Chapter 79
Chapter 79
The Professor was accustomed to teaching and guiding others, so he had more patience and tolerance for young people. “Yu Lingling began laying the groundwork the moment she chose nothing but steamed buns. Her opponent may be powerful, but he doesn’t take Yu Lingling and her group seriously. More importantly, the information he’s so confident in doesn’t match the current situation.”
The young man who had spoken first froze. “But that’s entrapment. What she’s doing…”
“Save that spiel of yours,” interrupted a man with a scar at the corner of his eye. “That kind of thinking only works in the real world.”
Song Siyuan pointed at the feed from the Livestream Room. “There is no order inside the Horror Game. So-called laws and order are nothing more than rules created by the strong for the weak to obey.”
Even the elderly Professor saw nothing wrong with Yu Lingling’s actions. “No matter where you are, survival comes first. Everything else can wait. Besides… if Yu Lingling hadn’t schemed against them, would those people have spared her and her brother?”
The scarred man scoffed. “This is why I hate talking to ordinary people like you. None of you have ever entered an instance, yet you stand on the sidelines and judge people who have. Easy for you to say.”
After handing over the steamed buns, Yu Lingling returned to Tongyu’s side.
Although Tongyu was blind, he still turned toward Wang Hao’s group. His gaze eventually settled on Li Na. He could sense that her aura had changed.
The occupants of the two tents had parted on bad terms, and the divisions among the eleven surviving players had become obvious.
Zhao Peng had something to discuss with Yu Lingling and Tongyu, so he stayed close to them.
Once they reached a secluded spot, Zhao Peng broke open a steamed bun and was about to feed it to the parrot. Before he could, Yu Lingling placed a hand on his arm.
Yu Lingling understood human nature extremely well. She could be clever, calculating, and willing to scheme, but she still needed to show a certain degree of honesty toward those who had already agreed to work with her.
Plenty of people were still watching through the Livestream Room. Yu Lingling could not allow herself to become another Xu Chao. Trust had to be built from the very beginning. It might prove invaluable later.
Yu Lingling’s intervention made Zhao Peng pull the bun away just as the parrot tried to peck at it.
He looked at her questioningly.
Yu Lingling did not keep him in suspense. “This instance made us anxious about food and water from the very beginning, but then it suddenly provided us with food. Something about that doesn’t sit right with me.”
Zhao Peng had shared the same concern. That was why he had not planned to eat anything here and was going to feed it to an animal instead.
Tongyu added, “If you won’t eat it yourself, why would you feed it to your companion?”
Yu Lingling reminded him once more, “We and our companions are linked as soul and body. If something happens to the body, the soul won’t last long either.”
Zhao Peng immediately put the steamed bun away and took out some compressed biscuits for the parrot instead. “Thank you.”
At that moment, Zhao Peng gained an even deeper appreciation for the importance of having a rational, dependable partner. He also knew that if he had not spoken up for Yu Lingling and Tongyu earlier, they probably would not have gone out of their way to remind him about the connection between soul and body.
That was the true key to clearing an instance.
Zhao Peng suddenly frowned. “Someone’s coming.”
Yu Lingling had not seen anyone, but she naturally replied, “It’s Sun Yao, isn’t it?”
It was indeed Sun Yao. She walked over and got straight to the point. “I want to work with you.”
Zhao Peng studied her. “I thought you’d already chosen Wang Hao’s group.”
“I did at first.” Sun Yao’s heart was pounding. “But not after last night. They’re too ruthless.”
If they were truly driven into a corner inside an instance, Sun Yao could understand using another player’s corpse as a tool or even as food, though she still would not be able to accept it.
But last night, they had been nowhere near that point. Even so, Wang Hao’s group had fed Chen Xue’s corpse to the black bear without so much as blinking. As Sun Yao watched the bear clutch Chen Xue’s body in its paws and chew on it, she had truly become afraid.
Sun Yao took a deep breath. “I can be useful to you.” Right now, she needed to prove her worth. “I saw you examining the lamp oil in the tent. The oil lamp itself isn’t the key – the lamp oil is. I went inside to confirm it just now, and the oil hasn’t been replenished.”
Zhao Peng nodded. “Wang Hao and the others will probably discover the issue with the lamp oil tonight as well.”
Sun Yao knew Zhao Peng was also from the Abyss Guild, but she had realized that he and Wang Hao had gone their separate ways – something Wang Hao himself had yet to notice. “I communicated with Pony last night, and Pony responded to me.”
Yu Lingling had already heard about this from Tongyu, but she was still curious about what Sun Yao had learned.
Clenching her teeth, Sun Yao took out the steamed bun from before. “Pony only repeated three words: ‘Do not eat.'”
Pony still looked somewhat vacant, but Yu Lingling noticed that its eyes were more alert than yesterday. When it sensed everyone’s gazes, its ears even twitched.
Zhao Peng recalled what Tongyu had said-“Love makes flesh grow wild”-and his heart began to race. “So under our care, these animals gradually come to life. Starting on the second day, they develop awareness and thoughts. Then… for the sake of those so-called flowers and avoiding so-called punishment, we abuse them and let their hatred build.”
It was like inflating a balloon. Pain, disappointment, and hopes dashed over and over again would accumulate until all those emotions finally exploded.
The kitten in Yu Lingling’s arms still showed little response today, though its breathing had grown much steadier. “The moment our companions give up on us may be the moment we fail the instance.”
The key to clearing this instance lay with the companions they had chosen.
At the beginning, all these companions had felt goodwill toward the players. That was why Pony had warned Sun Yao after gaining awareness, and why the animals grew close to the players.
Sun Yao hurriedly said, “I can still communicate with Pony today. I want to work with you.”
Zhao Peng exchanged a glance with Yu Lingling. When she raised no objection, he said, “All right.”
The tension that had kept Sun Yao wound tight finally eased. She turned to Yu Lingling. “They want you to face tonight’s punishment alone and leave your little brother behind.”
For some reason, Tongyu did not mind being seen as Yu Lingling’s weakness. What he hated was that other people wanted to use him to threaten her.
Yu Lingling had already guessed as much. “They’ve underestimated my little brother.”
Tongyu brightened at her words. “Chacha and I were planning to split up tonight anyway.”
Although Zhao Peng was surprised, he said, “I’ll protect him.”
Yu Lingling looked at the two of them. “I’ve discovered two things. I’m certain about one, but not the other. Whether you listen is up to you.”
Seeing how serious she was, Zhao Peng’s expression immediately turned solemn. “Go ahead.”
After spending the past two days with her, Zhao Peng had already realized that he could never underestimate this young girl.
Yu Lingling carefully considered her wording. “Since yesterday, I’ve limited myself to the minimum amount of food and water the human body needs to function normally. Not eating my fill means I constantly feel hungry and thirsty, but it doesn’t affect my ability to move.”
Zhao Peng, Sun Yao, and the others had been waiting until they were ravenous before eating a little. Once the discomfort eased, they forced themselves to stop.
“The hunger and thirst are just sensations.” Yu Lingling had tested it herself. “My little brother, Little Fish, has been eating the same way you do. The same amount of food and water keeps him going for less and less time.”
Yu Lingling felt that it was similar to the Flesh Mountain sprawled across the first floor in her previous Novice Instance, Happy Family.
Tongyu had also done the calculations. “To last the same amount of time, the amount of food needed each time increases by one-third.”
One-third might not sound like much, but it was a bottomless pit.
Tongyu hugged his puppy. “And the hunger keeps getting harder to endure.”