Chapter 32: Appearance

“We went to find Jia Xuyang,” Huang Junjie remarked sentimentally, “who knew we’d run right into the Headless Butcher.”

“Why the hell was he crawling into the tunnel like that?” Wan Zhikang complained; he had just bumped into the tunnel walls twice.

“Maybe he was afraid of the Headless Butcher,” Xu Huo said. “So he planned to find a place to hide until the game ended.”

“No wonder he took so much food this morning; he discovered the secret passage long ago,” Zhang Xiong sneered. “You can't blame others when you're looking for death yourself.”

“Did you guys really see the Headless Butcher?” Wang Wei looked at Xu Huo and the others. “Don't blame me for doubting you, but besides you few, everyone else has only heard rumors.”

“As if we’d lie to you!” Yuan Yao said indignantly. “Look at Brother Xu’s neck—it was almost severed, and it’s still bleeding.”

“It’s true, it’s true!” Abel spoke so hurriedly that his words were jumbled. “No head, no feet, it flies! It’s incredibly strong, you can't hold it down!”

Everyone could see the wound on Xu Huo’s neck. While Wan Zhikang and Zhang Xiong muttered among themselves about how to deal with the Headless Butcher, the Rich Kid and Liu Yuanyuan exchanged glances but remained silent.

For the sake of safety, Huang Junjie proposed that everyone stay in the lobby. The others had no objections, and they sat together waiting for nightfall.

Since Xu Huo’s neck was injured, the self-healing agent wasn't very effective. He didn't participate in the discussion on how to deal with the Headless Butcher; instead, he leaned against the door, smoking while flipping his lighter.

While in the tunnel, he had intentionally thrown the lighter once before using the "Arsonist's Tool." The result was exactly as he expected: the black cloak was a special item and could not be ignited at all.

The Headless Butcher seemed very tall, but after removing the head and feet, his height was not much different from a normal male. Although Xu Huo hadn't been able to touch the Butcher's body when his neck was being constricted, he was certain there was someone inside the cloak. Abel’s later use of the large cross to pin it down proved this as well.

The players who hadn't appeared at the time were the Rich Kid, Liu Yuanyuan, Zhang Xiong, Wan Zhikang, and Wang Wei. The person playing the Headless Butcher was among them.

His gaze swept across these five people one by one. When it landed on Liu Yuanyuan’s face, her expression suddenly turned to terror. She abruptly stood up, pointed outside the door, and screamed, “The Headless Butcher!”

Xu Huo turned around instantly, just in time to see a dark shadow lunging in from outside, crashing into the lobby and extinguishing the chandelier!

Glass shattered and sprayed everywhere, and the players fell into a panic. Amidst the chaos, he heard Zhang Xiong shout, “You think I’m afraid of you?!”

The Headless Butcher then dropped to the ground and slithered into the right corridor like a serpent!

Seeing the Headless Butcher get struck by Zhang Xiong’s punch, Huang Junjie felt a surge of hope. “Quick! Don't let him get away!”

Several people rushed out one after another. Xu Huo followed behind. Seeing Zhang Xiong run past the guest rooms toward the warehouse, Xu Huo accelerated ahead of the group and intercepted Abel, who was carrying the large cross. “Stop chasing him.”

“Why?” As Abel spoke, the cross in his hand turned back into foam.

Under their expressionless stares, he scratched his hair awkwardly. “This is my item, the ‘False Cross.’ The duration of use isn't fixed; I didn't know it would only last a few seconds.”

“But I don't think the Headless Butcher is that powerful. The tunnel was inconvenient, but we might not lose to him out here!”

“Forget the Headless Butcher. Let's go back and check first.” Xu Huo didn't even look in the direction Zhang Xiong had disappeared; he simply turned around and headed back.

Yuan Yao and Abel looked bewildered, but Huang Junjie suddenly asked, “Why haven't the others come out yet?”

“Maybe they're planning to loop around from the outside...” Before Yuan Yao could finish, Liu Yuanyuan ran toward them, her face covered in blood, screaming in panic, “The Headless Butcher is in the lobby!”

“What!” Their expressions changed instantly as they raced back to the lobby.

The lights in the lobby were already broken. Although the light from the corridor wasn't enough to see the entire lobby clearly, the bodies lying on the floor and the large, spreading shadows were visible with startling clarity.

Xu Huo walked up from behind and shone his flashlight. He saw Wan Zhikang and the Rich Kid lying in pools of blood, their necks severed halfway through, with only a bit of skin connecting their heads to their bodies. Their eyes were wide with rage, unable to close even in death.

“How could this happen!” Huang Junjie’s eyes trembled. “If the Headless Butcher is here, then who were we just chasing?”

“Didn't you see Wang Wei?” Xu Huo raised his hand to illuminate Liu Yuanyuan’s face.

Liu Yuanyuan covered her face and sobbed, “I don't know! Didn't he go out with you guys?”

“...It's all my fault. If I had stayed to help, they might not have died so horribly. But I was too scared, so when Brother Zheng told me to run, I didn't think about anything else...”

Interrupting her cries without a shred of pity, Xu Huo said, “There's no point crying over the dead. Let's find Wang Wei and Zhang Xiong first.”

“I'm here!” Wang Wei’s voice came from outside. He jogged in, startled by the carnage in the lobby. “What happened?”

Without answering his question, Xu Huo asked, “Why were you outside?”

“You guys all went to chase the Headless Butcher, so I thought I’d loop around the outside of the courtyard to intercept him. But halfway through, I realized there was no one behind me... so I came back.”

Wang Wei gave an awkward smile. “I was scared being alone, too.”

Xu Huo’s brow furrowed. “Go find Zhang Xiong!”

The sudden turn of events caught Huang Junjie and the other two off guard, and they quickly tried to stop him. “Looking at this situation, Zhang Xiong is likely dead. Let's wait until dawn!”

“Yeah, if we go out and run into the Headless Butcher...” Liu Yuanyuan cowered, appearing extremely frightened.

Xu Huo looked at her coldly. “You don't have to go.”

Liu Yuanyuan’s expression froze, and she looked to the others for help.

Yuan Yao had nothing to say. Huang Junjie was initially hesitant, but seeing Xu Huo’s persistence and thinking about the two people who had died mysteriously in the lobby, he decided to see what Xu Huo intended to do.

Of the six remaining people, four left; Liu Yuanyuan and Wang Wei had no choice but to follow.

This time there was no commotion, and they quickly found Zhang Xiong in the warehouse. His death was similar to the college student's—he was slumped against a corner, and his head was also missing.

“How is that possible!” Yuan Yao said in disbelief. “Can the Headless Butcher use clones? Killing Zhang Xiong and Wan Zhikang’s group at the same time?”

Huang Junjie, however, looked warily at Liu Yuanyuan and Wang Wei. “Could it be that the Headless Butcher isn't just one person?”

“What do you mean by that?” Wang Wei’s expression soured. “Are you accusing me of killing Wan Zhikang?”

“You said you went out to intercept the Headless Butcher, but Zhang Xiong is dead, and you returned to the lobby alone.” Initially, in the tunnel, the Headless Butcher's appearance had been so impactful that he hadn't thought of it immediately. But all the players had been in the tunnel, and they weren't all in the same place at once; someone would have had enough time to kill Jia Xuyang first and then ambush them.

“Speaking of which, the game mission is to protect 'our side's' heads. 'Our side' doesn't necessarily mean the players themselves; it's more likely the 'ordinary player' side. If there are two sides—players and enemies—and there is an ordinary player faction, there must be a Headless Butcher faction!”

“Therefore, you and Liu Yuanyuan belong to the Headless Butcher faction!”