Chapter 77
Chapter 77
Xiao Huai glanced at them in confusion.
When he saw them staring blankly, the urge to perform seized him again.
He spun a dagger lightly between his fingers. The tendons stood out beneath his skin, making his hands look both slender and powerful.
“What’s wrong?” He grinned, a ghostly light flashing in his eyes. “Am I beautiful?”
He turned away again, teasing amusement in his gaze.
A chill instantly crawled up everyone’s spine, and they hurriedly looked elsewhere.
He really was a dangerous villain.
The group contained twenty people, split evenly between men and women.
This instance was called *Witch’s House*, yet so far, there had been no sign of any witches.
There was not even a house in sight.
An endless desert filled the horizon. Its fine sand spread like a series of soft, beautiful paintings, but unfathomable danger lurked beneath that beauty.
Were the Four Rules for Desert Survival true or false?
Or were some true and others false?
During the day, the desert was as hot as a steamer, drawing the water from their bodies.
After one day, they would barely be able to walk.
After two, they would reach a critical point between life and death.
Aledi Village lay in the desert’s western region. They would reach it if they continued west.
Based on the map’s scale…
It would take three days on foot.
Three days could be called short or long, because it often took only an instant for a person to lose their humanity.
“My god! What is that?!”
Someone in the group shouted and looked up at the horizon.
An enormous flock of crows had gathered from nowhere. Countless birds wheeled together, cawing loudly, their black feathers massing across the horizon like storm clouds heavy with rain.
Their flapping wings actually stirred up a wind.
As the wind rose across the desert, worry and fear spread through the group.
Sand filled the air. A small sandstorm swept over them, blurring their vision.
The sight was so overwhelming that most players hurriedly covered their mouths and noses with cloth.
Sun Xingye, however, watched Xiao Huai with his shifty rat eyes. He lowered his voice and whispered to Cheng Shan:
“Cheng Shan, if he wants to silence us all in this desert, it would be effortless. Instead of leaving our lives in someone else’s hands, we should strike first.”
Sun Xingye looked up at the mass of crows.
“This is our best chance. See those crows? Together, we can definitely kill him. Once he’s dead, I’ll be able to see the information stored in his mind.”
Cheng Shan’s pupils shook. He glared at Sun Xingye, but Sun Xingye refused to back down, his eyes gleaming viciously.
Several hours of walking had already depleted his strength. His cracked lips moved.
“Don’t you understand? He’s only one person. How could he stand against that flock?”
His instincts told him this NPC was no ordinary figure. If they kept such a dangerous uncertainty at their side, Xiao Huai might kill them at any moment.
Rather than endure that constant threat, they might as well act themselves.
Uncertainty appeared in Cheng Shan’s eyes. Red powder had already appeared in Sun Xingye’s hand, and he slowly approached Xiao Huai one step at a time.
Every so often, he glanced behind him. Cheng Shan clenched his fists and followed slowly.
When Sun Xingye was only one step from Xiao Huai, the powder hissed through the air. As it scattered over Xiao Huai, Sun Xingye roared to Cheng Shan behind him, “Open!”
Stone-faced, Cheng Shan opened his backpack. A blue vortex twisted endlessly inside it.
The crows in the sky seemed drawn by some mysterious power. At the same time, another blue vortex appeared overhead.
The two resembled connected doorways.
Countless crows plunged into the vortex. The next second, they shot toward Xiao Huai like black lightning.
The red powder instantly transformed into thick blood. Reeking of rot and iron, it came alive and wrapped around Xiao Huai like sticky glue.
Ji Yelin started. She was the first to realize what Sun Xingye and Cheng Shan intended, and she raised her voice.
“What are you doing?!”
They were actually trying to ambush an NPC!
This was only a third-floor instance, yet they had already entertained such a thought.
More importantly, both men possessed a supernatural ability.
That meant they might truly be capable of killing an NPC.
The game had no explicit rule forbidding players from fighting or murdering NPCs.
If one had the strength, anything was possible…
At worst, they would suffer backlash from corruption. Players with enough Survival Coins could even kill indiscriminately.
After all, some gods genuinely enjoyed watching players torture and slaughter NPCs.
But then Ji Yelin heard a soft laugh.
Lu Yuanshi held a slightly bent index finger against his lips. The line of his mouth curved as he watched Xiao Huai with a faint smile.
At that moment, Ji Yelin realized the two men were looking directly at each other.
Countless crows poured from the vortex in a dense black tide.
The players near Cheng Shan panicked and fled in long strides, muttering as they ran, “What’s happening? Why are all those crows coming over here?!”
“Run! The crows eat people!”
“Wait. I don’t think they’re after us.”
They finally realized that every crow was flying toward Xiao Huai. Their beating wings produced a deep, ceaseless rumble.
They had already swallowed Xiao Huai completely, covering him like an expanse of black shadow.
The oppressive darkness made everyone’s skin crawl and sent chills through their bodies.
The crows’ eyes were black as ink, filled with cruelty and vicious intent.
Sun Xingye gave a nasty laugh and looked at Cheng Shan in satisfaction.
“I suppose you’re not completely useless. He’s only an NPC in a third-floor instance. Those crows will devour him so thoroughly there won’t even be bone fragments left.”
Only then did the other players understand what had happened. They stared at Sun Xingye in astonishment.
Several people worried about the consequences shouted, “Have you lost your mind? Without a guide, we’ll never get out! What do you mean by attacking the NPC now?”
Sun Xingye cast them a cold glance and pushed up his sleeve, revealing a black-and-red fox tattoo.
Everyone froze. The organization was extraordinarily famous.
Ji Yelin’s pupils contracted when she saw the tattoo. She could not stop herself from speaking its name.
“Foxslayer.”
In Chinese, the name Foxslayer was a homophone of “butcher,” and every member of the Foxslayer organization had blood on their hands.
Only those with a supernatural ability could join the Foxslayer organization.
The organization was famous because entering an instance with one of its members…
Raised a player’s odds of clearing the game to an astonishing ninety percent.
Countless players were willing to pay for their help in clearing instances.
Moreover, their guild leader was rumored to be capable of creating items. Joining the Foxslayer organization therefore came with enormous hidden benefits.
So many people wanted to join that the organization had naturally grown famous.
“Foxslayer… He’s actually from the Foxslayer organization. We’ll definitely clear this round. Thank god. Thank god…”
The expressions of several players who had criticized Sun Xingye moments earlier had already changed.
But just then…
Someone cried out again. “What… What is that?”
They stared at Xiao Huai in disbelief.