The middle-aged woman who spoke was named Song Liru. In the roles assigned to them this time, she was Xu Nan's girlfriend.
Song Liru was the oldest of the eight players. Both she and Xu Nan were clearly very unhappy about being cast as a couple. They looked like a bitter pair who had fallen out of love but couldn't get a divorce, arguing whenever they met.
Song Liru felt awful. She had only realized something was wrong after swallowing a little, and had managed to spit out just half a mouthful. It made her sick.
Xu Nan immediately sneered, "Sorry, she hasn't seen much of the world. All she does is embarrass me."
He tried to take an elegant sip of tea, only to spray it out the moment it entered his mouth. "Fuck, it really does stink of fish."
Song Liru sneered back. "Shameless bastard. And you said I was embarrassing."
Both had explosive tempers. They traded insults, and it quickly escalated into a village-style shouting match, their language growing filthier by the second.
Xu Nan's temper flared. He snatched up his teacup and hurled it at Song Liru. "You nasty bitch! Can't wait to die, can you?"
Just as the cup was about to hit Song Liru, a hand shot out from the side and caught it firmly.
It belonged to a young woman sitting beside Song Liru. She was tall, with short hair and a black leather jacket, a silver cartilage stud gleaming on her ear.
Her head was lowered, stray strands covering half her face. Only the graceful lines of her jaw and neck were visible, along with deep red lips and cool, pale skin. Her air was utterly aloof.
The woman set the cup back on Xu Nan's table. Half its contents had spilled, but not a single drop had landed on her.
Xu Nan froze for a moment-even Zhang Fang probably couldn't manage that level of control.
"It's seawater," the woman said.
She seemed to dislike speaking. Once those words were out, she settled back into her seat, silent as a stone buried beneath snow and ice.
The others came to their senses and sniffed their cups.
Yes, it smelled like seawater.
But it was far fishier than ordinary seawater. Shao Lan frowned-it felt as though the tea had been steeped with dead fish.
That thought gave him an idea. Shao Lan quietly raised his cup toward the light and peered inside with narrowed eyes.
Among the dark green-black tea leaves, there really were things that looked like fish scales floating around.
Mixed in with the leaves and translucent themselves, the scales were hard to spot. Only when held to the light did they refract a glitter-like gleam.
Xu Jiawei covered her mouth, looking as though she was about to vomit. She approached the attendant in the red qipao. "Where's your bathroom? Take me there, quickly."
The others wanted nothing more to do with the fishy, salty tea either, and set their cups down.
"It seems you're not used to our village's food and drink. Especially you few-you must have been away from home so long that you've forgotten its customs." The village chief waved a hand. "No matter. You'll get used to it in a few days."
"It's getting late. Why don't you all get some rest? I've arranged some wonderful activities for everyone tomorrow and the day after."
The village chief smiled, then turned and left. The attendant in the red qipao led the eight of them upstairs.
"The village chief asked us to reserve our finest deluxe rooms with king-size beds for you." The attendant led them up the creaking wooden stairs.
"King-size beds?" Song Liru immediately objected. "I'm not sharing a room with that Xu bastard."
Xu Nan snorted. "Look in a mirror, old woman. Your face looks like old tree bark. I wouldn't take a woman like you even if you threw yourself at me."
Song Liru's face flushed with rage. Xu Jiaojiao hurriedly held her back, quietly urging her not to waste her breath on a thug like Xu Nan.
The attendant looked troubled as she explained, "We only have four guest rooms, and they all have king-size beds."
Song Liru snapped, "I don't care! I'll sleep in a storage room!"
"Liru." Xu Jiaojiao tugged at Song Liru. "Don't let your temper get the better of you. Our most important task right now is to survive the Instance."
"These are the four rooms the Instance prepared for us. If we don't stay in them, we might die tonight."
Song Liru shuddered and couldn't help looking around the guesthouse.
The corridor was dimly lit, and the air carried the salty, fishy smell of the sea breeze, lending the place an inexplicably eerie air.
Song Liru knew Xu Jiaojiao had a point.
