The castle walls were made of special materials. Ordinary items could not leave much of a mark on them, but Elder Ma's instrument could cut straight through them. This had intimidated the players, each harboring their own schemes, to some extent. After all, anyone carrying such an instrument might have an even greater stash of treasures. Even if they were not necessarily a match for him, they might also face unknown pursuit afterward.
That made some of them behave themselves.
After the wall panel was cut open, the people inside came out. To everyone's astonishment, there was no scene of the young heir being coerced and interrogated as the players had imagined. Instead, the Player who had dragged him inside stood against the wall with blood at the corner of his mouth, while the young heir stood perfectly well where he was, albeit somewhat tense—several layers of defensive barriers covered his body.
"Uncle Ma!" The young heir's face lit up when he saw the old man, and he hurriedly jumped outside. After Elder Ma pulled him out, his icy gaze fell upon the person still inside the Secret Room.
Facing the gazes from outside—some filled with killing intent, others merely watching for entertainment—the Player tugged at the corner of his mouth. "It was pitch-black inside. I thought someone was ambushing me. The Young Master wasn't hurt, was he?"
Everyone was no fool. They naturally knew he was making excuses, but they couldn't exactly let Elder Ma kill someone right in front of them. Thus, some players took his side, firmly believing that he had merely misjudged the situation in his panic—or that he really had been attacked by something. After all, there was something abnormal about this Secret Room.
The Secret Room was indeed highly abnormal, because the area farthest