Desire to Kill

Chapter 29: The Urge to Kill

"Du Lanlan and Xia Guo died so horribly—who among us here could have done that?"

"I think the Head Chopper Demon appears and disappears without a trace. What if it deliberately used smoke bombs to confuse us, making us kill each other first!"

"Have you forgotten? Anyone who touched the Head Chopper Demon Statue gets cursed. And tonight, it just so happens that Xia Guo died. Doesn't that explain it clearly enough?"

Huang Junjie and Yuan Yao subconsciously glanced at Xu Huo, only to hear him say, "Du Lanlan didn't seem to touch it."

"So what? The Head Chopper Demon just killed two birds with one stone." Liu Yuanyuan stroked her nails, unconcerned. "Trying to reason with a murderous demon—you big men really have too much free time."

"Did any of you notice what Du Lanlan was up to?" The rich second generation scanned the group, his gaze finally landing on Wan Zhikang.

Wan Zhikang wiped his sweat. Seeing everyone staring at him again, he pulled a long face. "What are you looking at me for? I'm not a peeping tom—how would I know what she did!"

The others all shook their heads, and the courtyard suddenly fell silent.

"Since that's the case, let's split up. A few of us will take care of Du Lanlan and Xia Guo, and the rest will fix the wires." Huang Junjie ended this round of mutual suspicion and proactively offered to handle the bodies.

The other players exchanged glances, their faces revealing nothing, each harboring their own schemes.

In the end, Zhang Xiong and his two companions, plus Wang Wei, went to fix the wires. Xu Huo and Yuan Yao stayed behind to help. The rich second generation and Liu Yuanyuan also left. The university student sat alone in a corner, not moving.

With Du and Xia missing their heads, they couldn't be buried directly, nor could they be left by the Hot Spring Pool. So Xu Huo and Yuan Yao lifted the mattress, placed the bodies on wooden boards, and covered them with sheets.

Turning back to see the university student sitting on the doorstep wiping his tears, Xu Huo frowned. "What are you crying about?"

"Why is everyone targeting me? Am I that easy to bully?" the university student said indignantly. "I just hid a knife to survive. I haven't killed anyone or hurt anyone. Why does everyone bully me?"

Yuan Yao, feeling a kinship, patted his shoulder. "It's because we're weak. The game is so cruel—one wrong move and you lose your life. It's normal for others to be cautious."

The university student glanced fearfully at the bed, where the sheets were again stained with blood, and fell silent.

Huang Junjie called Xu Huo into the courtyard and asked directly, "How can you be sure it wasn't the Head Chopper Demon?"

Xu Huo stared at him without speaking.

His silence stretched on too long, drawing the attention of Yuan Yao and the university student, who then looked toward Huang Junjie.

Huang Junjie suddenly realized. "You suspect me and Yuan Yao!"

"Brother Xu!" Yuan Yao exclaimed in shock.

"Don't be nervous." Xu Huo pulled out a lighter but didn't take out a cigarette. "I trust Yuan Yao."

Yuan Yao breathed a sigh of relief and immediately stood behind him, glaring at Huang Junjie as if they were united against a common enemy.

Huang Junjie gritted his teeth. "Then if you ask him, you should know I didn't have time to kill anyone."

Xu Huo grinned and reached out to pat his shoulder, but his hand landed right on Huang Junjie's wound. Huang Junjie, in pain, instinctively knocked his hand away, his face pale with wariness.

"I was joking." Xu Huo confirmed that the injury was real and hadn't been healed with any special potion, then said, "What do you think of the Head Chopper Demon's strength?"

"Of course it's very powerful," Huang Junjie said. "It knows this Mountain Villa better than anyone, appears and disappears unpredictably, kills without a sound..."

He trailed off mid-sentence, a look of sudden realization and complexity crossing his face as he looked at Xu Huo. "So that's it."

Yuan Yao scratched his head in confusion. "Brother Xu, what does it mean? The Head Chopper Demon is strong—so what?"

"If it were the Head Chopper Demon, there would be no need to touch the circuit breaker," Huang Junjie explained. "The first blackout wasn't an accident either. Everyone reacted strongly at the time, leaving their rooms immediately to gather in the Main Hall."

"The second power outage, we also thought it was a tripped breaker. We waited a while before someone came out, then gathered near the storage room, until we were led to this room by the noise."

"Exactly," Xu Huo nodded. "The biggest danger in this instance is the Head Chopper Demon. It's not strange for someone to die at its hands. There's no need to prove its existence. Cutting the power and knocking over the shelf were only meant to prove that a certain player was with the others."

"Isn't that just gilding the lily!" Yuan Yao slapped his forehead.

"Who do you suspect?" Huang Junjie quickly asked.

Xu Huo turned to the university student, who had been listening intently. Suddenly meeting his gaze, the student jumped. "It really wasn't me! I took the knife and came back before the power went out. If you don't believe me, ask Wang Wei. I went out while he was showering. He must have heard me come back to the room. I even waited for him to leave the room together!"

"Did anyone see you hide the knife during the day?" Xu Huo asked.

The university student hesitated. "I'm not sure. Everyone was looking for food at the time. If someone saw, would they have just let me take the knife?"

"You suspect Wang Wei?" Huang Junjie felt the timing was off, since the university student had already returned to his room when the power went out, and Wang Wei was in the room too.

"Not sure." Xu Huo shifted the topic. "But someone is killing in the Head Chopper Demon's name and deliberately gathering all the players together. The only goal is to divert attention, making the other players think the danger comes from outside, not from among themselves."

This method was actually viable. In the context of the instance, when players saw the bodies, they would default to blaming the Head Chopper Demon. Even if players later suspected someone else, the shared experience of seeing the bodies together would temporarily patch that loophole. Players wouldn't easily turn on each other. By the time someone caught on, at least several players would have been lost. With mutual suspicion running rampant, it was uncertain if any player would even survive.

But if the premise was that the Head Chopper Demon was among the players, then every player was a suspect. Players who could alibi each other formed groups, and under mutual suspicion, attacking a lone player became very difficult.

So the next time, the Head Chopper Demon would either have to appear in a group or take on several at once. Either way, the situation would become clearer. At the very least, hiding in the shadows to kill wouldn't be so easy.

"There's another problem with this," Xu Huo said. "Someone might guess that the Head Chopper Demon is among us."

"What problem is that?" Huang Junjie was taken aback, then said, "Wait—are you saying there is no Head Chopper Demon?"

"That's impossible," Yuan Yao said. "The instance introduction said the Head Chopper Demon has been here for decades."

The university student clutched his head, his eyes vacant. "What are you talking about?"

"The Head Chopper Demon is most likely a player," Xu Huo said, spinning the lighter. "If you knew that, what would you do to complete the instance mission?"

Huang Junjie opened his mouth, then fell silent.

"Exactly." The lighter clicked open with a ding, illuminating Xu Huo's face, the light drawing a sharp line between light and shadow. "I would kill all the other players."