As the sun gradually set, the bustling town quieted down.
Perhaps the legend of "vengeful ghosts claiming lives" is too frightening, coupled with the continuous disappearances of people in the town over the years, so everyone, whether old or young, rushes home and closes the door tightly before it gets completely dark.
The bustling and peaceful atmosphere during the day seemed to be just an illusion. At night, the residents were all tense and wary, and the streets of the whole town became deserted, like a ghost town.
The innkeeper at the inn where Xiao Lou and his companions were staying kindly came over to remind them: "Sirs, we can't go out after dark in our town. The inn's doors are locked. If you need anything, please feel free to call me."
Xiao Lou thanked the waiter politely and saw him off.
Time passed second by second, and the last ray of light disappeared as the sun set.
Night had fallen.
Xiao Lou held his breath, opened the window a crack, and listened carefully to the sounds outside—it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Not only were there no human voices, but even the calls of birds, pigs, and dogs were inaudible. The empty town was bathed in a gentle moonlight, and the shadows cast by the roadside branches on the ground resembled menacing demons.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in and slammed the window that Xiao Lou had opened shut with a "bang".
The sound seemed amplified many times in the quiet night, booming like thunder in his ears. Xiao Lou was startled. When he tried to open the window, he found that it was locked from the outside by some strange force and he couldn't open it at all.
Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou forcefully push open the window, his expression changed, and he quickly walked to his side: "What's going on?"
Xiao Lou said, "The window suddenly won't open."
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou pushed the window outwards together, but the harder he pushed, the stronger the force blocking the window became, as if some magical force was interacting with and canceling out his pushing force.
Yu Hanjiang's brow furrowed deeper. With his arm strength, he could easily smash a wooden window, let alone push it open. This window was fine just a moment ago; how could it suddenly become impossible to open after a gust of wind? Sensing something was wrong, Yu Hanjiang immediately grabbed Xiao Lou's wrist and swiftly turned to the door: "Quick, let's go!"
He stretched out his long leg and kicked the door hard, but the door wouldn't open.
The two of them clearly didn't lock the door after seeing the waiter off.
Yu Hanjiang gestured for Xiao Lou to take a step back, then drew his Night Demon military knife and slashed fiercely at the door—
The wooden doors and windows remained completely unmoved under the sharp blade, as if sealed by a magical force!
Xiao Lou's face paled: "Are we trapped in this room?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Try contacting other people."
Xiao Lou pressed the earpiece in her ear and hurriedly asked, "Can anyone hear me?"
There was no response from the headphones; it was completely silent.
Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice: "Old Mo, Liu Qiao, Long Sen, Qu Wanyue, are they all here?!"
There was still no sound.
A strong sense of unease rose in Xiao Lou's heart: "Is it Hunter?"
The situation reminded him of the Mermaid Maze in level Q, where the player who "copied number 5 Xiao Lou " had a card called " Card Magnetic Field Shielding," which could block the abilities of all cards over a wide area. But strangely, when they dragged that person into the Peach Blossom Spring and burned him to death, they didn't find that card on him.
Xiao Lou believes that the person deliberately destroyed the card.
They had too little information about the source and destination of Hunter's cards, and it was indeed difficult to trace them, so the matter had to be left unresolved.
But now, the card has expired again.
If it's a card-restricted area, a pop-up window will display a message saying " Cards are disabled in the current scene." If there's no message and the team headset is malfunctioning, it means someone is using another card to suppress the effectiveness of the card Xiao Lou has.
—It's definitely Hunter.
Although Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were not connected via Telepathic Connection, a single glance was enough for them to understand each other.
Just then, countless dense strands of hair suddenly burst in through the cracks in the windows and doors. Like sentient tentacles, the hair swiftly swept towards Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou!
Xiao Lou's expression suddenly changed.
They stood in the middle of the house, their hair pouring in like a tide from the windows and door cracks. Within three seconds, they were surrounded by hair and had nowhere to retreat.
Just as the hair was about to wrap around Xiao Lou's neck, Yu Hanjiang pulled hard with his left hand, half-embracing Xiao Lou in his arms, and leaped into the air. At the same time, he picked up a sharp military knife with his right hand and slashed down fiercely at the hair!
The hair was severed by the blade.
However, these hairs have an extremely strong growth capacity, so cutting them off will not affect the overall situation.
Broken hair lay scattered on the floor, yet the remaining hair continued to spread and grow, pouring in more and more through the cracks in the door and windows, leaving almost no room to step on the ground. Yu Hanjiang frowned as he watched the long hair surrounding him from all directions, rapidly slashing with his military knife as he tried to break through the sealed room.
Xiao Lou's mind raced—the current situation was very similar to " Card Magnetic Field Shielding." Yu Hanjiang's military knife could be used because it was an equipment card and didn't have any skills. Meanwhile, the ineffective " Telepathic Connection," "Team Headset," and other similar cards were all "skill" cards.
Fortunately
Xiao Lou remembers clearly that the magnetic field shielding card they encountered only lasted for 5 minutes, a fact they specifically tested by having Ye Qi play the flute.
Fortunately, I was careful enough to confirm the exact duration of the Hunter card.
Xiao Lou whispered, "Hold on for 5 minutes. If I'm not mistaken, it'll be that magnetic field shielding card again!"
Yu Hanjiang nodded. He and Xiao Lou retreated while quickly cutting through the messy hair, moving swiftly to the wall with their backs against it. This way, they only needed to face the hair from the front, left, and right, without worrying about it attacking from behind.
