Missing

Chapter 30: Missing

"Why!" Yuan Yao blurted out. "If the Head Chopper Demon is among the Players, then as long as we stay together for these five days, it won't have a chance to make a move!"

"Then all of us can clear the game safely!"

"You're too naïve." Huang Junjie shook his head. "Striking first gives you the advantage, of course. Besides, since the Head Chopper Demon is a Player like us, it can be killed. There must be another reward for killing it."

"Just for that?"

"Just for that?"

Yuan Yao and the college student asked at the same time. The former looked dejected, while the latter seemed somewhat lost.

Seeing that something was off with his expression, Huang Junjie exchanged a glance with Xu Huo. The college student's mental resilience was so poor—how had he even survived the Preliminary Train? If he told others what he had heard, the Players might start killing one another ahead of schedule.

Although the college student was still out of sorts, his eyes were sharp. The moment he noticed Huang Junjie and Xu Huo exchanging meaningful glances, he immediately scrambled to his feet and hurried toward the exit. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone what I heard!"

"You..." Yuan Yao moved to stop him, but Xu Huo called out, "Let him go. It doesn't matter whether the other Players know or not."

"Kill all the other Players and you can clear the game... How could anything be that easy?"

The ambiguous laughter made Yuan Yao and Huang Junjie shudder at the same time.

"Let's get out of here, then," Huang Junjie said. "Staying here forever isn't a solution."

The moment the three returned to the lobby, the lights in the Mountain Villa came on. The college student had already curled up in a corner of the sofa, while the other Players had deliberately avoided him and sat on the other sofas.

The axe and the confiscated short knife lay on the coffee table. The Players sat around it, and no one spoke.

Xu Huo glanced at the sky outside, then sat down and closed his eyes to rest.

By the time dawn broke, every Player seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Let's find something to eat first." Huang Junjie looked much better than he had the day before. "After we eat, we'll look for Du Lanlan and Xia Guo's heads."

Liu Yuanyuan walked over with the rich heir and advised them, "I'd still be careful if I were you. Both of you touched the Head Chopper Demon's stone statue. Xia Guo is already dead, so you're the next targets."

After saying that, she shot Yuan Yao a flirtatious look and flashed a row of white teeth. "Handsome, aren't you scared? If you are, you can come with us. My husband can protect you!"

Yuan Yao stood firmly beside Xu Huo without saying a word. Only after they had walked away did he mutter, "Yesterday I was still 'brother,' and today I've become 'husband'..."

Xu Huo glanced at the two of them, then turned back to Huang Junjie. "Be careful later."

The Players arrived at the dining hall one after another.

The dining hall's freezer and refrigerators had already been searched the day before, and there was nothing edible left. So today, everyone went to the supermarket to look for some convenience food.

"Brother Xu, Brother Huang, there's instant noodles. Let's eat instant noodles." Yuan Yao came over carrying several tubs of instant noodles and bottled water, along with an electric kettle.

The other Players gradually returned to the dining hall. Abel brought over a box of instant rice noodles and asked for hot water. Just as several of them were waiting for the water, the college student suddenly lunged out from the supermarket entrance. Bread and drinks scattered across the floor. He did not even turn around to see who had kicked him, instead scrambling up and quickly stuffing the items on the ground into a plastic bag.

Zhang Xiong stood behind him, his face dark. "It's not like there's nothing to eat in the supermarket. Don't tell me you're hoarding all this because you're planning something shady!"

The college student picked up the plastic bag and warily swept his gaze over everyone in the dining hall. He tossed out, "I'm hungry, can't I take some?" Then he hurried away.

"What's wrong with him?" Wan Zhikang slipped when he stepped on a drink bottle by the doorway and grumbled irritably.

"Who knows?" Wang Wei stared at the direction in which the college student had disappeared and answered distractedly.

After they had more or less eaten breakfast, the Players planned to split up. Xu Huo wanted to look for Du Lanlan and Xia Guo's heads, while Wang Wei and the others wanted to go to the Wooden Cabin.

"What should we do with the axe and knife?" Abel asked worriedly.

Neither weapon felt safe in anyone's hands, but no one wanted to destroy them outright.

"Whoever takes them is fine by me. I don't want either." The rich heir folded his arms and watched the others leisurely.

"We're splitting into two groups anyway. Having a weapon to protect ourselves with is perfect." Huang Junjie reached for the dagger.

Xu Huo and Yuan Yao had no objections, so Zhang Xiong took the axe as well.

The three groups split up. After leaving the dining hall and returning to their lodgings, Zhang Xiong, Wan Zhikang, and Wang Wei left the Mountain Villa for the Wooden Cabin. The rich heir and Liu Yuanyuan went straight back to their room, while Abel stood there alone.

"You're not going with Zhang Xiong and the others?" Xu Huo looked at him.

"I want to perform rites for those two young women." Abel hesitated. "You're looking for their heads. Can I go with you?"

He appeared to be acting out of kindness.

"You really believe in Buddhism?" Xu Huo asked curiously. "Aren't there contradictions between different faiths?"

"Of course there are." Abel pulled a necklace from inside his collar. "But I'm a believer in universal love. I respect all faiths."

Yuan Yao held back for a long while before saying, "You believe in every god? Aren't you afraid that when something happens, they'll just pass the buck to one another?"

Abel smiled tolerantly. "If gods really exist, then they must be supreme. How could a supreme god hold a grudge against its believer?"

Xu Huo laughed at that and stopped paying attention to the atheist. He entered the room where the bodies had been kept.

They had actually searched all the rooms in the Mountain Villa the day before and found no Secret Passage or Secret Room. But today, they searched even more carefully, moving the beds and Cabinets as well. After finding nothing, they went to search the woods outside.

They searched the area without result and had no choice but to return to the Mountain Villa.

Xu Huo washed the Plum Branches he had brought back the day before, arranged them on a plate, and sat in the lobby to eat them.

"Brother, you still dare to eat those?" Yuan Yao swallowed hard. "Aren't you afraid that the ground beneath the tree is filled with corpses?"

Xu Huo raised his eyes. "Did you see any freshly turned earth just now?"

"No." Yuan Yao answered quickly. "If we found freshly turned earth, wouldn't we have found the head? I wonder where the Head Chopper Demon hid it."

Xu Huo stared distractedly at the round solid-wood decoration on the wall behind the counter. "If it isn't outside, then it's inside..."

At that moment, Huang Junjie emerged from the corridor. "Have you seen that college student, Jia Xuyang?"

"He isn't here?" Xu Huo straightened up and immediately asked, "Is the food he took in the room?"

"No. None of it." Huang Junjie had specifically gone to look for Jia Xuyang because he had not seen him while searching the rooms earlier. He had not paid attention at the time, assuming Jia Xuyang had gone out.

"A person can't just vanish into thin air, can he?" Yuan Yao said.

Xu Huo quickly replayed everything that had happened since they arrived at the Mountain Villa. Recalling the college student's unusual behavior that morning, he suddenly said, "There must be a Secret Room in the Mountain Villa. Search the lobby!"