Chapter 65
Chapter 65
Xu Chao was even more despicable than Yu Lingling had imagined. He was trying to get something for nothing.
But this was Chen Xue’s own choice.
Yu Lingling reached out and ruffled Tongyu’s hair. “There’s nothing we can do.”
Tongyu said quietly, “You don’t have to take risks just to make me feel better.”
Yu Lingling led him inside. “I’m not doing it for you. I just want to test them and figure out what we should do next.”
The sheer number of players meant this instance would most likely require cooperation. Besides that, Yu Lingling still needed to determine who the fifth member of Wang Hao’s team was.
She had not interacted with them much. To make an accurate judgment, she needed more opportunities to observe them.
Cooperation was a mutual choice. While Yu Lingling was deciding whom to work with, everyone else was also quietly observing and making their own choices.
Li Na and Sun Jian had come as well, but their animals were too large to fit inside the tent, so they sat at the entrance. Regardless of what they thought about it, this had created an invisible divide between them and the other players.
Yu Lingling and Tongyu took seats near the outer edge.
Although Zhao Peng and Sun Yao shared a tent with Wang Hao’s group, they did not seem particularly close to the other three. Instead, they sat beside Yu Lingling and Tongyu. Wu Bin, on the other hand, sat right next to Wang Hao, and the two appeared rather close.
Wu Bin’s choice of seat actually made Yu Lingling less suspicious that he was the fifth member of Wang Hao’s team, though she did not dismiss the possibility entirely. What if he had deliberately done this to mislead everyone?
Yu Lingling was suspicious by nature. She had even grown accustomed to assuming the worst of everyone and everything.
Until she had definitive proof, she would remain equally suspicious and wary of every single person.
Wang Hao glanced at where everyone was seated. “You should have noticed by now that our need for food and water has increased in this instance.”
Li Na’s and Sun Jian’s expressions turned extremely ugly.
As if he had not noticed, Wang Hao continued, “The same goes for these animals.”
For anyone accompanied by a large animal, this was anything but good news.
Yu Lingling had chosen a seat that gave her a clear view of Xu Chao’s group whenever she looked up. When Wang Hao mentioned this, she noticed that neither Liu Qian nor Zhou Ming showed the slightest reaction, while Xu Chao instinctively glanced at Wang Hao.
It seemed Xu Chao was the only one among the four who had not known. Now that was interesting.
Yu Lingling wanted to know whether the other three had learned about it before entering the instance or only afterward. She also noticed that Wu Bin was paying far more attention to Xu Chao than to anyone else.
But why?
Whenever Wu Bin looked at Xu Chao, his gaze seemed slightly averted, focusing more on the monkey in Xu Chao’s arms.
Wu Bin’s chosen animal was an orangutan, while Xu Chao’s was a monkey. Could that be the reason?
But Wu Bin had not acted like this before. Besides, no matter how Wang Hao felt about Xu Chao, they were members of the same guild. Even if only for the sake of the guild mission, Wang Hao could not possibly incite someone else to attack Xu Chao.
It was not that Yu Lingling trusted Wang Hao’s character. The issue was that this was being livestreamed.
Since the Abyss Guild had specifically arranged for people to enter this instance, there was no way they would not be watching.
Wang Hao had managed to reach C-rank. He could not be stupid enough to pull such petty tricks right under the guild’s nose.
In other words, Wu Bin must have discovered a clue just now that the rest of them had missed.
Yu Lingling had the distinct feeling that this instance was deliberately steering them toward attacking other players’ animals.
The tiger beside Wang Hao and the leopard beside Zhou Ming seemed to have eaten their fill. Both lay docilely at their sides, with the tiger even licking its paws.
After Wang Hao revealed that the animals’ appetites had also increased, the other players turned their attention to those who had chosen smaller animals. But when they saw the kitten and puppy in Yu Lingling’s and Tongyu’s arms – both motionless and barely breathing – they quickly looked away again.
Liu Qian had a pigeon, while Zhao Peng had a parrot.
Liu Qian was on the same team as Wang Hao and Zhou Ming, so even if anyone had designs on her animal, they wouldn’t dare show it. Zhao Peng, on the other hand, might be D-rank, but he was alone.
Yu Lingling took in every reaction.
Since Wang Hao wanted to establish himself as the leader, he had to offer something in good faith. “I got some information from the entity selling tickets. At eight tonight, entities will come to watch the performances. Every entity who buys a ticket will have a flower, and they’ll give it to an act they like. The ticket seller wouldn’t tell me what happens to performers who don’t receive any flowers.”
“All he said was that the Circus doesn’t keep useless people around.”
This was indeed crucial information.
However, only Wang Hao and his teammates knew how much of it was actually true.
Yu Lingling judged that the part about the audience arriving at eight and carrying flowers was likely true. The rest was less certain.
The flowers definitely served some purpose. They were due to perform the next day, and everyone would be able to tell by whether Wang Hao and his people fought to obtain them. He wouldn’t tell a lie that could be exposed so easily.
But he had glossed over exactly what the flowers were used for.
For now, Wang Hao possessed more information about the instance than anyone else.
Wang Hao swept his gaze over the group. “What information have the rest of you gathered?”
No one spoke.
Zhou Ming sneered. “If anyone is still hiding information at this stage, then don’t bother coming to the next exchange. We don’t welcome selfish trash.”
The implication was clear: anyone who deliberately withheld information would be excluded from then on.
Xu Chao snorted and repeated everything Yu Lingling had told them in the tent. “It just overlaps a little with what you found. Chen Xue and I uncovered this ourselves.”
Li Na instinctively glanced at Yu Lingling.
Chen Xue, however, remained perfectly composed.
Sun Jian was openly gloating. He even felt vindicated. After all, Yu Lingling had destroyed his item and then insisted on hogging the spotlight.
Wang Hao and the others knew what Xu Chao was like. They knew there was no way he could have discovered this himself, but so what? No matter how one looked at it, Xu Chao was still their teammate.
Tongyu’s expression darkened. He hugged his puppy tightly, sensing the malice all around him as he faced such shameless people head-on.
Yu Lingling remained calm. She merely glanced at Xu Chao and Chen Xue before looking away.
Zhou Ming turned directly to the remaining players.
Wu Bin stroked his gorilla. “I learned that once the animals get hungry enough, they’ll lose their minds, go berserk, and eat anything.”
He hadn’t spelled out the implication, but every player present understood. If the animals lost their minds and ate anything, then the first to be eaten would naturally be whoever was closest to them.
Several players’ expressions shifted at those words.
Tongyu sensed that something was off, but because he couldn’t see what was happening around him, he couldn’t figure out exactly what it was.
Some of the others had already caught on. Wu Bin’s words had thrust the sister-and-brother pair, Yu Lingling and Tongyu, straight into the spotlight. If the animals could lose their minds and go berserk, then choosing small, half-dead animals was actually the safest option.
Wang Hao frowned slightly. This was information he hadn’t known, but his expression soon relaxed again. If starving animals went berserk and lost their minds, then all they had to do was keep them fed.