The man's handsome face was filled with a murderous aura, and his hair was incredibly irritating, growing faster and faster as Yu Hanjiang's knife moved faster and faster!
In an instant, the snow-white light of blades danced around Yu Hanjiang so densely that it was impossible to move.
He used the sharp blade to completely envelop himself and Xiao Lou, preventing the hair from getting close at all!
Xiao Lou knew very well that once the hair wrapped around their necks, they would be strangled very quickly. Five minutes might sound short, but in a situation where death could come at any moment, it felt like an eternity.
Xiao Lou, worried about disturbing Yu Hanjiang's actions, stopped talking and quietly stayed by Yu Hanjiang's side.
The man's gaze was deep, and the knife in his hand moved with lightning speed, cutting off as many hairs as they came. His mechanical movements continued for a long time, and the muscles in his arms remained taut, as if he did not feel tired at all.
Suddenly, Liu Qiao's voice came through Xiao Lou's earpiece: " Professor Xiao? Can you hear me?"
Upon hearing Xiao Liu's voice, Xiao Lou knew that the card blocking crisis had been temporarily resolved. Before he could reply, the hair around him seemed to receive some kind of command and suddenly scattered rapidly like the receding tide.
Yu Hanjiang frowned and looked around.
The hair that had fallen to the ground after being cut off was also gone.
He went to the window and pushed it open with force—the window opened very easily.
The confinement was lifted. Outside the window, all was pitch black; a cold moon hung high in the sky, and everything was as quiet as if nothing had happened.
Yu Hanjiang shouted sternly, "Sneaking around like that, get out here!"
"Hahahaha." A young woman's silvery laughter rang out from not far away, sounding eerily strange in the quiet night. Yu Hanjiang squinted and looked in the direction of the sound. A white figure flashed past in his field of vision.
The person was dressed in a long white dress typical of ancient women. Wide sleeves, flowing gauze, disheveled hair, and blood-red lips, their movements were elusive and unpredictable— exactly like the "vengeful ghost" legend Tang Ci had spoken of during the day…
Xiao Lou said with a stern face, "It seems that the so-called vengeful ghost is actually Hunter who has infiltrated this world?"
Yu Hanjiang pressed his earpiece and asked, "Is everyone alright? Tell me what happened just now."
Qu Wanyue's voice came through my ear, trembling slightly: "Just now, the doors and windows were suddenly locked, and we couldn't get out. We realized something was wrong, so we quickly used the Chameleon Card to blend into the wall, and then we saw a lot of hair pouring in!"
Long Sen exclaimed, "Luckily, Wanyue reacted quickly. Those hairs were disgusting; they kept growing and spreading, quickly filling the entire room. They didn't notice us and just dispersed on their own!"
This couple reacted quickly, climbing onto the wall as soon as they encountered danger.
Xiao Lou asked, "Where are Lao Mo and Xiao Liu?"
Liu Qiao said, "Our situation was similar. The doors and windows were blocked, and a lot of hair suddenly attacked us. I couldn't use my card skill. Uncle Mo had a flash of inspiration and built a seamless secret room with Marble Bricks. We hid inside and separated ourselves from the hair."
Old Mo's Marble Bricks and wooden flooring are like tool cards, similar to Yu Hanjiang's knife, which can be taken out and used. Confined in the secret room, he cleverly built an even smaller marble chamber, retreating into his "turtle shell" to protect himself.
Xiao Lou finally breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that his teammates were all alright.
Old Mo said, " I also heard Captain Yu's voice just now. Are there Hunters appearing in the night dungeon?"
Liu Qiao frowned and said, "Is the card he has the [ Card Magnetic Field Shielding ] that we encountered in level Q? All my cards just stopped working."
Xiao Lou nodded: "Yes."
Liu Qiao asked in confusion, "But if I remember correctly, Card Magnetic Field Shielding should block all skill-type cards within its range, right? Why can that Hunter still attack us with his hair?"
Yu Hanjiang whispered, "Perhaps that's not her card, but rather her innate skill."
"Her own special abilities?" Liu Qiao was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized, "Her identity in this secret room is a vengeful ghost? She can seal us with seals and attack her targets with her ever-growing hair?!"
"That's right." Xiao Lou's expression was somewhat grim. He said in a low voice, " Hunter might be able to choose his own identity, select a vengeful ghost, and snipe us in the Ghost City instance at night. The success rate would be higher."
That woman in white not only attacked Xiao Lou and his group with her hair, but she was also incredibly elusive, practically teleporting. The white ghostly figure vanished in the blink of an eye; catching her would be extremely difficult.
With such a Hunter existing in the nighttime instance, no wonder the Guardian told them to "survive" when entering the secret chamber!
Xiao Lou was startled and suddenly asked, "Ninth Brother? Xiao Ye? Can you hear me?"
The group discussed for a long time, but none of the six teammates outside the town chimed in.
Knowing Ninth Brother's temper, he would definitely curse "Damn it!" upon hearing this. And given Xiao Ye's personality, he would definitely speak his mind during the discussion; it's impossible...
It's so quiet.
Yu Hanjiang sensed something was wrong and lowered his voice, saying, "Brother, did you hear that?"
There was no response from the headphones; the silence was unsettling.
The Card Magnetic Field Shielding has expired after 5 minutes, so team communication should still be used normally.
Why did the people who stayed outside the town lose contact?
Could it be that Ninth Brother and the others have also run into trouble?