Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 678: The Oddity of the Locals

Chapter 678: Chapter 678: The Oddity of the Locals

Player disappearances were all too commonplace—didn’t players disappear from the hotel as well?

The difference was, at the hotel, it was players targeting other players, whereas staying at a local inn allowed one to use the townspeople as a shield.

"Are you two planning to stay at a local inn today?" Tian Kunwen came over and asked Xu Huo and Yi Pei.

Yi Pei had not disclosed the incident from the previous night to Tian Kunwen and the others, but since they lived so close by, Tian Kunwen and Fu Danhong were aware Yi Pei had left Xu Huo’s room quite late.

Fu Danhong looked at Yi Pei with a hint of disdain, while Tian Kunwen showed no particular reaction. Wei Xianduo, however, gave Xu Huo a glance.

"Someone knocked on my door again last night, I’m mostly likely being watched, staying at an inn might be safer," Xu Huo explained.

"Inns may not necessarily be safe either," Tian Kunwen added, "Someone also disappeared there last night."

Up until now, players were still unclear about exactly how many people had come to this county. Those at the hotel could check the registration book, but it was difficult to keep track at the inns. With hundreds of households here, if players didn’t come forward, it was impossible to go door-to-door conducting investigations.

The two groups parted ways, and Yi Pei asked Xu Huo where he planned to stay, "I’ll go to the one where Fu Danhong and I chatted yesterday."

Xu Huo nodded in agreement. There was a man in that house with shifty eyes, but to a player, he was just an ordinary person, and Yi Pei had her reasons for choosing that inn.

As the two walked down the street, they happened to meet the player they had seen the day before—not the one who attacked them, but the one who had taken his companion away from Xu Huo.

They had entered and left together just yesterday, but now only one remained.

The man gave Xu Huo a cold look, passing by him with an emotionless face. However, just a few steps after they missed each other, the player silently circled behind Xu Huo, his palm shooting out a beam of white light!

"Bang!" The white light hit the Mobile Metal as if it were something solid, and the next second, Xu Huo disappeared from where he was, reappearing in front of the player!

The other player looked shocked and reflexively tried to retreat, but when he looked down, he realized his legs seemed to have detached from his body.

In that moment, Xu Huo had already tapped the man’s shoulder quickly before distancing them again.

Powder fluttered out from the man’s clothing, and his face paled as he looked up in shock.

Having melted the Metal Protective Suit beneath the man’s clothes, Xu Huo said with a smile, "Your friend disappeared, didn’t he?"

The player’s gaze turned icy, and then he suddenly slapped his legs, breaking free from his restrained state, climbing the nearby courtyard wall in two steps, leaping two yards into the air and brandishing a hammer down at him!

The hammer didn’t seem big, but the gust it created formed an oppressive force several times larger than the hammer itself, weighing down even Yi Pei who stood close by.

"Ding!" Xu Huo stood his ground, lighting his lighter facing the opposite player.

The person who was just a second ago soaring through the air with great momentum instantly became a firebird, falling to the ground with his Defense Prop, rolling over and over!

Screams attracted a few players and local residents. Xiao Yun squeezed through the crowd, rushing to say, "What are you dawdling for? Quickly, help him!"

Only then did people around spring into action, one bucket after another of water thrown onto the burning player.

An instant three-story flame—even if it wouldn’t burn the player to severe injury—would certainly make him suffer if he didn’t have a Defense Prop to protect his body.

Under Xiao Yun’s direction, everyone clumsily attempted to lift and carry away the man, with someone asking, "How could a perfectly fine person just catch fire?"

"Perhaps he did something that incurred divine punishment," Xu Huo speculated. "Maybe he offended the god you worship."

"Slap!" The stretcher just lifted was thrown back to the ground in a second, and the surrounding residents looked down at the person on it with an air of superiority. Different faces, the same gaze—as though they were staring at a dead man.

"Is it just my imagination," Yi Pei whispered to Xu Huo, "but I think these people seem duller than they were the day before yesterday."

No sooner had she finished speaking than a few nearby women spat at the burned player and cursed loudly, "Stupid brat, you deserve to be burned by the fire, tonight the gods will come to take you away!"

The injured player was unable to defend himself and saw no point in doing so. He glanced at Xu Huo, who was standing a few meters away, then got up and ran.

One of the older women continued to shout after him, "Everyone remember this little bastard, don’t let him stay in your home!"

The man turned back and glared resentfully before hurrying away.

As soon as he left, the people around resumed their gossip about how they slept last night, what they had for breakfast, and how they had beaten their child for being naughty... and other such mundane topics.

But a closer look would reveal that although they were chatting, their eyes kept straying to the nearby players now and then.

It was an incredibly uncomfortable gaze; often, when you turned your head, you could catch several people staring intently at you, but in the blink of an eye, they would act normal, as if you had imagined it.

Yi Pei vaguely sensed the unease, "Should we still stay in a guesthouse?"

"Hotels might not be any safer," Xu Huo noted, glancing at the grey sky, "It might rain later."

Yi Pei frowned, "Nothing good happens when it rains in the instance."

Xu Huo nodded before parting ways with her. He went to the courtyard of the grandparents he had visited yesterday, where he put down a stack of White Notes along with a bag of snacks.

The little girl didn’t show much interest in the White Notes, but she stared at the snacks, swallowing hard.

The old man couldn’t bear to look and hesitated before speaking, "We don’t have a good room for you to stay in."

"Sleeping in the main hall is fine, I just need a place to land," Xu Huo looked at the side door that had been relocked, then gave the little girl another hundred yuan, "Go to the restaurant and buy some dishes; I’ll treat you to dinner."

This time the little girl didn’t wait for her grandfather’s approval before taking the money and running out.

The old man sat at the doorway and silently sighed, then continued with his work. The entire courtyard was quiet, save for the sound of a rasp scraping over wood.

After lunch, Xu Huo planned to go out for another stroll. The old man glanced at him, "Don’t go to Forrest’s pool; that place is used for burials, it’s unlucky."

Xu Huo turned around to thank him and leisurely walked toward the woods with his umbrella open.

The drizzle was fine and dense, and the light dimmer than in the morning. Dark clouds gathered in the distance, threatening to intensify the downpour.

Not far into the woods at the end of the hotel, Xu Huo was surrounded by several players, led by the curly-haired player, Fang Penghui.

"What’s up?" Xu Huo looked at him.

"The couple that arrived yesterday are dead," Fang Penghui said, "They followed you into the woods."

"Did you know them?" Xu Huo asked in return.

"No, that’s not it," Fang Penghui said, "I’m not here to cause trouble, just want to know what exactly happened here last night, and how you managed to come out alive?"

Xu Huo raised an eyebrow, "By the looks of it, you’re quite certain I didn’t kill them?"

Fang Penghui paused, "They died horribly."