Chapter 75: Werewolf Community 12

Chapter 75: Werewolf Community 12

At the entrance of the activity center, two plastic boxes were silently placed on the ground, filled with abundant boxed meals.

An old man slumped in front of them, bickering shamelessly with a male player opposite him,

"You ordered group meals without including me! You're excluding me! Excluding newbies!"

Is... this the old man who ran away this morning?

The one who seemed to be Mi Yang?

Qin Fei immediately became intrigued.

This guy was incredibly unreasonable, and the onlookers now wore expressions of indignation.

Spotting Xue Jiqing's return, someone hurried over to report the situation.

"Teacher Xue!"

He turned his head to glance at the old man, his every feature revealing his undisguised disdain.

"This old man came back on his own and, upon seeing the boxed meals delivered by the property management, he rushed over and insisted on taking one!"

It was his first time witnessing someone exploiting their age in an instance world – truly an eye-opener!

"Teacher Xue," this title was suggested by Xue Jiqing himself.

He said that addressing him as Mr. Xue seemed too formal, while calling him brother or uncle might make some shy people hesitant to speak up.

After his speech at noon, Xue Jiqing had undoubtedly been quietly appointed as a role model by the players. Upon his return, they made way for him.

Xue Jiqing's brow twitched fiercely.

Pushing through the crowd, he saw Qin Fei standing in a corner and shot him an inquiring look, as if asking: What should we do about this, Great NPC Guide?

The slender and upright young man stood with his hands at his sides, meeting Xue Jiqing's gaze before turning away his eyes, looking somewhat disinterested.

His message was clear: This has nothing to do with me.

Xue Qijing heaved a sigh of relief.

He hadn't genuinely intended to seek Wang Mingming's opinion; instead, after encountering numerous controlling guide NPCs in so many dungeons, he found it rather unusual to come across one who was indifferent to their affairs.

Speaking of which, this R-rated dungeon treated players quite well, adhering strictly to the principle of "if you don't provoke, you won't die." Not only were there no bosses that would actively harm players, but even the guide NPCs were unusually patient and amiable.

The mention of "monsters that actively harm" sparked an idea in Xue Qijing's mind.

Clapping his hands, he said, "Everyone, please listen."

"After exploring the dungeon this afternoon, I believe we've all gained something."

"Similarly, I've obtained a crucial clue."

Xue Qijing emphasized the word "crucial."

"This clue points to a serious issue. Personally, I think we shouldn't waste our energy on trivial matters like dividing the food rations at this moment."

Xue Qijing's expression turned grave.

As he spoke, some players still held grudges in their hearts, feeling that his tone was too condescending.

What did he mean by "such a trivial matter as sharing meals"?

However, after hearing Xue Jiqing's subsequent remarks, everyone had to admit that the meal distribution was indeed a small issue.

—What Xue Jiqing was about to say was something Qin Fei had recently reminded Lin Ye and the others about.

There was a traitor among the players.

"What?!"

Xue Jiqing's words were like a stone thrown into a calm pond, stirring up a huge commotion at the entrance of the activity center.

Qin Fei and Xue Jiqing weren't the only players who had noticed the score discrepancy in the kindergarten.

But nobody else dared to bring up the topic openly.

After all, the enemy was in the shadows, while they were in the open.

What if they incurred the resentment of a traitor by revealing this information?

Immediately, many players' faces were filled with gratitude. "Thankfully, Teacher Xue reminded us!"

Those who were still skeptical were quickly convinced by others.

One player slapped their forehead. "Ah! Right, when we arrived at the Activity Center, wasn't there one bed missing?"

Indeed, during the morning's bed allocation, one player couldn't find their assigned bed and eventually had to pull out a folding bed from a corner.

Skeptical glances were cast in his direction.

The player immediately began waving his hands frantically. "It wasn't me!"

Another suspect was the troublemaker who had confronted Qijixing during lunch.

However, this suspicion was quickly dismissed, as that troublemaker hadn't even gone to the kindergarten.

The trail of clues came to an abrupt end.

Qin Fei observed the chaotic players, whose tense atmosphere had eased from before, and secretly nodded in approval.

He felt that Xue Jiqing's approach was very wise.

Xue Jiqing couldn't straightforwardly convince the old man, nor could he, with his current character setting, commit a violent act like slaying the old man in front of a group of players.

To resolve the issue quickly, the only option was to divert the conflict.

Shift the players' attention away from the old man and onto something else more relevant and pertinent to their own interests.

The outcome was indeed remarkable.

It also allowed him to inadvertently gain a wave of favorability.

As for the concern of some players that they might be targeted by the traitor, Xue Jiqing seemed unafraid.

As a decision-maker, he possessed the ability to assess crises.

Yet, not everyone possesses the discernment to see the ladder and know that they must descend.

