Chapter 79: Werewolf Community 16

Chapter 79: Werewolf Community 16

Qin Fei led Lin Ye, San Tu, and Phantom Flame around the residential buildings next to the square. After walking for a while, he suddenly stopped.

"Keep going."

As he swiftly pulled out his school uniform from his space and put it on, he said, "I'll take a different route."

Based on their distance, they should encounter another player group soon.

Xue Qimai's eyesight was not something those five weaklings in the activity center could compare to. If Qin Fei went straight over, he would be exposing himself to Xue's scrutiny.

Lin Ye obediently nodded. "Okay, Brother, be careful when you're walking alone at night."

Lin Ye's concern was purely for his teammate, but Phantom Flame burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"Hahaha, it sounds like you're cursing him: With all the weird things you've done, be careful not to bump into ghosts when you walk at night!"

From the previous instance to this one, Qin Fei had been pulling off all sorts of unconventional moves.

At times posing as a priest, at others pretending to be an NPC guide, Qin Fei had become so versatile that even Ghost Fire now felt a surreal sensation when he saw him, as if they belonged to entirely different species.

San Tu was left speechless. In a fit of righteous indignation, he playfully smacked the back of Ghost Fire's head.

This time, it was Lin Ye who couldn't help but chuckle. "Pfft."

The four of them laughed merrily, seemingly having completely shrugged off their recent brush with death as if nothing had happened.

Little did they know, at that very moment, in one of the buildings within the neighborhood, the group of players they were searching for had gathered together with extremely grave expressions on their faces.

...

When Sanzu and the others found Xue Jiqing's group, they were standing in front of an ordinary-looking residential building.

The team was larger and more cumbersome than it had been during the day. In the face of the unknown dangers of the night, aside from Butterfly and Sanzu Lin Ye, all the other players, including the troublesome man who had been displeased with Xue Jiqing, had chosen to stick with the main group.

From a distance, Xue Jiqing squinted his eyes in the darkness as he saw Sanzu approaching in a security guard uniform.

When the two groups faced each other, he nodded at San Tu with a smile. "What a coincidence."

Lin Ye hid behind San Tu and Phantom Flame, secretly observing the people standing there.

Something felt off; a few seemed to be missing.

Cui Ran was absent, as was the new player who had been misled by him.

With an air of innocent curiosity, Lin Ye asked, "Where's Sister Ran and Song Tian?"

Lin Ye was thin and small, looking like a minor at first glance. As a result, many players in the dungeon, especially the low-level ones, didn't take him seriously.

But Xue Jiqing was polite to everyone. "Song Tian, Cui Ran, and three players on security duty have entered the building."

Entered the building?

Lin Ye's heart sank slightly.

To randomly go inside the building must mean there was a problem within.

He always had a nagging feeling that those people were in grave danger.

It seemed that Lin Ye wasn't the only one with such thoughts.

The girl with twin braids approached a few steps and whispered at a volume audible only to them:

"We were patrolling with those three security guards when Cui Ran insisted she saw a strange shadow inside this building."

Only Cui Ran had seen it; the other players hadn't.

However, the three security guards didn't dare to neglect her claim.

They had been assigned patrol duty, and if something happened within the building, it might affect their standing.

These three players consisted of two D-rank and one C-rank, not particularly low-level. Yet, facing the pitch-black, eerily silent building before them, they still felt a twinge of fear.

"They wanted someone else to accompany them inside, but no other players were willing," said the girl with twin braids.

Only Cui Ran had volunteered herself.

It would be understandable if Cui Ran joined the trio, but the girl with twin ponytails couldn't fathom why Song Tian was tagging along.

What use could a clueless new player like Song Tian be to the seasoned players inside the building?

He would either be a liability or end up getting himself killed.

But no matter what others said, Song Tian was determined to go.

The girl with twin ponytails was speechless.

In her opinion, Song Tian was a massive bookworm.

