Players, Please Board the Train

Chapter 359: Mutual Restraint

Xu Huo tilted his head to dodge, delivering a vicious kick with his foot. It was clearly visible that Hu Shan's lower leg was broken, but she did not retreat. Her left hand, which was stabbed into the wall, pulled outward, and the hard bricks turned into mud, stretching into a long strip that stuck to his shoulder before rapidly drying!

Xu Huo's right shoulder was pinned by the bricks that had instantly turned wet and then dry. However, the contact area was small, and he broke free with little effort. Clamping the Note Launcher, he flung several Skin-Burrowing Worms at Hu Shan.

Hu Shan, carrying the square hammer, swung her weapon at a speed almost impossible to catch with the naked eye, smashing the man-eating worms into pulp mid-flight. She lifted her knee and slapped her palm against the broken bone area. Her inwardly bent leg instantly returned to normal. Then, she flashed to the window, intercepting Xu Huo who was trying to escape outside!

Xu Huo propped himself up on the windowsill with one hand and leaped to avoid her, simultaneously throwing the Wallet over.

"Clang!" The square hammer slipped from her grasp. After hitting the ground, it was tied with piano wire and, before Hu Shan could reach for it, was directly dragged out the window. At the same time, Xu Huo also charged forward, sword in hand!

"Bang!" The crouching, low-headed Hu Shan was not killed by this strike. The white apron on her body suddenly turned muddy, flowing to her back and solidifying into a porcelain-like barrier, blocking the attack.

The porcelain shield made from the apron shattered with the impact. The furious maid Hu Shan reached out to bat away the flying porcelain shards. The fragments she touched seemed to gain life, shooting towards Xu Huo like bullets!

Quickly blocking the fragments with his sword, Xu Huo lit the Lighter and shot flames at Hu Shan. However, the clothes on her body could turn to porcelain, and the fire simply couldn't catch. In the brief moments of this exchange, Hu Shan had already retrieved her square hammer and had directly tied the Omnipresent String into a knot around the hammer's handle.

The ensuing battle could almost be described as a brutal demolition. Hu Shan didn't have any elaborate plan, relying solely on physical strength and speed to kill Xu Huo, and she held an absolute advantage in stamina. Xu Huo fought with all his might but still sustained quite a few injuries. Her speed remained largely unchanged from start to finish. Even when trading injuries, she could use her own characteristics to recover, making her practically a humanoid combat machine.

"I have a question I'm very curious about," Xu Huo suddenly spoke up. "You're so loyal to He Pu, haven't you ever considered protecting his property?"Hu Shan, immersed in the fight, paused her hand. "I am doing this for my master..."

However, before she could finish her sentence, her expression abruptly changed. She leaped back several times to the doorway and reached out to pull the door, but the door suddenly shifted position. The wall that replaced it turned into a patch of black substance that bit into her hand. With a few faint, crisp sounds, porcelain fragments continuously fell from Hu Shan's body. The injuries that had been repaired revealed their original state again, and the black substance seemed to amplify the pain. Unable to free herself, Hu Shan instead knelt on the ground, sweating profusely and groaning in agony.

A figure stood on the windowsill, its red eyes looking at her as if performing a slow execution. It was Mr. Dong.

"This is my master's castle! My master hasn't said anything, what right do you have to interfere with me!" Hu Shan shouted.

Mr. Dong on the windowsill paid her no mind, but the black substance on the wall gradually tightened, devouring her entire arm along with her shoulder.

Hu Shan gradually merged with the wall, on the verge of being completely consumed. At that moment, a strange wave of power descended from the third floor. The wall, which was like a black abyss, abruptly returned to normal. Hu Shan, along with Yu Shuai who had been hiding nearby watching the excitement, were both shaken out.

Hu Shan shot a hateful glance at Mr. Dong, then left, supporting her arm. Mr. Dong walked in from outside, completely ignoring Xu Huo and Yu Shuai, and proceeded to assess the destroyed room.

"Ugh!" Yu Shuai vomited a large mouthful of blood. Seeing Mr. Dong frown and look at him, he immediately wiped his mouth, scrambled to his feet, and stood next to Xu Huo.

"Is this the reason you let the person upstairs stay in Rose Castle?" Xu Huo was not as wary of Mr. Dong and instead initiated conversation.

Mr. Dong's expression remained unchanged as he spoke using ventriloquism. "The master said a guest's mistakes can be forgiven, but not more than three times. You have burned the room twice."

Xu Huo, however, smiled. "Let's be reasonable. The first time the room burned, you were the one causing trouble for me. Besides, you smashed most of the stuff anyway."

Mr. Dong fell silent.

"Was this place also a dungeon site five years ago?" Xu Huo asked again.

"No," Mr. Dong said. He took out a small notebook from his pocket and began cataloging the destroyed items in the room.

Watching him busily work on his own, Yu Shuai said with shock and uncertainty, "What should we do?"

"Go back to our rooms and sleep, of course," Xu Huo said, pointing out the window. "The other players are almost here."

Yu Shuai didn't go back into the wall this time. Instead, he quickly left through the front door.

After Xu Huo returned to his room, You Qiwen and the others finally entered the second floor. Seeing Mr. Dong with his door open, taking inventory, they broke out in a cold sweat and separated, trying to minimize their presence as much as possible.

Ten minutes ago, they had been brimming with confidence, wanting to kill Mr. Dong because he was both the one holding their items and one of the reasons for the guests' disappearance. Killing him might earn them extra points in the game. But after wandering around the maze without being able to injure the Spider-Man, they realized it was pure fantasy.

The only consolation was that Mr. Dong showed no intention of retaliating against them;

otherwise, they would have been doomed.

Mr. Dong did not leave the second floor all night, and the players stayed awake until dawn. Only after the maids got up and started their busy work did these people finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The Chen Tu and Chen Nan brothers did not sleep all night. At daybreak, they immediately sought out Xu Huo. "What happened last night? There was a fierce fight over at the castle?"

"Nothing major," Xu Huo said. He was injured and didn't plan to hide it from them. "I fought with Hu Shan last night."

The two brothers looked at each other in surprise. Chen Tu said, "No wonder Mr. Dong left not long after we started chasing him... It seems to me he doesn't hold any malice towards the players."

Xu Huo nodded. "Mr. Dong's attitude towards players is neutral. He doesn't care about our life or death."

"Then we don't need to deal with him at all," Chen Nan said. "In my opinion, that Hu Shan is more dangerous."

Xu Huo's gaze darkened slightly. To be honest, he had secretly breathed a sigh of relief when Mr. Dong returned yesterday. The difficulty of this Rose Castle dungeon lay in the Dungeon Boss who wanted to wipe out all the players. In a one-on-one fight, he couldn't defeat Hu Shan, and if things dragged on, He Pu might personally step in.

Now, with He Pu and Mr. Dong restraining each other, it had instead become the players' only chance for survival.

"Call all the other players over. I know the location of the vanished guests," Xu Huo declared.

The players, who were at a loss as the remaining time grew shorter, hurriedly gathered upon hearing the Chen Brothers' relayed message.

"You really know? You're not tricking us, are you?" Liu Zhengping said urgently and aggressively.