Players, Please Board the Train

However, the situation inside the villa wasn’t as Xu Huo had imagined. The first power outage was caused by a tripped circuit breaker. Except for Xu Huo, all players had emerged, with that scream coming from Liu Yuanyuan when Wan Zhikang accidentally left some nails scattered while rummaging through cabinets, which Liu Yuanyuan stepped on in the dark. The two sides nearly came to blows over this incident.

Huang Junjie had initially thought at least one of the Headhunter Demon or disguised players would appear, but all players remained unharmed with no attacks occurring.

”Stop being paranoid. This place hasn’t been maintained for a long time - aging circuits are completely normal,” someone said.

After power was restored, the players gradually returned to their original rooms.

Zhang Xiong had stopped cooperating with Huang Junjie since afternoon, going instead to Wan Zhikang and Abel’s room, while Huang Junjie returned to yesterday’s room with Yuan Yao.

”Why is this happening?” Huang Junjie expressed disappointment. ”Such a perfect opportunity during the blackout with fewer players in the villa, yet they didn’t make a move.”

Yuan Yao maintained a safe distance from him, waiting until he finished muttering to himself before saying, ”Let’s go find Brother Xu.”

”You knew each other before this?” Huang Junjie looked up at him.

”No.”

”Then why do you trust him so much?” Huang Junjie found it hard to believe. Many of Xu Huo’s actions seemed inexplicable - truth be told, the man himself seemed abnormal with his short sleeves, baggy shorts, and that ridiculously long hair.Yuan Yao was momentarily speechless.

”It’s not safe outside now. I don’t plan to go out again,” Huang Junjie said directly as he lay down to rest.

Yuan Yao paced around the room several times before finally sitting down as well.

Just as the two were growing drowsy, the lights suddenly began flickering with a buzzing sound before completely cutting out after two flashes.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Xiong from the opposite room came out cursing and slamming the door. ”Circuit breaker again! Could you turn off a few damn lights at night instead of looking for trouble?”

There were successive sounds of doors opening and footsteps, but after waiting awhile with no lights coming back on, Huang Junjie abruptly sat up. ”Not good!”

The circuit breaker box was in a small storage room near the warehouse area. When Huang Junjie and Yuan Yao ran over, they found Zhang Xiong and the Rich Kid standing before the box with grim expressions.

”What happened?” Abel asked as he arrived later.

More people gradually approached. Huang Junjie stared intently at them. ”The wires were cut. Who came out just now?”

”What are you implying? Suspecting us?” Wan Zhikang retorted. ”You should check yourself first - how do you prove you didn’t do this?”

A vein throbbed on Huang Junjie’s forehead. ”Zhang Xiong and the others saw me coming from the room area.”

”There was enough time between the power outage for you to run out and back while playing innocent,” Wan Zhikang sneered with folded arms.

”Could it be the Headhunter Demon?” the college student asked. ”Why would players cut the wires?”

”If it’s the Headhunter Demon, this method seems too amateurish,” Liu Yuanyuan remarked with a pout.

Huang Junjie suddenly realized something. ”Who’s missing?”

Everyone looked around. After several seconds, Wang Wei said, ”Du Lanlan and Xia Guo haven’t come out!”

”Holy shit! Did the Headhunter Demon get them?” Yuan Yao exclaimed.

As his words faded, footsteps suddenly sounded outside.

Heavier than a woman’s footsteps approached the storage room, accompanied by the sound of something being dragged across the ground.

As the noise grew closer, the players gulped nervously. The Rich Kid and Wang Wei each grabbed a mop and moved to flank the doorway.

Holding their breath for three seconds as the sounds neared the entrance, they prepared to strike when a blinding beam of light suddenly shone in—nearly dazzling everyone inside as a voice asked, ”Why are you all here?”

”Where are Du Lanlan and Xia Guo?”

Recognizing Xu Huo’s voice, everyone first sighed in relief, but then furniture crashing sounds came from Du and Xia’s room direction!

The flashlight beam swung rapidly outward as players hurried to follow, nearly tripping at the doorway. Raising a lighter, they saw it was a plum branch with fruits clustered like grapes that stuck to their shoes when kicked.

”Psychos!”

Several players cursed simultaneously.

Xu Huo ahead had already forced the door open violently. The room’s floor-to-ceiling windows stood wide open, releasing a thick wave of blood scent when air circulated.

Finding no one inside, the group rushed to the courtyard outside. The flashlight beams illuminated two figures lying by the pool - identifiable by clothing as Du Lanlan and Xia Guo, face down at the edge with their shoulders and above obscured by stones, blood streaming from their bodies into the hot spring.

Huang Junjie and several others approached but immediately averted their eyes after one glance, expressions crumbling.

Knowing about the Headhunter Demon was one thing - seeing two headless corpses with blood gushing from the wounds was entirely different. They lacked even the courage to move closer.

”It’s the Headhunter Demon! It must be!” The college student stared at the blood-reddened spring water while backing away fearfully. ”Killing two players in the blink of an eye - we’re no match for it! We’re all going to die!”

Huang Junjie turned and slapped him. ”Calm down! The demon only dares strike during blackouts, meaning it can’t handle all of us at once!”

His words pulled other shocked players back to reality. Wan Zhikang said with forced composure, ”Right, we just heard Du Lanlan and the others earlier. If it wasn’t afraid of us, the demon wouldn’t have fled!”

Xu Huo glanced at him. ”Not necessarily the demon’s work.”

All players turned to stare. Huang Junjie signaled with his eyes not to continue, but Xu Huo ignored him. ”Besides the Headhunter Demon, there are others in this villa.”

”Right!” Zhang Xiong suddenly remembered. ”Wasn’t there someone staying in the wooden cabin?”

”Didn’t Huang Junjie say that guy hanged himself again tonight?” Wang Wei hesitated. ”Did he come back to life?”

”Not him.” Xu Huo squatted on a stone by the corpses, lighting a cigarette. Through the smoke, he observed all players’ faces. ”I killed him.”

Their expressions changed drastically. Before they could question, Xu Huo explained, ”When he revived and saw only me, he tried attacking. I sent him on his way.”

Pointing at the mud on his shoes, he added, ”Buried him properly - absolutely no chance of reviving again.”

Perhaps his matter-of-fact tone didn’t match having survived a life-or-death struggle, making other players uncomfortable. Their previous dismissive gazes toward him had noticeably changed.

”Besides the woodchopper and Headhunter Demon, aren’t there still many players in this villa?” Xu Huo took a deep drag. ”What were you all doing before and after the blackout?”