"They've been in there for over ten minutes now," she commented.

"Total silence from inside," San Tu observed, exchanging a look with Lin Ye. Both of them had the same thought:

This Song Tian was probably the next prey that Cui Ran had set his sights on after Lu Xin.

Just as the girl with pigtails had said, he had a high chance of not returning.

...

In the pitch-black corridor, two sets of footsteps echoed in unison.

The approaching person seemed to be deliberately slowing their pace, but in the extreme silence, the sound of their steps remained unusually clear.

Song Tian stared at Cui Ran's back as he walked ahead, so nervous that he almost forgot how to breathe.

He couldn't understand his own thoughts.

Back downstairs just now, when he saw Cui Ran, a girl, about to explore the building with those three security guard players, his mind suddenly filled with the idea of "a hero saving a damsel in distress."

Despite the urging of three or four other players by his side, he was still determined to enter the building with Cui Ran.

But being a hero wasn't something one could easily undertake.

No sooner had the five entered the building than they were separated. Despite there being no fork in the road on the first floor, when Song Tian turned around, the three security guards had vanished without a trace.

Song Tian was then seized by an urge to flee.

Cui Ran, however, suddenly darted into a nearby stairwell. "Did those three players go upstairs through here?"

Surrounded by darkness, Song Tian hesitated for a few seconds between "rushing out of the building" and "following Cui Ran," eventually opting for the latter almost as if possessed.

The two climbed up the stairs of the stairwell, now reaching the fourth floor.

"Senior Sister Ran," Song Tian said, glancing at the tightly shut doors lining the hallway, his tongue feeling bitter with anxiety. "Shouldn't we go back down? Maybe they've already left."

They hadn't taken on the task of being security guards; wouldn't lingering here just be a waste of time? Song Tian could understand Cui Ran's desire, as an intermediate to advanced player, to explore as much of the scenario as possible. But he was genuinely terrified.

Cui Ran, who was usually very accommodating, suddenly took a firm stance. "Let's take one more look. I have a strange feeling about this building."

Upon hearing this, Song Tian grew even more fearful. His heart pounded loudly in his chest, seeming ready to leap out of his throat at any moment.

He held his breath, surveying his surroundings.

...Upon closer thought, this building was indeed peculiar.

The entrances to each apartment were unnaturally clean, as if no one had actually lived there.

During the day, Song Tian had entered other residential buildings in the werewolf community. As an old neighborhood, the corridors weren't particularly tidy. They were filled with all sorts of items like shoe racks, cabinets, electric scooters, plastic bottles, and cardboard boxes...

In short, they were disorderly but brimming with the vitality of daily life, a stark contrast to the corridor they were currently in, which seemed like a completely different world.

A breeze swept past from behind, accompanied by rustling sounds.

Song Tian suddenly turned around!

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Only an empty corridor.

Song Tian let out a sigh of relief, but his anxiety grew more intense.

"Hmm?"

Cui Ran made an exclamation in front of him.

She stood before a house, gazing upward at something on the door while calling out, "Song Tian, come here quickly and take a look."

Even now, Song Tian still hadn't noticed anything amiss with Cui Ran. Without suspicion, he hurried over to her side.

"What's wrong?" Song Tian didn't see anything unusual.

It was just an ordinary door, no different from the others on either side of it.

There was nothing attached to the door, so Song Tian, gathering his courage, gently pushed on the doorknob. The door didn't budge.

"Senior Sister Ran, what did you want me to see?" Song Tian asked, confused.

Cui Ran stood right behind him. The faint, sweet scent of the girl's breath whispered around his ear, stirring his heart and distracting his thoughts.

His heart raced, half from fear and half from the thrill of being in a dark space with someone he had feelings for.

"Sis Ran..." Even Song Tian, at his most naive, knew that this was not an ideal place for romance. He asked again, "Should we leave first?"

Cui Ran didn't directly respond to his question. "Take a closer look."

A closer look?