With no other choice, she reluctantly followed everyone upstairs.
"How should we divide up the rooms?" Xu Jiaojiao asked.
Xu Jiawei leaned closer to a door, squinting to make out the markings. "Look, there are names here."
They were outside the first room on the second floor. Crooked letters had been carved into the wall beside its door: "Xu Nan, Song Liru."
Xu Jiaojiao hurried over to check the other room on the second floor. "There are carvings here too!"
They read, "Xu Zijian, Qin Ning."
Everyone went up to the third floor. Sure enough, both rooms there had the same kind of carvings beside their doors.
They read:
"Xu Jiaojiao, Zhang Fang"
"Xu Jiawei, Shao Lan"
Shao Lan glanced over them, committing the players' names and distinguishing features to memory.
There were four members of the Xu family in total. One was Xu Nan, the vicious robber who had a grudge against him.
Sharing Xu Nan's room was Song Liru, the hot-tempered middle-aged woman.
The other man surnamed Xu was Xu Zijian. He wasn't particularly tall, but his muscles were well defined. Open and friendly, he had introduced himself as the owner of a gym chain in the real world.
Sharing his room was the quiet, aloof woman who had caught the teacup without getting a drop on herself. Her name was Qin Ning.
There were also two women surnamed Xu. One was Xu Jiawei, who had driven here with him. She seemed to be a fairly experienced veteran player.
The other was Xu Jiaojiao, a slightly plump girl with an outgoing, friendly personality and an approachable baby face.
Her "boyfriend" was Zhang Fang. Xu Jiaojiao readily chatted with everyone else, but fell silent around him-she was clearly afraid of the burly man, whose brutish face made him look every inch a villain.
Shao Lan entered the room with Xu Jiawei. Their room's theme was "Moon Viewing," and sure enough, opening the window revealed an endless sea with a moon hanging high above it.
There was only one deluxe king-size bed in the room, its snowy-white sheets and duvet cover gaudily strewn with rose petals.
"You take the bed. I'll take the sofa." Shao Lan surveyed the room. He had been prepared to sleep on the floor, but the accommodations were better than he'd expected. There was even a sofa.
"We could share the bed." Xu Jiawei's eyes were like X-rays as she inspected Shao Lan's chest and abs through his clothes. She nodded in satisfaction. "I certainly wouldn't be losing out."
Shao Lan ignored her and put his things beside the sofa.
Xu Jiawei wasn't annoyed at being ignored. She merely shrugged. "All right, suit yourself."
She took a look around the bathroom, and her mood improved. "There's even a bathtub. Those bath bombs and spa oils I bought will come in handy."
"My hubby obviously won't take a bath with me, so I'll just have to get myself all squeaky clean and wait for him."
Xu Jiawei took her assortment of bottles and jars into the bathroom. Soon, the sound of water filling the tub came from inside.
After thinking for a moment, Shao Lan decided to go out and take a look.
The wooden door creaked. The corridor was long, narrow, and dim, filled with the salty, fishy dampness peculiar to the seaside.
The moment Shao Lan stepped out, he saw a figure walking straight toward him.
It was Zhang Fang.
What, was he here to pick a fight?
Without betraying anything, Shao Lan took out the folding knife he had bought at the service area and concealed it in his hand.
Zhang Fang was still wearing the same clothes he had arrived in. The sleeve on his bitten arm was rolled high, and every exposed part was wrapped in bandages.
Shao Lan narrowed his eyes, noticing a very strange detail-
The bandages seemed to gleam in the dim corridor.
They were coated with medicine for the bite wound. What kind of medicine contained fluorescent powder?
In an instant, Shao Lan thought of the tea the village chief had given them.
The gleaming fish scales among the tea leaves.
Could there be fish scales on Zhang Fang's wound?
Shao Lan had no time to think it through. Zhang Fang was already only a few steps away. Tightening his grip on the folding knife, he said coldly, "What do you want?"
Zhang Fang mechanically turned his head and looked at Shao Lan.
Shao Lan's heart lurched.
Something was wrong with Zhang Fang's eyes.
Before you continue