Players, Please Board the Train

Actually, for the other players, whether they could enter or leave the ancient castle didn’t matter, because they needed to clear the dungeon here. Getting a return ticket wasn’t crucial, but train tickets, items, and potions were essential.

Under normal circumstances, once a dungeon starts, it also becomes isolated from the outside world, only reopening after the dungeon ends.

But this made the Ma couple pull long faces. Mrs. Ma even deliberately picked on the maids during breakfast.

Xu Huo’s expression remained calm. This couple was simply feeling insecure. They originally thought they were getting a free meal as guests, but upon arriving, they realized they might also become a dish on the menu. On top of that, they were trapped here with no way to leave, hence their angry provocation.

However, the maids in the ancient castle all seemed to have rather bad tempers. The couple was also quite apprehensive, only daring to be verbally outrageous.

And there seemed to be a bit of disagreement among the other players as well. After breakfast, the players split into twos and threes and went to different parts of the ancient castle—they had already searched once yesterday. If they trusted each other, there was no need for cross-checking searches at all.

”You don’t seem worried at all.” Only Xu Huo and the Ma couple remained in the dining room. The speaker was Mrs. Ma, who currently found everyone irritating.

”Worried about what?” Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. ”Being killed?”

”Who entered your room last night?” Mrs. Ma asked directly. ”Surely it wasn’t a player?”

”The other party used an item, couldn’t see their face.” Xu Huo was very candid. ”But I suspect it was someone from the ancient castle. As for who, Mr. Dong is the most likely possibility.””Him?” Mr. Ma pondered and said, ”Why would he target you?”

”Simple, because I’m a Red Player.” Xu Huo said. ”He was specifically targeting Red Players.”

”So he’s the one who sent the invitations to us? A dedicated angler?”

”The one who sent the invitations might not necessarily be him.” Xu Huo lowered his voice mysteriously. ”Don’t you think this ancient castle is strange? Compared to the master, He Pu, the servants listen more to the butler, Mr. Dong.”

Mrs. Ma had noticed this point. ”Last night during dinner, the servant served He Pu the wrong dish. It’s not their first day on the job, how could they make such a mistake? Clearly, they didn’t take him seriously. Also, I think that Mr. Dong values the bowls, chopsticks, cups, and plates more than He Pu himself.”

”The invitation was sent by He Pu. Did he invite us here to deal with Mr. Dong?” Mr. Ma found this unlikely. ”If he were truly under Mr. Dong’s control, the invitation couldn’t have been sent out in the first place.”

”Regardless of who sent the invitation, at least we have an ally within the ancient castle.” Xu Huo said with a smile.

Mr. Ma said, ”Then should we go find He Pu and ask for clarification?”

”Why find him?” Xu Huo said indifferently. ”This place isn’t as dangerous as I imagined. Why not just focus on our own business?”

The Ma couple exchanged a glance, said nothing more, got up, and went upstairs.

Xu Huo’s gaze lingered on their retreating backs for a second, then he called over the young maid from yesterday and asked her to take him to the garden maze to cut flowers for a vase.

On the way, they ran into Liu Zhengping and Wei Landeng loitering outside the garden maze. Liu Zhengping looked down his nose at them and left directly. Wei Landeng couldn’t help but glance at Xu Huo, only to see him fiddling with a figurine and saying, ”That was real mutton.”

Wei Landeng was about to speak when she saw him turn and leave. Liu Zhengping was also calling her. After a moment’s hesitation, she walked towards Liu Zhengping.

Xu Huo then looked back towards the main building. The windows of the main building offered a clear view of the entire maze. Entering here during the day, anyone trying to do anything would easily be discovered.

This was probably also why Liu Zhengping and Wei Landeng hadn’t gone in. However, after selecting a few flowers, he enthusiastically invited the maid to explore the maze with him.

”Mr. Xu, I still have a lot of work to do, and the maze is very difficult to navigate...”

”Are you afraid Hu Shan will scold you?” Xu Huo flashed a smile. ”I’m friends with Mr. He. I’ll have a word with him, it’ll be fine.”

The maid’s face flushed slightly, and she bashfully agreed.

The two strolled leisurely into the maze.

On the second floor of the main building, Fleischer and Li Chao were talking. The former saw Xu Huo and a maid enter the maze and couldn’t help but frown. ”Going into the maze to search in broad daylight? He’s got guts.”

”Maybe he’s just looking for some fun?” Li Chao stroked his chin. ”The maids here are quite attractive.”

Fleischer drew the curtains closed and turned back. ”Speak. What did you discover last night?”

”Bad news. What that guy Xu said is correct. Among us, there really are non-mission players.” Li Chao said. ”The invitations He Pu sent out through the servants are unsigned, different from the ones we received.”

Fleischer didn’t seem surprised, merely narrowing his eyes. ”Who do you think are the non-mission players?”

”Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Li Chao looked at him. ”Although I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, I know a contract with little binding power isn’t very useful to sign. Your contract must have other uses, right?”

Fleischer smiled. ”And you still dared to sign it?”

Li Chao cracked his knuckles. ”As long as I clear the dungeon, anything goes.”

”It does have another function, though not very useful. It can only reveal each player’s color classification.” Fleischer said. ”Used to distinguish Player-Eaters.”

”That really isn’t useful.” Li Chao scoffed, then paused and added, ”That couple most likely aren’t players for this dungeon. The others are harder to say.”

”Aren’t you afraid I’m not one either?” Fleischer raised an eyebrow.

”I said, as long as we clear the dungeon.” Li Chao said. ”We cooperate. If you’re not a mission player, we just split the train ticket and items evenly. Isn’t that more convenient than going around killing people?”

Fleischer stated two game missions to prove he was a mission player.

Just as the two formed an alliance, the Ma couple were preparing to quietly go up to the third floor.

”Isn’t this too risky?” Mrs. Ma whispered. ”What he said might not be right. Maybe Mr. Dong is acting under He Pu’s orders. Their master-servant discord might be an act.”

Mr. Ma, however, sneered. ”Almost got led around by that kid. Making it sound so mysterious, he simply wants to monopolize the benefits. Having been in the game this long, when have you ever seen a Dungeon Boss be a good person? Let alone one deliberately setting traps for Red Players.”

”That’s true.” Mrs. Ma thought for a moment. ”Then who was the one who infiltrated his room last night?”

”Who knows? Could be other players.” Mr. Ma clearly didn’t want to pay him too much attention.

”Do you think he’s a player for this dungeon?” Mrs. Ma suddenly wondered. ”Is that why he said the ancient castle has problems, to make us suspect He Pu and the butler? But how did he know about the invitations?”

”Why overthink it? The one who killed Fang Min was definitely someone from the ancient castle. If we go now, we might still get a share of the spoils.” Mr. Ma urged.

Mr. Dong stood silently behind the study door, holding clean water glasses, watching the Ma couple disappear at the stairwell through a narrow crack in the door. Only then did he pull the door open and walk out.