No matter how closely he examined it, there was nothing on the door.

Song Tian practically pressed his entire body against it, scrutinizing every inch meticulously.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed something amiss. "The color of this door?"

Why did this door seem to be a deep brown?

All the other doors they passed along the way were black.

No, wait. That wasn't right.

It was far too dim here, impairing his vision. This door wasn't brown.

It was blood red!

Song Tian's pupils constricted abruptly. He tried to retreat, but his feet slipped out from under him.

He nearly fell, hurriedly grabbing the door for support. As he lowered his head, he saw something oozing out from the crack in the door.

Viscous and slick, it was just like...

Blood!

A woman's eerie voice echoed behind his ear once more, "Take a closer look, won't you?"

The pleasant fragrance that had filled his nostrils had, without notice, transformed into an overpowering stench of blood that left him gasping for air. Suddenly, an immense force pushed against his back, one he couldn't possibly resist!

Bang!

With a thunderous crash, Song Tian crashed to the ground. The door that he had just been unable to budge now swung open on its own!

He landed face down in a pool of blood, his throat gurgling like a dying fish. When Song Tian regained his composure, he hurriedly rolled over to look behind him.

The door had already closed.

Total darkness engulfed the surroundings.

...

Players had been waiting outside the building for almost an hour.

Summer days were long, and dawn arrived early. Though it was not yet 5 am, the sky above their heads had already transitioned from pitch black to a deep shade of blue.

Three players in security guard uniforms stood nearby with furrowed brows, while others kept stealing glances at the residential building.

The guards had come out quickly, but Cui Ran and Song Tian were nowhere to be seen.

Xue Qijie's gaze was fixed on the entrance to the apartment building, his expression inscrutable.

"Teacher Xue, it seems someone is coming from that direction."

A player whispered a reminder.

Xue Qijīng turned around upon hearing this. When he recognized the person, he couldn't help but frown.

"Student Wang Mingming."

By the time Qin Fei, now dressed in a school uniform, stood before Xue Qijīng, the middle-aged man had composed himself and flashed a friendly smile at the NPC. "Good morning."

"Morning." Qin Fei maintained his polite yet detached NPC demeanor.

Xue Qijīng discreetly sized up the young man before him. On instinct, he felt that there was something odd about this guidance NPC, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Student Wang Mingming is up so early even during summer vacation?" Xue Qijīng attempted to engage in small talk to gather information.

Qin Fei's eyes were slightly lowered, his tone indifferent. "The pressure from the college entrance exam is too much. I came out for a stroll and to memorize some vocabulary."

He casually shook the vocabulary notebook in his hand, which he had taken from Wang Mingming's desk before leaving the house that evening.

Xue Qijīng: "…Ah, Student Wang Mingming is truly a diligent and studious classmate."

Are the NPCs in this instance also this competitive for their exams?

Compared to them, his real-life son, who spent all day playing games and neglecting his duties, truly meant nothing!

Qin Fei's and Lin Ye's gazes met unnoticeably for a moment before they shifted away without a trace.

Lin Ye discreetly pointed at the building entrance and shook his head.

The ghost infant hung upside down from Qin Fei's neck with a contented expression.

Back in the activity center, while inspecting Lu Xin's corpse, the ghost infant had suddenly emerged from its domain, diving into the pool of still-wet blood on the floor like a mosquito that had finally found a living person.

Invisible to others, only Qin Fei witnessed it smearing its entire head and face with blood, causing the corners of his mouth to twitch involuntarily.

In fact, Qin Fei had noticed earlier at the Holy Infants' Orphanage that the little creature seemed to have an immense interest in freshly deceased players.

Monsters and ghosts in the instance held less fascination for it than players who had met a tragic end.

Xue Qijie kept stealing glances at Qin Fei, as if he wanted to ask something more, but Qin Fei had lost patience for further chatter.

