The Appearance

"We were going to look for Jia Xuyang," Huang Junjie said with a sigh. "Who knew we'd run into the Head Chopper Demon?"

"What was he doing crawling around in the Underground Passage?" Wan Zhikang complained. He'd just run into the walls twice down there.

"Maybe he was afraid of the Head Chopper Demon," Xu Huo said. "So he planned to find somewhere to hide until the game ended."

"No wonder he took so much food this morning. He'd already discovered the Secret Passage." Zhang Xiong sneered. "He brought it on himself. No one else is to blame."

"Did you really see the Head Chopper Demon?" Wang Wei asked Xu Huo and the others. "Don't blame me for being suspicious. It's just that, apart from you guys, everyone else has only heard rumors."

"Why would we lie to you?" Yuan Yao said angrily. "Look at Xu's neck! It was almost strangled, and it's still bleeding!"

"It's true, it's true!" Abel spoke so anxiously that his words came out jumbled. "No head, no feet, flying! Really strong! We couldn't hold him down!"

Everyone could see the wound on Xu Huo's neck. Wan Zhikang and Zhang Xiong muttered a little about how to deal with the Head Chopper Demon, while the rich second-generation Player and Liu Yuanyuan exchanged glances but said nothing.

For safety's sake, Huang Junjie suggested that everyone stay together. The others had no objections, and they sat together to wait for nightfall.

Xu Huo had injured his neck, and the Self-Healing Agent wasn't doing much. He didn't join the discussion about how to deal with the Head Chopper Demon. Instead, he leaned against the door, smoking as he turned the Lighter over in his hand.

In the Underground Passage, he'd deliberately thrown the Lighter once before using the "Arsonist's Tool." The result was about what he'd expected: the Black Cloak was a special item and couldn't be set on fire.

The Head Chopper Demon seemed very tall, but once you took away his head and feet, he wasn't much taller than an average man. When Xu Huo had been strangled, he hadn't managed to touch the demon's body, but he was certain there was someone inside the cloak. Abel later pinning him down with a large Cross had proved as much.

The five Players who hadn't shown themselves at the time were the rich second-generation Player, Liu Yuanyuan, Zhang Xiong, Wan Zhikang, and Wang Wei. The person playing the Head Chopper Demon was one of them.

His gaze swept over the five of them one by one. When it landed on Liu Yuanyuan, her expression suddenly turned terrified. She sprang to her feet and pointed outside the door. "The Head Chopper Demon!"

Xu Huo turned around at once, just in time to see a dark figure pounce through the doorway and crash into the chandelier, snuffing out the lights in the lobby!

Glass shattered and sprayed everywhere as the Players broke into a commotion. In the confusion, Zhang Xiong shouted, "You think I'm afraid of you?"

The Head Chopper Demon then fell to the floor and slithered like a snake into the corridor on the right!

Seeing Zhang Xiong land a punch on the Head Chopper Demon, Huang Junjie felt a surge of hope. "Quick! Don't let him get away!"

A few people rushed out one after another. Xu Huo followed them. Seeing Zhang Xiong run past the guest rooms in the direction of the Warehouse, he sped ahead and stopped Abel, who was carrying a large Cross. "Don't chase him."

"Why?" As Abel spoke, the Cross in his hands turned to foam again.

Under everyone's expressionless stares, he awkwardly scratched his head. "It's my item, the 'False Cross.' How long it lasts isn't fixed. I didn't know it could only hold up for a few seconds."

"But the Head Chopper Demon doesn't seem that powerful. The Underground Passage was cramped, but out here, we might be able to beat him!"

"Forget the Head Chopper Demon. Let's go back and take a look first." Xu Huo didn't even glance in the direction Zhang Xiong had disappeared. He turned and headed back.

Yuan Yao and Abel looked confused, but Huang Junjie suddenly said, "Why didn't the others come out?"

