Chapter 88
Chapter 88
As for whether Sun Jian was dead or alive, Wang Hao and the others had no idea.
After Xu Chao hacked off Wu Bin’s arm, they discovered that player blood had some ability to repel the unknown horrors. That made it even less likely that they would allow Wu Bin to die.
Wu Bin, Li Na, and even Xu Chao became their sources of blood.
That was how the group managed to hold out until dawn.
They had noticed both disturbances caused by Yu Lingling, but they had no way of knowing what exactly she had done.
Once daylight arrived, Wang Hao and the others discovered that they had already reached the edge of the Circus. Any farther and they would have entered the fog outside, where there would have been no chance of survival.
The group retraced their steps and found Yu Lingling alone. They were just about to approach her when they spotted Ah Bu. They had planned to wait for Ah Bu to leave before seizing Yu Lingling and interrogating her, but no one expected Ah Bu to escort her all the way back to the tent.
Only after Ah Bu had gone far into the distance did they come over to demand an explanation.
To protect himself, Xu Chao had given Wang Hao’s group some information, but he had withheld the truly crucial parts. He was afraid that if they learned there was no hope of leaving the instance, they would become like Sun Jian – drowning ghosts determined to drag everyone else down with them.
Xu Chao now walked naturally over to Zhao Peng’s side. Whatever he might have been thinking, he knew which way the wind was blowing.
“I lost track of you last night. I almost died out there.”
To earn Zhao Peng’s trust, he even recounted what had happened the night before, though he glossed over the incident with Wu Bin as nothing more than a minor dispute.
Xu Chao’s and Li Na’s animals were small enough to hide inside their clothes, so they had escaped serious injury. Wang Hao’s tiger and Zhou Ming’s leopard, however, were both far too large. Although Wang Hao and Zhou Ming were strong, the unknown entities in the darkness were too bizarre and unpredictable. There had been times when even they could not protect their animals.
The tiger and leopard no longer possessed the majestic air they had displayed while hunting. Both were badly wounded.
Wang Hao gritted his teeth and glared at Zhao Peng, exposing his affiliation outright. “You’re also a member of Abyss Guild. If you had a way to find the tent, why did you deliberately set us up?”
Zhao Peng was so amused that he laughed. “Whether you live or die inside an instance depends on your own abilities.”
Yu Lingling offered what sounded like a kind reminder. “You should take good care of your companions. Otherwise, I’m afraid they might not survive the night.”
That single sentence was enough for Song Siyuan to understand what she meant. “She’s a clever little thing, all right.”
Someone responsible for compiling information on the instance remarked, “Yu Lingling mentioned before that it was best not to become too close to your companions.”
Her reminder might have sounded kind, but it was clearly meant to lure them into a trap.
Song Siyuan nodded, holding a tangerine without eating it right away. “Feed them well every day, take them out hunting and playing, risk your life to protect them when danger strikes, then carefully nurse them back to health instead of abandoning them when they’re hurt. Forget animals – even a person wouldn’t be able to resist being won over like that.”
Song Siyuan was far from the only one who saw through Yu Lingling’s intentions. Anyone perceptive who had been following her perspective all this time had already made the same connection.
Looking at Wang Hao and Zhou Ming, they could only sigh. Of all the people they could have offended, they had chosen someone intelligent who held a grudge.
Sun Yao and Zhao Peng had realized it as well, but neither of them offered a warning. They both knew that now things had reached this point, Wang Hao and the others had no other choice.
Even if they warned them, could Wang Hao and Zhou Ming simply stand by and watch their animals die? They would never dare take that chance.
Besides, if Wang Hao and Zhou Ming learned the truth, they might suffer a complete breakdown and make the same choice as Sun Jian.
Since Yu Lingling had already discovered the clue to clearing the instance, it was better for them to remain silent. Clearing the instance safely was what mattered most.
Sun Yao became even more careful as she treated Yu Lingling’s wound.
Wang Hao and Zhou Ming were just about to speak, their expressions grim, when Yu Lingling spoke again.
Yu Lingling was a woman of her word. “I promised to tell you about the tent.”
That gave Wang Hao and Zhou Ming pause. Cradling their animals, they found a spot inside the tent and took out some elephant meat to feed the tiger and leopard. They also gave a portion to Li Na.
