Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Xiao Huai had not completely left. He hid nearby and quietly watched the players.
Since he was currently playing an NPC, it was best not to spend all his time mingling with them.
Xiao Huai kept his gaze fixed on Ji Yelin. She held out a hand to the pimple-faced man without saying a word, and he obediently gave her the map.
Ji Yelin said, “Doesn’t this map look like something a child scribbled at random?”
Xiao Huai raised an eyebrow.
She had reached the same conclusion as him.
Upon careful examination, the treasure map was not a treasure map in the traditional sense.
Not only were the icons drawn in a childish style, but the writing did not look like an adult’s either.
It was also filled with a wide variety of elements.
Stars, pirates, octopus monsters, and jellyfish.
But how could there be an ocean in the desert, let alone marine life?
Even if monsters existed, the ones capable of surviving in this desert would not be creatures from the bottom of the sea.
Children always possessed boundless imaginations.
Even if they had never seen marine life, they could draw a fairly convincing version after hearing an adult describe it.
In a horror game, however, every player’s nerves were stretched taut.
No matter how many inconsistencies the map contained, they would assume the game had included them deliberately as part of some conspiracy to mislead the players.
Yet certain matters of common sense still applied, whether in the game or in reality.
Especially because the world inside each horror game instance was not false.
Every world had a story that belonged to it alone.
Lu Zhi nodded. “Yelin, that makes a lot of sense. But I still trust A-Zhuolang more. Maybe this map really does have some value we haven’t discovered yet.”
Ji Yelin smiled faintly. “Whatever. It’s almost lunchtime. We should call everyone back to eat and share the clues we found this morning while we’re all together.”
“Okay,” Lu Zhi agreed.
The pimple-faced man no longer knew what to believe. The map in his hands seemed valuable, yet also seemed entirely worthless.
As he stared at it, he suddenly noticed something at the location Sun Xingye had pointed out.
A tiny black rectangle had been drawn over the place where they were currently standing.
“Um, did any of you see this symbol?” The pimple-faced man asked, pointing at the rectangle.
The others had been about to leave, but his question stopped them. They turned to look at him again.
The treasure map was large and crowded with symbols and words. They had only skimmed it for place-names and had not paid much attention to the spot he indicated.
Sun Xingye said, “That symbol looks like a gravestone.”
At his words, Lu Zhi nodded gently. “I think so too. Besides, we’re in a particularly low area, almost as if we’ve been buried.”
Lu Zhi’s innocent tone immediately drew considerable attention.
Some players could not help wondering whether there was something wrong with this boy.
At that moment, a girl with prominent features who looked like she belonged to an ethnic minority stepped forward timidly and muttered in a low voice.
“Um, I’ve actually wanted to mention this for a while… In my hometown dialect, ‘Aledi’ means ‘sacred tomb.'”
She had found it ominous and had therefore kept quiet.
No matter whose tomb it was, it remained a grave. Anything connected to the dead was bound to seem unlucky.
Cheng Shan’s expression darkened. “You mean we’ve been walking deeper into a grave this whole time?”
That was far more than a little ominous.
“Is that why there isn’t a single person here?” Lu Zhi murmured, rubbing his chin.
Sun Xingye said, “Don’t overthink it. A name alone proves nothing. Even if this really is a tomb, so what? You’re in a horror game. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a ghost.”
After hearing that blunt but honest answer, the others had nothing more to say.
Xiao Huai leaned against the wall with his arms folded, quietly observing them. Their discussion gave him plenty of inspiration.
The third-floor instance truly was a minor dividing line. Some players began taking responsibility and actively thinking about how to clear the game, while others remained trapped in their fear.
Sun Xingye was even more adept at surviving horror games than Xiao Huai had imagined.
He had previously tried to kill Xiao Huai both to obtain the information in his head and to protect himself.
That was because Xiao Huai’s initial portrayal of a deranged lunatic had left a shadow in everyone’s heart.
Sun Xingye was a cautious man.
Rats might be weak, but their sensitivity to danger far surpassed that of humans.
“What are you looking at?” someone suddenly whispered beside his ear.
The warm breath accompanying the low vibration of his voice tickled Xiao Huai’s ear. He turned his head and met Lu Yuanshi’s gaze.
“What do you think?” he replied.
Lu Yuanshi was always like this, appearing and disappearing without warning.
Xiao Huai asked, “Where did you go to search for treasure?”
“Hmm… That was too boring. Watching you is much more interesting.”
Xiao Huai rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you afraid the collective mission will fail?”
“Isn’t there still the side mission?” His voice was calm, as though killing someone for the side mission was the most ordinary thing in the world.
But if the side mission truly became everyone’s final choice,
even if no one killed Xiao Huai, the pain would torture him to death.
His hidden identity as the Holy Father bound him to the pain of everyone who died.
He did not tell Lu Yuanshi. Lowering his gaze, he merely asked, “Have you decided whom you want to kill?”
Lu Yuanshi gave a quiet, amused snort.
“No. But there is someone I want to protect in secret.”
Xiao Huai glanced sideways at him. “You wouldn’t protect anyone.”
Lu Yuanshi raised an eyebrow. “Why are you so certain?”
Xiao Huai smiled faintly, his eyes half narrowed in a lazy expression.
His airy answer was simple.
“My sixth sense.”
Lu Yuanshi would never protect anyone.
Nor did he care about anyone.
Sometimes, Xiao Huai could not detect even a trace of genuine emotion in his eyes.
Someone who concealed himself so well would never readily expose his strength to help another person.
Like the brilliant stars in the sky, he would not fall for the sake of a mortal.
The stars would always hang high above, visible yet forever beyond reach.
Xiao Huai had an instinctive feeling that if Lu Yuanshi wanted to, completing the side mission would be effortless for him.
In fact, everyone present together might not be able to defeat him.
While the other players worried about clearing the game, Lu Yuanshi was thinking about what to cook.
Admittedly, Xiao Huai was rather pleased about that.
After all, he got to eat whatever Lu Yuanshi made.
But Lu Yuanshi’s indifference toward whether he could clear the game also proved that he possessed absolute confidence and strength.
He knew he could clear it.