After Xue Jingyi had managed to soothe the emotions of the other players with great difficulty, the old man continued to cause trouble incessantly.

"What do you mean? Are you suggesting there's a ghost among us?"

"I've seen ghosts! Early this morning, as I attempted to leave the neighborhood, I reached the main gate and noticed a multitude of ghosts outside."

"I don't care, you have to protect me. As an old man, I definitely can't defeat any ghosts!"

The old man spoke in a mystical tone, his eyes wandering restlessly among the players as he spoke.

Scanning every player, his gaze eventually settled on the most eye-catching figure, Butterfly.

Butterfly stood aside, watching the commotion with his three puppets in tow.

As an arrogant A-class player and the president of a renowned guild, Butterfly would never submit to Xue Qijie's leadership.

Therefore, instead of joining the other players at the kindergarten that afternoon, he had chosen to take his minions and act independently.

"Take me with you!"

The old man, captivated by the most powerful team, rushed to the butterfly's side while speaking. He plopped down at the butterfly's feet and fiercely grabbed the corner of the garment embroidered with colorful butterflies.

"What the...??"

Some players were astonished by the old man's agility:

"Was this guy a professional scammer before entering the dungeon?"

Butterfly wasn't exactly a patient person. Despite being unsure why his three puppets failed to stop this elderly fellow.

In that very instant, as the old man clung to his thigh, Butterfly violently kicked, sending him flying!

"Scram."

Butterfly's expression was sinister: "Don't make me say it twice."

Some people wore expressions of disgust, as if they believed the butterfly shouldn't treat an elderly man like that.

But most others were indifferent.

They were in a dungeon; their own lives were uncertain, let alone the notion of respecting the elderly and caring for the young.

Virtuous conduct only truly mattered in peaceful and harmonious societies.

Besides, the old man had indeed provoked a beating.

"Alright, alright, everyone can disperse now."

At Xue Qijī's gesture, players, including Cui Ran and the girl with twin ponytails, stepped forward to open the activity room door.

Noticing the butterfly's menacing look, no player wanted to make a scene. Each grabbed their lunch boxes and headed inside.

Only the old man, clutching his chest, remained seated, seemingly stunned from fear.

Xue Qijī approached with a warm smile. "Don't be afraid, sir. If he doesn't want you, you can join our team."

"Our numbers give us strength, making it less likely for accidents to happen."

Qin Fei raised an eyebrow.

Xue Qimai's appetite seemed to know no bounds.

There had to be something hidden beneath his surface; no player who had genuinely climbed the ranks to become a high-leveled one would be a pure saint.

Similarly, no team member would genuinely enjoy having a scavenger as their captain.

However, Xue Qimai's teammates seemed utterly devoted to him and never questioned any of his decisions.

A temporarily assembled team managed to forge such cohesion in less than a day.

No one would believe that there wasn't anything suspicious going on.

It was quite the spectacle, but without spending a dime. It was about time for Qin Fei to head home—Wang Mingming's family dinner started at six.

Qin Fei turned around and walked toward Building 12.

...

The silent hallway remained as usual.

There seemed to be no residents in Building 12. Qin Fei had gone up and down several times during the day, but he never encountered any neighbors in the elevator or corridors.

...Perhaps they've all been eliminated by his wonderful parents?

A ridiculous thought crossed Qin Fei's mind.

Wang Mingming's parents were still homebound. When Qin Fei opened the door, the two of them were sitting side by side on the sofa, their backs straight as arrows, their upper bodies more upright than soldiers at attention.

Both pairs of eyes were initially fixated on the television, but upon seeing Qin Fei return, their gazes immediately shifted towards him.

Wang Mingming's father: "Son's back."

Wang Mingming's mother: "Dinner ingredients are ready."

Wang Mingming's father: "I'll start cooking."

Mrs. Wang Mingming: "Come, son, watch some TV with me."

Qin Fei glanced at the television, which was emitting static white noise.

Qin Fei: "..."

He politely shook his head. "No, Mom, I'm going to study in my room."

Mrs. Wang nodded enthusiastically, praising Qin Fei as a good child.

"Wang Mingming" helped his mother with chores outside in the afternoon and only called out to his mom when he returned home, not his father. This left the father feeling a bit upset, so he sulkingly entered the kitchen.

Dinner began promptly at 6 o'clock.

It was no different from lunch, consisting of the usual, ordinary home-cooked dishes.

As Qin Fei ate, he silently observed the situation in the house. The black plastic bags in the corner had vanished; apparently, his parents had disposed of them while he was away.

Before his father started preparing dinner, Qin Fei retreated to the bedroom to reorganize Wang Mingming's personal belongings, but unfortunately, he found nothing of significance.

From Wang Mingming's diary and photo albums, it was evident that the Wang parents monitored their child's academic progress daily, attended parent-teacher conferences punctually, enjoyed a family dinner out once a week, and embarked on two annual family vacations. It seemed like a very harmonious and loving household.

