Those watchful eyes slowly gathered around the house, and countless figures stood outside, almost blocking all escape routes. Players who were still wandering outside searching for information were frightened and ran back to take refuge, hurriedly avoiding the townspeople and hiding in their houses, closing the doors behind them.
The darker it gets, the greater the chance of being affected outside. Even if no other players are involved tonight, they are still afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.
"They've already started their operation." Zhong Mu stood on the second floor, looking out with a worried expression. This was the first time they had seen so many NPCs gathered in front of them in so many days. The scene was quite shocking, and the thought that this was a group of people hunting down a player made him a little nervous.
The more he looked, the more uneasy he felt, and he couldn't help but sigh, "I hope Yin Xiu can escape... but it seems impossible to clear the dungeon directly tonight. Can he escape becoming a sacrifice?"
For a normal player, suddenly reaching this point is tantamount to waiting for death, but there's a feeling that there are more possibilities in Yin Xiu's case.
The little girl silently overheard Zhong Mu's inner turmoil.
She stared blankly at the townspeople gathering below, clutching the little rabbit doll in her arms, her brows furrowed as she nervously tightened her grip on the rabbit's neck.
As darkness fell, more and more townspeople gathered, but they did not rush in directly.
This house belongs to the town mayor. Apart from the waiters who work inside, no one else has the right to enter or leave the house. This is also the first player who lived in the house to become a sacrifice. They can only watch from outside the house and dare not enter rashly.
But the longer it went on, the more anxious they became, and the less they could contain themselves. The townspeople's murmurs could be faintly heard from below.
"Why hasn't the mayor shown up yet? Haven't they found the other people?"
"No, the mayor wouldn't be deliberately not showing up to protect that man, would he?"
"That's possible, because the mayor likes him very much."
"What are we going to do?! Doesn't the mayor care about our lives? What if she comes out of the seal?"
"If we don't offer the sacrifice in time, she will definitely come out and kill us!"
"Never mind! If the mayor doesn't show up... we'll have no choice but to go in to avoid being killed."
"We must offer this sacrifice tonight, no matter what!"
Those pairs of resentful, bloodshot eyes, filled with murderous intent, were fixed on the second floor. Countless figures stood in the darkness, still waiting.
At this point, the other players in the house also became restless, looking anxiously at the figures outside the window and starting to talk to each other.
"What if they rush in later? What if they accidentally kill us? Or what if they can't find Yin Xiu and try to use one of us as a sacrifice?"
"Let's hide. We have no choice but to hide. Otherwise, we'll have to capture Yin Xiu first and then send him down."
"...It's one thing to arrest Yin Xiu, but he also has a little girl with him."
"Yeah, we can only hide. Anyway, he's going to die tonight. Once tonight is over, we can clear the dungeon smoothly."
"Yes, yes, I hope tonight will pass quickly, and he'd better not resist."
The other players hid in their rooms and prayed.
They listened intently to the sounds outside, waiting for the townspeople to rush in and take Yin Xiu away. But as they listened, they didn't hear any sounds of people rushing in from outside. Instead, they heard strange footsteps inside the house.
The sound was soft, yet dense, as if many people had appeared in the corridor, walking slowly down the stairs in orderly lines, their sheer number making one's scalp tingle.
Almost all the players are hiding in their rooms right now, and the townspeople haven't come in yet either. So whose footsteps are those coming from outside?
A chill instantly ran through the players' hearts. They held their breath and carefully got up, pressing their faces against the door as they peered through the peephole.
In the pitch-black corridor, groups of pale blue, translucent figures walked past the doors with their heads down. Their eyes were closed, their heads drooping, and they moved silently and slowly down the corridor. Their pale faces were tinged with purplish-blue, lifeless, and looked just like the faces of the dead.
Some of the figures went down to the first floor, while others stayed on the second floor. They pressed themselves tightly against the walls and lined up along the corridor. The densely packed figures almost filled the entire house, and their voices could be heard everywhere outside. Almost no one dared to go out at this time.
"Holy crap? This is terrifying... That's a ghost???"
"This dungeon even has this? Is it even possible to clear it normally?"
The players were so frightened that they turned pale and all huddled in their rooms, too afraid to come out.
Time passed slowly, and the time for the sacrifice was almost here. The townspeople outside could no longer contain themselves and rushed in. At that moment, the mayor appeared.
With his usual gentle smile, he gracefully appeared before the crowd, stepping through the darkness. Looking at the townspeople with bloodshot eyes and murderous intent, he calmly said, "Everyone, the time for the sacrifice is almost here. I just remembered that today's offering seems to be in my house. I'm late, and I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting."
The townspeople ignored his made-up excuse, but tightened their grip on their weapons and stared intently at the mayor. "Mayor, can we go in?"
"You wouldn't protect that sacrificial offering, would you?"
"You were the one who proposed the rules of sacrifice, so you're not going to break them yourself now, are you?"
Faced with the townspeople's menacing stares, the mayor nodded nonchalantly, "Yes, you can go in. Of course you can enter my house to take that person away for the sake of the sacrifice."
He spoke casually, not as reluctant as the townspeople had imagined. Although the townspeople were suspicious, time was of the essence, and as soon as they received permission, they rushed to the front door of the house.
The mayor watched them silently with a smile, his eyes darkening without a sound.
Having lived in such a repressive environment for so long, these unruly people have gone somewhat mad. Over time, they've even dared to disregard him, forgetting who the true ruler of this town is.
Want to kill Yin Xiu?
Even if countless townspeople die tonight, Yin Xiu must not die. The loss of any number of townspeople's worthless lives is far less important than the treasure he discovered.
However, in order to prevent the town from collapsing too quickly, he would still put on a show. To this end, he spent the whole afternoon making the custom-made picture frame for Yin Xiu.
Once Yin Xiu is captured, he can secretly place him in the picture frame, and no one will be able to take this rare and unique figure from him.
Thinking about it, he still smiled contentedly, waiting for the group of people to rush in and grab his treasure for him. But in the chaos, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye and suddenly saw the treasure he wanted to take with him by the second-floor window, lazily leaning against the window, resting its chin on its hand and looking down.
The faint light from the window outlined his white figure. A gentle evening breeze stirred his hair. He looked down at the town mayor, his dark, jade-like eyes filled with languor and indifference, utterly cold.
It struck the mayor's heart at first glance.