Without a word, Li Na took the elephant meat and fed it to the pigeon that now belonged to her.
Wu Bin sat at the entrance of the tent, his expression grim. He only had one arm left, and his animal was gone. He was trying to figure out why Xu Chao had been so determined to eliminate him – or rather, his gorilla.
Yu Lingling hadn’t been lying. “The Red Tent is essentially this instance’s stomach. Anything that enters it will eventually be digested. It’s only a matter of time.”
Wang Hao asked directly, “You destroyed the Red Tent?”
“That’s right.” Yu Lingling took out the partially digested objects she had found inside and laid them on the ground. “There were more, but I didn’t take them out.”
That wasn’t a lie either. She simply hadn’t specified whether she meant she hadn’t taken them out of the tent or out of her bag.
Even Li Na stepped forward to inspect the objects. They were all remnants left behind by players.
Yu Lingling shared her theory. “The players who failed to clear the instance most likely became food as well.”
Wu Bin stared at Li Na’s pigeon as a suspicion began to form in his mind.
Noticing his gaze, Li Na retreated farther behind Wang Hao and the others.
Zhou Ming glared at Wu Bin. Wu Bin looked away, but not because he was afraid, as Zhou Ming assumed. Instead, his gaze shifted to the parrot on Zhao Peng’s shoulder, whose plumage was growing more vibrant by the day.
Yu Lingling seemed oblivious to the tension inside the tent. “The Black Tent is an operating room.” She didn’t mention Ah Bu and merely added, “Sometimes, the stranger-looking ones are more popular.”
Her wording was tactful, but every player present understood what she meant.
To make more money, the Circus’s ringmaster had transformed normal animals into deformed freaks.
They all thought of the grotesquely misshapen entities in the audience.
Yu Lingling stated bluntly, “That’s why the entities at Happy Circus are so terrified of those two tents.”
Sun Yao slowly exhaled. “The entities aren’t the only ones afraid. We are too.”
She wasn’t wrong.
Wang Hao asked, “Then how did the largest tent get destroyed?”
“I destroyed it,” Yu Lingling admitted without hesitation. “I wanted to survive, so I had to do something.”
Technically, Yu Lingling was still telling the truth, but she had obscured the sequence of events. By mentioning the stomach first, she had led everyone to assume that her injuries had come from the Red Tent. After all, a stomach digested food, so it was perfectly reasonable for it to have a corrosive effect.
But what was the connection between the two?
Zhou Ming frowned. “Will there still be an audience tonight?”
Yu Lingling answered, “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
Her answer left Wang Hao and the others simmering with anger.
“Acting so recklessly will drag all of us down with you.”
Yu Lingling remained brazenly calm. “I have to keep myself alive first. If the Red Tent is the instance’s stomach, then the performance tent is more like its heart. If I hadn’t blown up the heart, how was I supposed to get out?”
Wang Hao pressed her. “So blowing up that tent made the Black Tent disappear, allowing you to escape?”
Yu Lingling neither confirmed nor denied it. “Our deal ends here.”
Wang Hao clenched his fists, his expression darkening.
Wu Bin suddenly burst out laughing. “So that’s how it is.”
Everyone turned to look at him. Wu Bin swept a sinister gaze across the group. “No wonder Xu Chao insisted that my gorilla had to die. It’s because of this instance’s rules – only one animal of each type can survive. My gorilla and Xu Chao’s monkey… and that means Li Na’s pigeon and Zhao Peng’s parrot…”
Wu Bin laughed wildly, finally venting some of the bitterness pent up inside him. “No wonder you had to kill Liu Qian. No wonder Zhao Peng tried to stop Wang Hao and Zhou Ming from saving her. Too bad it was Liu Qian who died instead of that pigeon.”
He then turned toward Xu Chao. “Do you really think you’ll survive? That parrot controlled you on Zhao Peng’s orders and made you kill Liu Qian. It can just as easily control you and make you kill that pigeon. Once the pigeon is dead, Xu Chao, what do you think will happen to you?”
Zhao Peng was speechless.
The order to kill Liu Qian really hadn’t come from him, but who would believe him now?