But this was clearly an illusion.

What secrets did this house hold?

Thirty minutes later, dinner concluded promptly.

Qin Fei continued to play the role of a good child diligently. After clearing and washing all the dishes, he turned and entered the bathroom.

The first floor of Wang Mingming's house had three bedrooms. Apart from the one currently occupied by Wang Mingming, the other two appeared to be guest rooms.

Their doors were wide open, yet no signs of occupation could be detected. The wardrobes and bookshelves in these rooms were barren.

There was nothing worth exploring here.

Restricted by the rules posted at the entrance, Qin Fei was temporarily unable to venture upstairs to the second floor.

Taking advantage of the fact that Wang Mingming's parents were engrossed in watching the static on TV after dinner, he seized the opportunity to slip into the bathroom.

Bathrooms typically have mirrors, and Qin Fei immediately locked the door behind him upon entering. However, he found a dull gray wall right above the sink when he turned around.

Qin Fei: ?

The voices of Wang Mingming's parents quickly sounded from outside the door.

Wang Mingming's father: "Oh, by the way, son, I forgot to tell you something."

Wang Mingming's mother: "The mirror in the bathroom was taken down by your father."

Wang Mingming's father: "You did say you've been scared lately."

Wang Mingming's mother: "We'll put it back up when you're not afraid anymore."

Qin Fei hadn't used the bathroom all day, so Wang's parents weren't sure if he had gone elsewhere or simply avoided it due to his fear of the mirror.

Deciding it would be easier, they removed the mirror altogether.

What the two NPC parents, living within the instance world, didn't know was that players usually didn't feel the need to "use the restroom" while inside an instance map.

Unless it was due to eating something wrong, or triggering some negative debuff.

Qin Fei: "...."

Was there such a thing as overindulging a child? !

Qin Fei suddenly had an odd premonition. He felt that while he was in Wang Mingming's home, he might not even need to abide by those rules.

As long as he played his role as Wang Mingming well, that couple in the living room would never do anything detrimental to him.

Even if the rules sought to erase him, his parents might very well charge forward with blades drawn, ready to fight the rules to the death for their child.

It was a shame that despite such doting parents, the real Mingming Wang was still terrified of them to the point that he dared only think about it in his heart, not even daring to hint at it in his diary.

Then again, it was understandable.

After all, any normal child living in a home where murder and dismemberment occurred casually, with crime scenes subsequently destroyed, would be frightened.

Qin Fei wasn't sure whether to pity Mingming Wang or his parents.

So why were Wang Mingming's parents so obsessed with turning their home into a slaughterhouse?

Could these two be the masterminds behind the werewolf community's sinister activities?

Qin Fei lowered his gaze, contemplating the feasibility of directly accusing Wang Mingming's parents of being ghosts right now.

Eventually, he concluded that it was not very feasible.

Firstly, Qin Fei had personally witnessed the Wang parents committing murder.

The act of dismembering corpses with a cleaver, cleaning up the scene, and stuffing the remains into plastic bags didn't seem like something a ghost would do, though certainly horrifying.

While the Wang parents were peculiar, they were more likely to be living humans than spirits.

If he were to wrongly accuse them, Qin Fei knew from the system's warning that he wouldn't come out unscathed.

Qin Fei even harbored a vague suspicion that when the system assigned him the identity of Wang Mingming, it did so with a hidden, malevolent intent.

There were too many oddities about the Wang family, as if the system deliberately set a trap for Qin Fei, luring him into it.

——Just wait a bit longer.

At the very least, he needed to wait until he found an opportunity to ascend to the second floor and uncover the general reason behind the Wang parents' murderous secret.

Qin Fei left the bathroom and returned to the living room.

"Mom and Dad."

Dressed in his school uniform, the young man stood in the center of the living room, facing his parents with their eerie smiles. He didn't reveal any abnormalities.

He looked up at them with his clear amber eyes filled with affection:

"Can I go out again?"

Of course, they could.

Wang Mingming's parents were determined to spoil their child to the core, so they nodded in agreement without hesitation.

Wang Mingming's father said, "Come back early, son."

Mrs. Wang: "Are you planning to play with the travelers who just arrived in the community today?"

Mr. Wang: "If you want to spend the night with them, that's fine too, son."

Mrs. Wang: "If you make friends, you can even bring them home for the night, son."

Without any hesitation, Qin Fei rejected the offer on behalf of Lin Ye and the other two, "I think we'll pass."

If they really brought them back, it was uncertain if they would see the sun rise tomorrow.

Qin Fei left Building 12 and headed straight for the back gate of the kindergarten to meet up with Lin Ye and the others.

By the time Qin Fei arrived, the three of them had already been waiting for quite some time.

