Chapter 68
Chapter 68
Chen Xue led her goat toward Wang Hao and the others. But just as she was about to reach them, Yu Lingling’s earlier question suddenly came back to her: Why not stay with the E-rank?
A sudden sense of danger rose within Chen Xue. She instinctively stopped and turned to look at Xu Chao.
Xu Chao was already watching her. His gaze was as cold as if he were looking at a dead woman.
Chen Xue’s expression changed drastically, and she immediately tried to retreat.
But it was already too late. Wang Hao and Zhou Ming attacked at the same time.
More than half the viewers in Chen Xue’s Livestream Room had already left. Those who remained were only there to see how she died.
“What an idiot.”
“Seriously, she was too stupid to live.”
Meanwhile, Wang Hao’s group’s Livestream Room was in a frenzy.
“I’ll send you a tip if you slash her face for me.”
“You really don’t know how to treat a lady. Strip her clothes off, and I’ll give you a hundred Game Coins!”
“That’s disgusting.”
“Then don’t watch. Hahaha, look at you pretending to be so high and mighty.”
After Li Na’s maneuver just now, the viewer count in her Livestream Room had risen considerably.
“I like women with big tits, brains, and a ruthless streak.”
“Followed. You’d better not disappoint me, streamer, or I’ll hunt you down in a dungeon myself.”
Wang Hao and the others were tempted, but they would never actually do such a thing. After all, they represented the Abyss Guild. With so many people watching, they couldn’t afford to tarnish the guild’s reputation. As long as they completed the guild’s mission successfully, the guild would reward them as well.
Tongyu couldn’t see, but the sounds alone were enough for him to understand what had happened. “Li Na wants Chen Xue’s goat, so she teamed up with Wang Hao. Is that right?”
“The goat won’t go to Li Na,” Yu Lingling explained gently. “Li Na isn’t that stupid. The goat will go to Sun Jian, and… she’ll have Sun Jian kill his own elephant.”
Tongyu’s arms tightened around the puppy. “Will Sun Jian agree?”
Yu Lingling had no desire to watch what was about to happen. “He has neither the reason nor the right to refuse.”
Zhao Peng and Sun Yao had also arrived behind Yu Lingling, and they both heard what she said.
Everything unfolded exactly as Yu Lingling predicted. Li Na was the one who had struck a deal with Wang Hao’s group, but she didn’t ask for Chen Xue’s goat in exchange. Sun Jian personally killed his own elephant, then killed Chen Xue. As a result, the goat became Sun Jian’s animal.
Tongyu whispered, “The elephant didn’t struggle.”
Yu Lingling had already observed how these people tended to attack and had no interest in watching the rest. “Let’s get the lay of the land.”
Xu Chao pressed her, “Chacha, what were you going to tell me earlier?”
Yu Lingling’s answer was meant not just for Xu Chao, but also for Sun Yao and Zhao Peng. “If special numbers require particular attention in the Horror Game, then teams can have two members, three, five, or even more. Right?”
The moment she said this, Zhao Peng’s gaze darkened.
Xu Chao hadn’t expected Yu Lingling to deduce his identity, much less the Abyss Guild’s arrangements. “What exactly are you talking about?”
Sun Yao’s gaze moved between them as she carefully considered their exchange. Then something seemed to occur to her, and she instantly understood what Yu Lingling meant.
Xu Chao was also a member of the Abyss Guild. Moreover, the Abyss Guild hadn’t sent three people into this dungeon – it had sent five.
Could the fifth person be Wu Bin?
Impossible.
Once she ruled out Wu Bin and herself, it was obvious who the fifth person had to be.
Sun Yao instinctively edged farther away from Zhao Peng.
But then hesitation crept in. All of this rested on the assumption that the Abyss Guild had indeed sent five people. What if that was false? Was she really supposed to trust the word of an F-rank player who kept spending Game Coins without entering dungeons?
Outside the Livestream Room, the Abyss Guild’s Vice Guild Leader turned their attention to Yu Lingling. “She and Li Na are both very clever.”
