Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Li Ergou remained noncommittal toward their speculation. He turned back to Chu Yue and extended his hand once more.
Chu Yue glanced at Shen Yubi. Seeing that he didn’t object, Chu Yue handed over the pearl and the letter.
Taking the items, Li Ergou impatiently tore open the letter. He scanned it quickly, appearing to verify the handwriting.
He was a man of his word; once the items were safely tucked away, he tossed the Butcher Knife onto the floor.
“You’d better be careful,” Li Ergou said, suddenly turning back before opening the door. “To be honest, I really wanted to kill you. But for the sake of this letter, I’ll let you live. Take care of yourself.”
With that, he opened the door and slowly headed downstairs.
Chu Yue turned his head. “What did he mean by that?”
That last sentence had clearly been directed at him.
Shen Yubi kept his eyes lowered and didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “What time is it now?”
Outside the window, the night was thick and devoid of light, as if concealing countless dangers.
“Probably around one in the morning.” Without a phone, and unsure of how time flowed in this place, he could only estimate.
Chu Yue picked up the Butcher Knife. There were characters on the handle, and the color and proportions matched what Li Ergou had described earlier that day.
This was definitely the knife he was looking for.
Wang Meng was still staring their way, but Chu Yue ignored him.
The two of them climbed into their bunks. Barring any surprises, they would be able to leave after handing the Butcher Knife over to Li Ergou at dawn.
He just didn’t know if the man could accept that this oversized blade was his family heirloom.
About half an hour later, Chu Yue heard a strange noise coming from outside.
He looked at Shen Yubi and asked, “Did you hear something?”
Shen Yubi gave a brief acknowledgement. “I did.”
Moving faster than Chu Yue, he rolled out of bed and walked to the balcony to look outside.
He returned a moment later.
“We’re surrounded,” Shen Yubi said, his tone grim. “The area downstairs is crawling with those Monsters we saw last night. There are a lot of them.”
Chu Yue sat up. “Didn’t they go to pray?”
Over the past two days, Chu Yue had seen several people from the town-from the Woman on the 4th Floor to the woman who had been shouting in the street in front of Li Ergou’s Butcher Shop-among the ranks of the Monsters at night.
The Woman on the 4th Floor had previously mentioned that the prayers couldn’t be interrupted, so he had thought things would be peaceful here for the next few nights. Why were they back?
Was it because they found out the Plaza had been messed with? Probably not.
He hurriedly got up and looked out through the small window in the door.
Sure enough, he saw several figures staggering up from the 2nd Floor.
During the day, they were all normal people, but at night, they turned into Monsters.
A flash of realization hit Chu Yue.
Could it be that they weren’t originally Monsters belonging to the Instance, but that the transformation was simply caused by eating the meat Li Ergou sold?
No wonder Li Ergou had given them the knife so readily; he knew all along that these people would come back.
Cursing the man’s cunning under his breath, Chu Yue realized tonight would not be a peaceful one.
Before he could finish the thought, a knock sounded at the door. The same was happening at Wang Meng’s side.
The emotions of those outside were even more heightened than in previous days, carrying a sense of frenzy and a more twisted aura.
No one spoke. The sounds they made were more like the whimpering of wild beasts as they jostled and shoved one another, swarming toward the two rooms.
Shen Yubi’s expression was unreadable. After watching the door for a moment, he informed Chu Yue, “We have to get out of here.”
Chu Yue crouched beside him, following his gaze.
Under the constant pushing and shoving of the crowd outside, the once sturdy iron latch was beginning to rattle loose.
The screws above had shifted outward; they likely wouldn’t last until dawn before falling out. When that happened, they would be trapped in the room.
“How do we leave?” Chu Yue looked down from the balcony.
The ones inside the dormitory were just the original residents of this building, but the crowd outside seemed to consist of most of the town.
In terms of numbers, there were definitely fewer people inside the building, but only four Players remained, and everyone in the building was concentrated on the 2nd Floor and 3rd Floor.
Fortunately, their room was near the stairwell. To get out, they only needed to clear the people at the door or hold them back.
Since Li Baixing’s room on the 2nd Floor was further down the hallway, the number of people entangled at the stairwell entrance shouldn’t be too high.
They should be able to make it down to the 1st Floor smoothly.
However, they still faced another problem-how to get out of the building.
Since the people outside were all guarding the balcony area, huddled against the base of the wall, it meant only those already inside the dormitory could enter, or rather, the dormitory’s main doors were locked.
So how were they supposed to get out?
While he was still pondering what to do once they were out, Shen Yubi had already finished dressing and stood by the door, Butcher Knife in hand.
He turned to ask, “Ready?”
Chu Yue was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. “The knife…”
“I can handle it. I’m more familiar with this kind of thing; just protect yourself.”
Once they stepped out, there would undoubtedly be a slaughter. Hesitation would mean death. Shen Yubi had no psychological burden when it came to swinging the blade, but Chu Yue did.
Chu Yue knew this, and having witnessed Shen Yubi’s skills earlier that morning, he didn’t argue.
Looking at that small figure, an unexpected sense of security actually welled up in Chu Yue’s heart.
“Once we step out, stay behind me. Don’t look back.”
Chu Yue replied, “Got it.”
“I’m opening the door.”
Waiting for one wave of impact to end before the next could begin, Shen Yubi quickly slid the bolt back and yanked the door open.
The two of them stepped aside. Driven by momentum, seven or eight people squeezed through the doorway and tumbled onto the floor, piling on top of one another. It took them a good while before they could even start to crawl back up.
With such a commotion happening here, Wang Meng across the hall was no fool.
Though they hadn’t coordinated, he made his move as well.
Shen Yubi raised his hand and swung the knife. Li Ergou’s Butcher Knife was indeed sharp; with a forceful swing, it was like cutting through melons and vegetables. Three or four people in front of him were instantly struck down.
The blood that sprayed toward them was fishy and foul, smelling far worse than a Player’s blood. Getting splashed felt like being baptized by the rank runoff from a garbage truck.
But there was no time for disgust; the two of them bolted toward the stairs!
They had to get down to the 1st Floor before the crowd at Li Baixing’s door could react and block them.
Wang Meng followed closely behind, shamelessly taking advantage of the path they cleared.
As they passed the 2nd Floor, someone lunged at them. Shen Yubi swung his blade and cut them down, continuing his run without pause.
Chu Yue followed behind him, kicking the person at the front of the pursuit back into the crowd.
When they reached the 1st Floor, the Hall was indeed mostly empty.
Shen Yubi ran down the corridor to the washroom and called out, “This way!”
Without any hesitation, Chu Yue and Wang Meng followed mechanically.
Shen Yubi pulled open the window of the washroom’s balcony. Since no Players lived on this side of the building, no crowd had gathered outside here.
“Out through here.”
Wang Meng didn’t stand on ceremony. He rushed forward, grabbed the windowsill, and jumped out.
Shen Yubi ignored him, letting him go, and looked at Chu Yue. “You go.”
When he said this, Chu Yue didn’t refuse. He took the knife from Shen Yubi’s hand and vaulted out the window.
Seeing this action, Wang Meng let out a short laugh, though his expression was far from friendly. “Brother Chu, it seems you don’t trust me.”