"Maybe they were planning to circle around from outside..." Before Yuan Yao could finish, Liu Yuanyuan came running over, her face covered in blood. She shouted in panic, "The Head Chopper Demon is in the lobby!"

"What!" Their expressions changed, and they hurried back to the lobby.

The lights in the lobby were already out. The light from the corridor wasn't enough to illuminate the whole room, but the people lying on the floor and the large pool of blood spreading around them were clearly visible.

Xu Huo came up from behind and shone his flashlight into the room. Wan Zhikang and the rich second-generation Player lay in pools of blood, their necks hacked through, with only a strip of skin still connecting their heads to their bodies. Their eyes were wide open, their deaths horrifying.

"How could this happen?" Huang Junjie's eyes trembled. "If the Head Chopper Demon was here, then who did we just chase?"

"Didn't you see Wang Wei?" Xu Huo raised his hand and shone the light on Liu Yuanyuan's face.

Liu Yuanyuan covered her face and sobbed. "I don't know. Didn't he go out with you?"

"...It's all my fault. If I'd stayed to help, maybe they wouldn't have died so horribly. But I was so scared, and when Brother Zheng told me to run, I didn't think it through..."

Xu Huo cut off her sobs without a trace of pity. "They're dead. What's there to cry about? Let's find Wang Wei and Zhang Xiong first."

"I'm out here!" Wang Wei's voice came from outside. He jogged in, then froze at the sight of the carnage in the lobby. "What happened?"

Instead of answering his question, Xu Huo asked, "Why were you outside?"

"You all chased after the Head Chopper Demon, so I thought I'd circle around the courtyard and cut him off. Halfway there, I realized there wasn't anyone behind me... so I came back."

Wang Wei gave an awkward smile. "I was scared to be alone, too."

Xu Huo furrowed his brow. "Go find Zhang Xiong!"

Huang Junjie and the other two were caught off guard by the sudden turn of events. They hurried to stop him. "Judging by this, Zhang Xiong is probably dead too. Let's wait until daybreak!"

"Yeah. What if we run into the Head Chopper Demon out there..." Liu Yuanyuan shrank back, looking terrified.

Xu Huo looked at her coldly. "You don't have to come."

Liu Yuanyuan's expression stiffened, and she looked to the others for help.

Yuan Yao had nothing to say. Huang Junjie had been hesitant at first, but seeing how determined Xu Huo was—and thinking of the two people in the lobby who'd died without anyone knowing how—he decided to see what Xu Huo was planning.

Of the six remaining people, four had gone. Liu Yuanyuan and Wang Wei had no choice but to follow.

This time, nothing happened on the way, and they soon found Zhang Xiong in the Warehouse. He was dead in the same way as the college student, slumped against the corner wall, his head missing.

"How is that possible?" Yuan Yao said in disbelief. "Can the Head Chopper Demon split himself in two? Kill Zhang Xiong and Wan Zhikang and the others at the same time?"

Huang Junjie eyed Liu Yuanyuan and Wang Wei warily. "Could there be more than one Head Chopper Demon?"

"What are you trying to say?" Wang Wei's expression darkened. "Are you accusing me of killing Wan Zhikang?"

"You said you went out to cut off the Head Chopper Demon, but Zhang Xiong died, and you came back to the lobby alone." The first time they'd encountered the Head Chopper Demon in the Underground Passage, the sight of him had been so shocking that Huang Junjie hadn't thought of it. All the Players had been in the passage at the time, and they hadn't all been in the same place together. There'd been enough time for someone to kill Jia Xuyang first, then ambush the others.

"Come to think of it, the game task is to protect our side's heads. 'Our side' doesn't necessarily mean the Players themselves. It could refer to the ordinary Players as a group. There are two opposing sides, and if there's an ordinary Player faction, there should be a Head Chopper Demon faction!"

"So you and Liu Yuanyuan belong to the Head Chopper Demon faction!"