Chapter 61
Chapter 61
When Yu Lingling emerged carrying the filthy, foul-smelling, blood-soaked kitten, even Wang Hao couldn’t help giving her a few extra looks. In his mind, the siblings were already as good as dead.
He planned to secretly contact Xu Chao and find out whether their parents had left them any items. If so, he would find a way to take them. Given the dungeon-clearing condition their guild had worked out, the siblings were doomed anyway. Even if they used the items, it would only be a waste.
Tongyu sensed Yu Lingling approaching and looked up. She came to stand beside him.
The glamorous woman was mildly surprised when she saw the kitten in Yu Lingling’s arms. She remembered that they had only prepared eleven animals this time. Where had the twelfth come from?
Could this outsider have brought it in herself?
The glamorous woman mulled it over without letting anything show on her face. “All right. Return to the dormitory and get some rest. Tonight, I’ll take you to watch a performance. Tomorrow, you’ll be going onstage yourselves. Whether you get to stay will be entirely up to you.”
The dormitory the Circus had arranged for them consisted of two shabby tents, each with six sleeping spots. Calling them beds was generous. They were nothing more than blankets so thin they were nearly transparent and greasy black pillows.
The glamorous woman swept an amused, unreadable gaze over the group. “You’ll be staying here for the time being.” As if something had suddenly occurred to her, she added, “Take good care of the animals you chose. If you don’t have your animal with you when it’s time to go onstage, you’ll be punished.”
With that, she left.
Each tent could only hold six people, which meant the group would have to split up. Quite a few people turned toward Wang Hao and his two companions.
Liu Qian chose the tent without any holes and went inside first to settle in.
Zhou Ming stood behind her protectively, while the animals they had chosen stayed close beside them.
Wang Hao swept his gaze across the group. “Sun Yao, Wu Bin, Zhao Peng – you three will share a tent with us.”
All three of them looked delighted, and Yu Lingling could detect no hint that their reactions were feigned.
Xu Chao snorted and headed straight into the other tent.
Yu Lingling and Tongyu had no say in the matter. She waited outside until Li Na and the others had all gone in, then took Tongyu by the hand and entered.
The sleeping spots left for the siblings were on the innermost side, directly beneath a hole in the tent. The spaces should have been arranged three to a side, but only two remained on this side now.
Yu Lingling glanced at them. Without saying anything, she led Tongyu over to their assigned spots.
Xu Chao glanced at Sun Jian, who had carried his bedding over to the opposite side, and immediately said, “We’re all players here. There’s no need to act like this.”
Then, as if standing up for Yu Lingling and Tongyu, he rolled up his own bedding and moved over to their side.
“Thank you,” Yu Lingling said softly.
Xu Chao spread his bedding out in the outermost spot, placed his monkey on top of it, and began grooming its fur with a small comb.
The tent might have been crude, but it was far from cramped. However, the animals Li Na and Sun Jian had chosen were a black bear and an elephant, neither of which could fit inside, so they had been left outside for the time being.
Yu Lingling took off her coat and placed the kitten on it.
Tongyu already had the badly burned dog wrapped in his clothes. Now, he was carefully stroking it.
When Li Na and Sun Jian saw that everyone else had their animals beside them, they began to feel uneasy. After a moment of hesitation, Li Na got up and went outside to sit beside her black bear near the entrance.
Only then did the two of them understand why Chen Xue, despite having gone in first, had chosen the goat in poorer condition instead of the black bear or elephant.
The people from the Circus had said that every performer needed an animal by their side when they went onstage. Anyone without one would be punished. The players didn’t know what the punishment was, nor did they know what they would be expected to do onstage. They had to survive the first two nights to find out.
Tonight, they would learn what they had to do onstage. Tomorrow night, they would learn what punishment awaited players who had no animal or whose performances proved unpopular.
Sun Jian’s gaze swept over Yu Lingling and Tongyu. It just so happened that they had two disposable pawns they could use to test the rules. Xu Chao was likely thinking the same thing. Otherwise, who would be kind enough to look after two people doomed to die in an instance?
Yu Lingling seemed completely oblivious to what everyone was thinking and simply continued protecting her younger brother.
“Looks like these siblings are about to become prey.”
“How about a bet on who makes the first move?”
“My money’s on the blind kid’s dog dying first.”
Yu Lingling glanced over the comments. There was nothing useful among them, so she couldn’t be bothered to respond.
Sun Jian also went outside to watch over his elephant.
Xu Chao was feeling a little thirsty. He took a bottle of water from his System inventory and drained more than half of it in one go. Just as he was about to put it away, he remembered what the Vice Guild Leader had told them when choosing the people who would enter this instance.
Don’t choose an animal that’s too large. Don’t choose one that’s in poor condition. Take good care of your animal.
Whether they wanted to obtain the item or clear the instance, the key lay with their animals. The Vice Guild Leader had also told them to bring plenty of food and water before entering.
After that, Xu Chao and the other two had been sent away. Xu Chao, however, had lingered and eavesdropped on the conversation between the Vice Guild Leader and Wang Hao. That was how he learned the guild had actually arranged for five people to enter. Only Wang Hao knew the identity of the fifth.
The Vice Guild Leader had also said, “If things get dangerous, kill the other players’ animals. According to our deductions about the rules, only one person can be eliminated each day. Do your best to keep Liu Qian alive.”
Xu Chao had been too far away to hear the rest.
Why had the Vice Guild Leader told Wang Hao alone? Naturally, it was because Xu Chao, Zhou Ming, and even Liu Qian were all expendable.
Xu Chao knew Liu Qian possessed a healing-type skill, which was why the Vice Guild Leader wanted her protected if possible. Zhou Ming was a powerful fighter and was close to Wang Chao. That meant Xu Chao would definitely be the first among them to be abandoned.
The tent assignments alone proved it. No one knew what would happen on the first night. Even if they needed him to use his skill to eavesdrop on the other players, there was still no reason to put him alone in a separate tent.
Xu Chao fed the rest of the water to his little monkey, hiding the viciousness in his eyes. He had to obtain that special item and make it out alive.
Lost in his turbulent thoughts, Xu Chao failed to notice several dark shadows quietly slipping outside.
After feeding the little monkey, Xu Chao tried striking up a conversation with Yu Lingling and Tongyu. The siblings, however, might as well have been mute. He was lucky to get a single answer out of every ten questions.
Xu Chao already had enough on his mind and soon lost patience with them. As for the items they carried, they were only two F-rank players. They were nothing more than fish on a chopping block.
Sitting across from him, Chen Xue watched Xu Chao. When she saw him share his water with the little monkey, she thought for a moment before taking out some medicine and applying it to her goat’s wounds.
The goat visibly perked up, and its severed tail stopped bleeding.
Xu Chao noticed. Chen Xue was fairly clever, and she was one of the stronger members among the three E-rank players. If she had a useful skill, he might be able to work with her.