Seeing Qin Fei, Lin Ye stood up to greet him, whispering, "Another six players entered the kindergarten. They weren't here this afternoon."

It was clear that they were envious of the task points that the afternoon group had obtained and were unwilling to miss out, hoping to share in the spoils as well.

Almost 20 minutes had passed since those individuals entered the kindergarten, but they still hadn't come out.

Qin Fei nodded.

Considering an entire class of children had perished, the mission rewards from that kindergarten must have been substantial, making the trip worthwhile for those players.

Unfortunately, each player could only trigger that mission once, leaving no room for further exploitation.

He had chosen this spot as their meeting point because he intended to inquire about the situation from nearby residents.

Splitting into two groups, Qin Fei took Lin Ye to try their luck in the apartment buildings opposite the kindergarten, while Ghost Fire Sanmu wandered around the central square.

Although they had already asked the residents about the abnormal occurrences in the community during the day, their approach this time was different.

This time, they directly asked the residents if they knew about the death incident that had occurred at the kindergarten half a month ago.

Thirty minutes later, the four reconvened at their original meeting place.

Both teams had come up empty-handed.

Ghost Fire's brows were knitted so tightly that a fly could have been crushed between them. "We asked several residents, and all of them said that no one has ever burned to death at that kindergarten."

Qin Fei and Lin Ye were in the same situation.

Lin Ye said, "We've knocked on several doors, and they all gave us the same response."

From the perspective of those families, if there had been a fire or police intervention at the kindergarten, they couldn't have been completely oblivious.

Those who should have seen it didn't, and those who should have heard it didn't.

Qin Fei's expression was calm as he concluded, "This is the instance deliberately concealing the truth."

San Tu pursed his lips. "If we can't find out about the kindergarten arson, does that mean we can't obtain any clues about the strange occurrences in the neighborhood by simply asking around?"

Qin Fei nodded. "That's very likely."

The malicious intent hidden within the instance was gradually being revealed.

With no news to gather, the players would have to risk their lives.

San Tu suggested, "I've heard from other players that the neighborhood security team is recruiting night patrol officers. Should we give it a try?"

Since it was clear that they couldn't find any breakthrough through mere conversation, they had to take action.

Working as a security guard wasn't just a way to earn their keep; it also allowed them to legally access various locations within the community. They might even stumble upon details that they had overlooked previously – it was an excellent occupation for their purposes.

As San Tu spoke, she pushed her body deeper into the bushes.

She was afraid that more players might come to the kindergarten and witness Qin Fei's private discussion with them, which would be rather problematic.

The other three agreed with this suggestion.

There wasn't much else they could do in the community at this late hour. Apart from those who came to the kindergarten, the remaining players would likely opt for the job of a security guard.

Before heading to the security booth, Qin Fei had another announcement to make.

He fished something out of his pocket.

It was a bright red gemstone, resting in the fair palm of the young man, resembling a drop of frozen blood.

"Wh-What is this?" Ghost Fire blurted out.

"The Heart of the Faction," Qin Fei said.

Qin Fei had taken this Heart of the Faction directly from Wang Mingming's pocket without knowing how it was originally acquired.

However, he had already figured out the rules for its usage.

When Qin Fei first discovered this item, it was in an unusable state.

But not long after, its status changed.

The turning point was early this morning, right after White Square's Ren Ping died in the boiling oil.

From this, Qin Fei could largely deduce that the total number of players in each faction was limited.

To switch from one side to the other, there needed to be an open slot in the opposing faction.

If the score between Red and White continued to widen over the next few days, this item might very well spark disputes among players from both factions.

However, the impact was not significant at the moment.

There couldn't be many players who had obtained this item, and even fewer who understood its usage rules.

Moreover, the alignment could only be switched once. At the start of the game, no player would be foolish enough to bet everything on an uncertain side from the get-go.

Summer days were long, and it was only a little past seven-thirty. The sky above their heads was still a blend of blue and white.

The moon was already high in the sky, while the sun lingered near the western horizon, slowly descending inch by inch, dragging its massive golden-red body.

A few minutes later, the sun completely set.

Night finally fell.

Simultaneously, a clear system notification echoed throughout the community.

"Attention all players, Identity Cards have been distributed."

"It's dark now. The Werewolf Game has officially begun!"

The warm and dry summer night air suddenly turned chilly in an instant, making Qin Fei feel as if his exposed arms were dipped into icy water. A bone-chilling coldness surged from all directions, piercing through his bones.

The streetlights that had long been lit up in the neighborhood flickered before going out abruptly.

A massive light screen appeared in the sky, square and resembling a chessboard.

"Aren't those...?" Phantom Fire murmured in bewilderment.

Qin Fei lifted his gaze to look at the screen. "This is a map of the Werewolf Community."

On the map, numerous bright red dots were scattered across every corner.

The four individuals in the bushes initially froze, then their expressions instantly turned alert!