The young man raised his hand, appearing to touch his own neck to an outsider's eye, but in reality, he was gently rubbing the ghost infant's head.

The ghost infant obligingly emitted a faint chill, a subtle aura of pressure spreading through the air.

Xue Jiqi sensed the NPC's anger and his expression changed; he dared not offend further and hastily took a step back.

Qin Fei lifted his chin slightly, ignoring both Xue Jiqi and the other players, adopting an aloof and dignified demeanor.

The audience in the live stream couldn't help but burst into laughter at this scene.

"Unbelievable, how can the host be so good at acting arrogant?"

"My wife looks so noble, my wife is a princess!!"

"A B-level player leading a group being toyed with by a D-level player and a backstabbing ghost. Teacher Xue has really suffered a setback here."

"I've been a fan of Teacher Xue for two years, and this might just be the worst match he's had since becoming a D-level player."

In fact, it wasn't terrible by normal standards; Xue Jiqi's analysis of the dungeon was spot on, and his ability to rally people remained as skillful as ever.

Yet, in this instance, he wasn't the only one with analytical skills.

Butterfly, Qin Fei, and even Xue Jiqing had all come to the same conclusions as him. The three players were evenly matched.

Butterfly maintained his aloof demeanor throughout, preserving his image of an elite player. Qin Fei concealed his true identity and pulled off some cunning maneuvers. Only Xue Jiqing was fooled into hopping around anxiously, forced to speak humbly to a player two levels below him.

The contrast was stark.

In fact, Xue Jiqing himself was aware of the issue. Despite the R-rated live stream event that should have attracted a massive audience, the number of viewers in his channel was similar to his usual broadcasts.

This meant that aside from his loyal followers, he hadn't managed to draw in any new viewers.

Xue Jiqing felt as if a gauzy veil of fog shrouded his head, yet he couldn't pinpoint a way to break through it.

"Are you two standing here in the middle of the night doing nothing?" Qin Fei didn't give Xue Jiqing much time to dwell on his thoughts.

Though still preoccupied, Xue Jiqing instinctively put on a smile and replied, "There are visitors inside this residential building, and we're waiting for them to come out."

Unlike a kindergarten, the apartment building wasn't strictly off-limits. Players had entered and exited before the NPC's eyes during the day, so Xue Jiqing saw no need to hide the truth.

Yet, the revelation from the guiding NPC standing before him left Xue Qiwei utterly astonished.

"Floors?"

A hint of evident confusion graced the youthful and delicate features: "What residential building?"

Xue Jiqing was taken aback. "This residential building right here?"

Qin Fei blinked a few times, his long eyelashes fluttering like the wings of a butterfly in flight. His translucent irises were filled with hesitation, "Isn't this an open field? Where's the building you're talking about?"

It was the height of a scorching summer, yet every player present felt a chill run down their spines.

Even Lin Ye and San Tu, along with the others, couldn't help but hold their breaths involuntarily.

"What do you mean by that?"

Xue Qijiao's eyes were practically glued to Qin Fei's body in astonishment.

The youth across him wore a sincere expression, his look of being utterly bewildered appearing anything but feigned. "How come I don't understand a word you're saying?"

Xue Qijie took a deep, sharp breath.

The sun had yet to rise, and the world was still veiled in a blend of blue and purple hues, cloaked in darkness. He gazed at the building beside him from a distance: "That's Building 14 right there."

Building 14.

How could he have overlooked the abnormality of this number before?

Xue Qijie fought to control the twitching of his facial muscles.

Qin Fei's expression had turned cold once more: "Are you joking with me? I don't find this amusing at all."

"There's no Building 14 in our werewolf community, is there?"

It was as if an invisible bomb had just detonated, shattering the players' already strained nerves with a thunderous boom.

"What do you mean?"

"Can't he see this building?"

"Blimey, that Song Tian and Cui Ran..."

The three players in security uniforms were trembling uncontrollably, while the other players cast them skeptical glances.

