Chapter 30: Disappearance

“Why!” Yuan Yao blurted out. “If the Headless Butcher is among the players, then as long as we stay together for these five days, the opponent won't have a chance to strike!”

“That way, we can all clear the game smoothly!”

“You're too naive.” Huang Junjie shook his head. “It's always better to strike first and seize the initiative. Besides, since the Headless Butcher is a player just like us, they can be killed. If we kill the Headless Butcher, there will definitely be a special reward from the game.”

“Just for that?”

“Just for that?”

Yuan Yao and the college student asked simultaneously—the former sounding despondent, the latter appearing somewhat lost in spirit.

Seeing his unstable expression, Huang Junjie gave Xu Huo a meaningful glance. With such poor psychological resilience, he wasn't sure how the guy had even survived the initial screening train. If he were to leak what he had heard, the players might start killing each other prematurely.

Though the college student was out of it, his eyes were sharp. Seeing the silent communication between Huang Junjie and Xu Huo, he immediately scrambled up and retreated hurriedly, saying, “Don't worry, I won't tell anyone what I heard!”

“You...” Yuan Yao moved to stop him, but Xu Huo called out to him, “Let him go. It doesn't matter whether the other players know or not.”

“If we kill all the other players, we can clear the game... nothing is that easy.”

An ambiguous laugh sent a simultaneous shiver down the spines of Yuan Yao and Huang Junjie.

“Then let's get out of here quickly,” Huang Junjie said. “Staying here isn't a solution either.”

Just as the three returned to the lobby, the lights in the villa flickered on. The college student was already huddled in a corner of the sofa; the other players had consciously avoided him, sitting on other sofas instead.

The axe and the confiscated short knife lay on the coffee table. The players sat around them in silence.

Xu Huo glanced at the sky outside, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest.

By the time dawn arrived, all the players felt a sense of relief.

“Let's find something to eat first,” Huang Junjie said, looking much better than he had yesterday. “After we eat, we'll go look for Du Lanlan and Xia Guo's heads.”

Liu Yuanyuan walked up to them, arm-in-arm with the rich heir. “I suggest you two be careful. You both touched the Headless Butcher's statue. Xia Guo is already dead; you're the next targets.”

After speaking, she threw a wink at Yuan Yao, revealing a row of white teeth. “Hey, handsome, aren't you scared? If you are, you can follow us—my husband can protect you!”

Yuan Yao stood firmly by Xu Huo's side without a word. Only after they had passed did he mutter, “Yesterday he was 'brother,' and today he's 'husband'...”

Xu Huo glanced at the two of them, then turned to Huang Junjie. “Be careful in a moment.”

The players arrived at the dining room one after another.

The freezer and refrigerator in the dining room had been ransacked yesterday, leaving nothing to eat, so everyone went to the supermarket to find some convenience foods today.

“Brother Xu, Brother Huang, there's instant noodles. Let's eat instant noodles,” Yuan Yao said, bringing over several packs of noodles and mineral water, along with a kettle.

As the other players trickled back into the dining room, Abel brought over a box of instant vermicelli to ask for hot water. While they were waiting for the water, the college student suddenly lunged out from the supermarket entrance. Bread and drinks spilled all over the floor. He didn't even look back to see who had tripped him; he simply scrambled up and hurriedly stuffed the items back into his plastic bag.

Zhang Xiong stood behind him, his face dark. “It's not like there's no food in the supermarket. Taking this much at once... you're not planning something sinister, are you?”

The college student picked up the plastic bag, cast a wary glance at everyone in the dining room, and hurried out, leaving behind a single sentence: “Can't I just be hungry?”

“What's his problem?” Wan Zhikang stumbled after stepping on a beverage bottle by the door, asking irritably.

“Who knows,” Wang Wei replied absentmindedly, staring in the direction the college student had disappeared.

Having finished breakfast, the players planned to split up. Xu Huo was going to look for the heads of Du and Xia, while Wang Wei and the others were heading toward the wooden cabins.

“What about the axe and the knife?” Abel asked worriedly.

Neither of them felt comfortable holding such lethal weapons, yet they were reluctant to destroy them.

“I don't care who holds them, just not me,” the rich heir said, crossing his arms and watching the others with indifference.

“Since we're splitting into two groups anyway, having a weapon is good for self-defense.” Huang Junjie reached for the dagger.

Xu Huo and Yuan Yao had no objections, so Zhang Xiong took the axe.

The three groups separated. After leaving the dining room and returning to their quarters, Zhang Xiong, Wan Zhikang, and Wang Wei left the villa for the wooden cabins, while the rich heir and Liu Yuanyuan went straight to their rooms. Abel stood there alone.

“Aren't you going with Zhang Xiong and the others?” Xu Huo asked, looking at him.

“I want to go perform rites for those two young ladies.” Abel hesitated. “You're looking for their heads; can I go with you?”

He appeared to be well-intentioned.

“Do you really believe in Buddhism?” Xu Huo asked curiously. “Are there no contradictions between faiths?”

“Of course there are.” Abel pulled a necklace from his collar. “But I am a lover of all humanity; I maintain respect for all faiths.”

Yuan Yao held it in for a long time before bursting out, “You believe in every god out there. Aren't you afraid that when trouble comes, they'll just pass the buck to each other?”

Abel smiled tolerantly. “If gods truly exist, they must be supreme. How could a supreme god hold a grudge against its believers?”

Xu Huo chuckled and stopped bothering this agnostic, heading into the morgue room nearby.

They had actually searched all the rooms in the villa yesterday and found no secret passages or hidden rooms, but today they searched more thoroughly, even moving beds and cabinets. After finding nothing, they went to search the surrounding woods.

After a fruitless search of the area, they had no choice but to return to the villa.

Xu Huo washed the plums he had brought back yesterday, put them on a plate, and sat in the lobby to eat.

“Brother, you actually dare to eat that?” Yuan Yao swallowed hard. “Aren't you afraid the ground under the trees is full of corpses?”

Xu Huo lifted his eyelids. “Did you see any freshly turned soil just now?”

“No,” Yuan Yao replied quickly. “If we found freshly turned soil, wouldn't we find the heads? I don't know where that Headless Butcher hid them.”

Xu Huo stared blankly at the circular wooden decoration on the wall behind the counter. “If they aren't outside, they must be inside...”

Just then, Huang Junjie emerged from the hallway. “Have you seen that college student, Jia Xuyang?”

“He's not here?” Xu Huo sat up straight and asked immediately, “Is the food he took in his room?”

“No, nothing is there.” Huang Junjie had gone specifically to look for Jia Xuyang because they hadn't seen him when they were searching the rooms earlier; they hadn't thought much of it then, assuming he had gone out.

“A person can't just disappear without reason,” Yuan Yao said.

Xu Huo quickly replayed the sequence of events since arriving at the villa in his mind. Thinking of the college student's abnormal behavior this morning, he suddenly said, “There must be a secret room in the villa. Look in the lobby!”