Chapter 67
Chapter 67
At first, the Professor’s words sounded self-contradictory, but anyone who had interacted with Yu Lingling understood what he meant.
The student hesitated. “Then what if Yu Huan is no longer around?”
He did not even dare say the word death.
The Professor looked at him. “I don’t know.”
Even the Professor had no idea what Yu Lingling might do when that time came.
Song Siyuan let out a long breath.
The Professor was not nearly as pessimistic. He put his glasses back on and said, “The fact that she is willing to keep Doctor Song by her side and accept him as a member of her team proves that she doesn’t harbor any hostility toward the Special Department.”
Song Siyuan gave a wry smile. “You’re giving me far too much credit.”
After Song Siyuan acquired that kind of Exclusive Skill, the Special Department had specifically assigned someone to teach him psychology.
In fact, when he first began treating Yu Lingling, the elderly Professor had monitored the sessions from the other side of the surveillance feed.
Inside the Happy Circus Instance, Yu Lingling stared at Wang Hao, waiting for his answer.
Wang Hao slowly exhaled. Seeing the other players’ expressions, he realized that he had revealed the information too soon. “I can guarantee that you and your brother will be safe today and tomorrow.”
He claimed it was two days, but in practice, it was really only one.
On the second day, these people would still need Yu Lingling and Tongyu to become the ones who were punished, buying the rest of them another day of safety. Naturally, no one would make a move against them then.
Yu Lingling and Tongyu were the weakest among the players. The real danger lay on the first day.
When Wang Hao saw that Yu Lingling was about to speak again, his expression turned cold. “I already know what you’re plotting. I suggest you don’t push your luck.”
Since she had dared to scheme against him, he would make this pair pay sooner or later.
Yu Lingling agreed without hesitation.
This had been her plan all along. Her true target was not Wang Hao, either. She had done it to draw out the fifth member of Wang Hao’s team.
Even though everyone had their suspicions now, Wang Hao still did not explain how he could keep a player from being eliminated when their animal was not present.
Watching through the Livestream Room, the Abyss Guild’s Vice Guild Leader and the long-haired young man both shook their heads at Wang Hao’s decision. He had missed his final opportunity.
Now that the matter had been raised, he would have been better off coming clean. By continuing to hide it, he would only make the players suspicious of one another. Later, whenever Wang Hao asked them to do something, they would likely second-guess everything and pretend to comply while doing as they pleased.
Fortunately, they had not pinned all their hopes on Wang Hao’s group.
Zhao Peng had little presence among the players, but he had taken in everything that happened and had already come to a decision.
Wang Hao asked directly, “Are there any other clues?”
Sun Yao glanced around. “I can communicate with animals, but none of the animals we chose have made a single sound from beginning to end. I can’t communicate with them at all.”
Wang Hao’s eyes lit up as he looked at Sun Yao. “Is that your skill?”
Sun Yao did not answer directly.
Yu Lingling had already answered the question for her in her mind. It was not a skill. It was probably an item.
If it were a skill, Sun Yao could have admitted it outright. Although skills could also drop, the odds were extremely low.
In an instance that required them to communicate with animals, there was no point in gambling on such slim odds.
An item, on the other hand, could simply be taken. Something like that was better off in one’s own hands than someone else’s.
Yu Lingling was not the only one who had thought of this. However, no one dared take the gamble. What if they were wrong?
Why had Sun Yao not simply lied? For the same reason Yu Lingling had not. They both suspected that since Wang Hao’s group had entered the instance together with a specific goal, one of them might possess a skill or item capable of detecting lies.
Zhao Peng was sitting beside Sun Yao. As soon as she finished speaking, everyone’s gaze naturally shifted to him.
Li Na spoke before anyone else could. She had far too few clues in hand. If everyone else revealed theirs first, she might be treated as an expendable pawn, and no one would share any future clues with her. “When we went inside to choose our animals, I found a few scraps of paper.”
With that, Li Na took out the scraps she had pieced together.
The sheet had not only been torn apart, but was also stained with dried blood. So much of it was missing that they could only vaguely make out a few words.
“Not… thing… hide… don’t…”
The writing in some places had been completely soaked through with blood, leaving only those few words recognizable.
Sun Jian began to panic. He had stayed beside his elephant the entire time without finding anything. “How do we know you aren’t holding back crucial information?”
Li Na ignored him.
Wang Hao had his own judgment. He asked directly, “What about you, Sun Jian? Did you find anything?”
Sun Jian trembled without answering.
Yu Lingling looked away.
Wang Hao clicked his tongue, clearly displeased.
Sun Jian abruptly pointed at Zhao Peng. “He hasn’t said anything either.”
As soon as Sun Jian finished, Zhao Peng said bluntly, “The key to clearing this instance lies at the very beginning. And the more the instance tries to make us do something, the more we should avoid doing it. I advise all of you not to do anything that might harm the animals.”
Like everyone else, Yu Lingling turned to look at Zhao Peng.
So you’re the fifth member of Abyss Guild.
Wang Hao was the group’s leader out in the open, while Zhao Peng had been appointed to lead from the shadows.
Yu Lingling had no interest in the special item Abyss Guild wanted. As long as they did not provoke her, she did not care.
Still, she was looking forward to seeing what Zhao Peng intended to do.
After saying his piece, Zhao Peng fell silent again. He appeared steady and dependable.
Sun Jian only thought they were all hypocrites.
Wang Hao warned them, “I don’t care what any of you are planning. No one is allowed to lay a hand on these siblings today. Sun Jian, if you can’t bring us any useful clues today, you won’t be allowed to participate in the next clue exchange.”
Sun Jian lowered his head, his entire body trembling, but his eyes gleamed with malice.
Wang Hao said gravely, “Supernatural entities generally won’t attack us on the first day of an instance. We should gather enough clues to clear it while we can.”
With that, Wang Hao left first, taking the others with him.
Li Na hesitated, then gritted her teeth and hurried after them.
Chen Xue looked at Xu Chao. “Brother Chao, where are we going now?”
Yu Lingling glanced at Chen Xue, then took Tongyu by the hand and headed outside.
Xu Chao stood and followed them.
Chen Xue immediately got up and followed Xu Chao.
Xu Chao had something he wanted to ask Yu Lingling. “Are you sure you want to accept the punishment?”
Still holding Tongyu’s hand, Yu Lingling stopped. “During my newbie instance, I met a player who told me that the most important things to watch out for in the Horror Game are numbers with special significance.”
Chen Xue heard her, but she could not understand why Yu Lingling was pointing out something so obvious.
Just then, Liu Qian suddenly called out, “Chen Xue, Sun Jian, come over here for a moment.”
Chen Xue looked at Li Na, who was standing beside Wang Hao, feeling somewhat confused. Then she remembered that she had seen Xu Chao’s player profile before, and the Guild field had indeed listed Abyss Guild. “Brother Chao?”
Tongyu had also guessed some of what was happening. He pressed his lips together but gave no warning. While Xu Chao’s attention was drawn to Chen Xue, Wang Hao, and the others, the Puppet Threads silently settled over Xu Chao.
Xu Chao looked at Wang Hao.
Wang Hao was also watching him.
Only after a long moment did Xu Chao look away. “Go ahead.”
The moment those words left Xu Chao’s mouth, Tongyu moved his fingers, sending the Puppet Threads all the way into Xu Chao’s body.