"Who was it that initially suggested entering this building?"

"Wasn't it the security guards...?"

"No, wait, I'm pretty sure it was Cui Ran himself who said it."

Petrified and repressed whispers echoed continuously.

Someone attempted to step forward to touch the building's wall, eager to verify if it was truly real. A fellow player promptly pulled them back.

Qin Fei unexpectedly dropped such a monumental bombshell, yet he seemed to bear no psychological burden whatsoever. With an unperturbed air, he sauntered over to the nearby flower bed and seated himself, casually picking up a vocabulary book to read.

He wasn't deceiving the players; there truly was no Building 14 in the werewolf community. Qin Fei had unintentionally learned this fact during dinner conversation with Wang Mingming's parents.

Chinese people have had countless taboos regarding housing and feng shui since ancient times, and even in the realm of the instance dungeons, these superstitions persist.

There was no Building 14 in the Werewolf Community; instead, a small enclosed lawn lay between Buildings 13 and 15.

When Qin Fei heard this news in the evening, he became more vigilant.

He didn't believe it to be an irrelevant or meaningless piece of information.

Moreover, the patrol rules in the security booth stated that "there are no non-existent buildings within the community," which further solidified Qin Fei's suspicion.

As Qin Fei had just walked up from behind, he had been carefully observing the building numbers on both sides. Long before Xue Jiqi mentioned anything, Qin Fei had noticed that the players were standing in front of a residential building that shouldn't exist.

—As for not being able to see the building.

Of course, Qin Fei was bluffing.

At his core, he was just an ordinary player, no different from anyone else present.

There was no way he couldn't see what they could.

He had said that to reinforce his NPC persona and add more credibility to it.

Amidst the live stream, the audience cheered for Qin Fei's ability to intimidate with just two sentences:

"Hahahaha!! I'm dying from laughter!"

"Xue Jiqing's face has turned ashen! Has anyone noticed?"

"Look behind, someone's already trying to sneak away. How spineless!"

"My hubby, you're the best! My hubby, you're the strongest!!"

Xue Jiqing's face paled from Qin Fei's words.

He glanced at the building uncertainly, and at that precise moment, the entrance to Building 14 was pushed open from inside.

The moment Cui Ran's figure appeared in the doorway, all the players fell silent.

Despite being under so many strange gazes, Cui Ran seemed oblivious to the strangeness. She stepped down the stairs one by one, stopping in front of Xue Jiqing.

Every muscle in Xue Jiqing's body tensed up.

"Where's Song Tian?" He maintained a forced smile, asking as calmly as possible.

"Song Tian..."

Cui Ran blinked, and two teardrops slid down her cheeks. "Song Tian... he can't come out."

Xue Jiqing's gaze swept over Cui Ran's shoes, noticing a faint hint of dark red at the edge where the sole met the upper.

Unperturbed, Xue Jiqing took a subtle step back.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault," Cui Ran continued her act diligently.

"If I hadn't seen a ghost in this building, we would have left immediately, and then Song Tian wouldn't have been in trouble."

Even at this moment, she was still trying to stir up trouble.

If Qin Fei hadn't intervened suddenly, revealing the issue with Building 14, Cui Ran's words alone would have prompted the three players in security uniforms to come to her defense.

—If there truly was a ghost in the building and the players had ignored it, Song Tian might have survived, but the three of them certainly wouldn't have escaped unscathed.

The sky above was gradually brightening, the sun crept over the horizon, rising slowly behind the distant skyscrapers. The light screens above the players' heads disintegrated into fragments the moment the sun appeared.

A system notification echoed throughout the community:

"The dawn has come, and the number of deaths tonight is: 2."

"Tonight was not a peaceful night. In 24 hours, strive on!"

Right as the system message concluded, an eerie, distorted voice suddenly sounded from behind the players.

"I accuse Cui Ran of being the ghost."

The bizarre voice declared.

Cui Ran's face instantly paled with shock!