A subordinate had already delivered Yu Lingling’s file. However, both women were only at the lowest Full-fledged Player tier, so little information was available about them outside the game. Yu Lingling had only just become a Full-fledged Player. Some guilds had wanted to recruit her, but she logged off immediately, and none of them managed to contact her. The major guilds were competitors as well, so naturally, none would share information about players they had their eyes on.
The Abyss Guild had never paid much attention to Yu Lingling before. Most of the information they had now had been gathered from the Livestream Room.
After reviewing everything, the Vice Guild Leader said, “Based on the comments we’ve compiled from the Livestream Room, the one called Chacha only recently became a Full-fledged Player. There’s very little information on the other one, Little Fish. He most likely went a long time without entering an instance. After the two of them formed a team, they were punished by being sent into the Happy Circus instance.”
The long-haired young man asked, “Are you sure they didn’t come to this instance on purpose?”
“There’s a seventy percent chance they entered by accident.” The Vice Guild Leader knew the long-haired young man suspected that the siblings had been specially trained by another guild. “Neither of them should belong to a guild.”
The long-haired young man considered this, then nodded. “If they did belong to a guild, someone with Chacha’s potential would never have been sent into an instance with only one companion. Station people to watch for them. It would be best if we could recruit them into Abyss.”
The Vice Guild Leader had been thinking the same thing and immediately began making arrangements. “Even though they killed Wang Hao?”
“Even though they killed Wang Hao,” the long-haired young man replied without hesitation. “If they refuse to join and you decide to eliminate them, you’d better do it before they have a chance to grow. Personally, I don’t recommend making enemies of them.”
Zhao Peng, meanwhile, asked bluntly, “You suspect I’m also from the Abyss Guild?”
Yu Lingling did not answer. She merely said, “I don’t want to get involved in your affairs, and I’m not interested in whatever it is you want. I only want to get my little brother through this instance safely.”
There were only twelve people in this instance. Yu Lingling had already worked out how many members of the Abyss Guild had entered. Once she and Tongyu were accounted for, identifying the Abyss Guild’s fifth member from among the few people left was far too easy.
Especially after the little performance involving Li Na, Chen Xue, and Sun Jian. Zhao Peng had exposed himself for no good reason.
Yu Lingling felt that the Abyss Guild was so fond of being needlessly mysterious that they had only made fools of themselves.
It would have been much simpler for all five of them to reveal their identities from the start and seize complete control through their overwhelming advantage in both strength and numbers.
Yu Lingling thought about it. None of the people who had sent her friend requests were from the Abyss Guild. What a shame. She had missed out on another sucker to fleece.
Zhao Peng was about to follow Yu Lingling when Wu Bin called him back.
Wu Bin looked at Zhao Peng and said directly, “I’d like to speak with you alone about this instance.”
Zhao Peng glanced at him, considered it for a moment, then nodded and left with Wu Bin. He did not tell Sun Yao or Xu Chao whether he was a member of the Abyss Guild.
Wu Bin had deliberately chosen this moment to approach him. Once they reached a deserted spot, he lowered his voice and said, “I discovered one of this instance’s rules. Only one animal of each type can exist.”
Zhao Peng frowned. “How did you find that out?”
Wu Bin pulled out a destroyed item. “This item could control a supernatural creature and force it to answer three questions.”
Zhao Peng’s heart began pounding. If animals of the same kind could not coexist, did his parrot and Liu Qian’s pigeon count as the same type?
Outside the Livestream Room, the Vice Guild Leader’s expression darkened. This was information the Abyss Guild had not obtained. They could not be sure whether it was true, but they could not afford to gamble on the possibility.
Wu Bin continued quietly, “You and Liu Qian are competitors, just as Xu Chao and I are. We can work together.”
Suspicious, Zhao Peng probed, “Between Liu Qian and me, she’s obviously the more suitable person for you to cooperate with.”
After all, on the surface, Liu Qian, Wang Hao, and Zhou Ming were on the same team. Why would Wu Bin pass over Liu Qian and choose him instead?
Wu Bin whispered, “My skill lets me see the fate of one random person whenever I enter an instance. I saw Liu Qian’s death.”