly, just like his eyes.

Several people Yu Xing could barely recognize were not there.

He raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

The Meng Dao's aura lingered around the Fang Mansion for a long time, so its absence was expected. It goes without saying that Yan Li was likely with the Meng Dao.

But Medusa didn't come either, nor did Xue Shouyun, whom he had spoken to on the tour bus...

Strangeness.

"Huh, really?" It was clear that Yan had excellent observation skills; she had already matched everyone's faces and names outside of town. She rattled off the titles of sixteen predictors in a row, somewhat shocked. "Finding a guide is indeed troublesome, but surely it shouldn't lead to eliminating so many people?"

"What's more, there's Yan Li Medusa too. What happened to all sixteen of them? Could it be that they're all together, encountering something more important than gathering?"

Hua Subai shrugged, speaking with the gentlest smile but the most ruthless words, "Not necessarily. You've seen the real thing. Perhaps some people were unlucky enough to die in the real scene?"

"No one can die, not Yan Li Medusa!" Yan opened his eyes wide, his weak, pale face looking around, as if he firmly believed that those big shots would suddenly appear at the last moment.

Yu Xing rested his hand on the painting tube, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the textured surface, then suddenly called out, "Zhang Yu."

"Here I am, Captain." Zhang Yu straightened up considerably, his posture becoming more energetic.

"The guide said that tourists who fall behind can join along the way, and that they would be compensated. What do you think of that?" Yu Xing glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, much like a teacher suddenly calling on someone in class.

"I don't think her decision is final." Zhang Yu's gaze fell on the gold-chain glasses on Yu Xing's nose as he answered seriously, "Finding the guide is the first Main Quest. Although the reunion isn't part of the quest, it is indeed the first step for us as travelers."

"If even the first step is dispensable, then this town is far too lenient. The guide is a tour guide; she speaks from a professional standpoint, and what she says may come from the heart. But for us, the ones who deduce the outcome, it's not her as the guide who determines life or death, but rather the town's rules."

"Therefore, I still think not gathering together is a dead end."

"Very good, I think so too." Yu Xing murmured softly, noticing that the system time had already reached 2:59.

One minute left.

Zhang Yu could think of something, and he believed that Yan Li and the others could too. No matter the cost, they had to get to the assembly point in the last minute.

As the whispers among the surrounding deducers grew louder, Yu Xing had a sudden Spiritual Sense and sensed that the curse power he had left in the Meng Dao was getting closer.

At the same time, a cold wind blew through everyone present, and the ground beneath their feet faintly emitted several dim rays of light, which intertwined to form a large net.

Five figures suddenly appeared in the distorted light and shadow, carrying a bloody smell, and landed steadily in the center of the large net.

It's exactly three o'clock.

The five injured men raised their heads, meeting the diverse gazes of the crowd.

A drop of blood dripped from Medusa's fingertip. She flicked it away nonchalantly and asked with a soft laugh, "How about it, Lan Wu? I told you I'd protect you, right?"

Lan Wu his teeth. "Guild Leader, let me bandage you up..."

Yan Li closed his eyes and walked towards Yu Xing. The Meng Dao not far from him glanced at Yu Xing with some apprehension, then glared hatefully at the flower seeker, before finally darting aside by himself.

As you can see, the five people who suddenly appeared all had injuries, as if they had just broken through from somewhere.

Question marks appeared in the main live stream chat, and the chat was filled with comments. Viewers from Yan Li and others' live streams began to explain.

[The Fang Mansion is too dangerous. Yan Li found the gap in the ghost wall in the bedroom of the Fang Mansion's mistress. They entered the Fang Mansion again and were chased by a madwoman in a white dress.]

[There are still chunks of flesh and blood; I can't break them no matter how hard I try.]

[In the instant he passed through the crack, Lan Wu swallowed by chunks of flesh; Medusa intervened and blocked it, but Medusa's hand was injured!]

I think she's really good to Lan Wu.

[Then, the instant Yan Li left the ghost maze, he teleported to the entrance of the Guide Community. There was a formation he had left behind, the concealment formation he used for his business...]

In short, the Fang Mansion is truly terrifying! It feels like all their methods have failed.

During the live stream, the guide Gao Yiling, seemed oblivious to the sudden appearance of the extra people, and calmly counted off the heads.

"Only thirty-nine people..." she sighed, "It's such a pity about the rest."

For some reason, some people who had been relieved by her words suddenly felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing that sigh.

It seems there's something truly regrettable. (Coriander)