Chapter 2579: An Unexpected Performance
While he was taking apart the ghost monster suit, other players had also captured some "performers." Similarly, under the ghost monster suit, there was only a skeleton, completely different from the performer who was beheaded earlier.
Unfortunately, under the guise of the ghost monster suit, it was difficult to tell at first glance if it was a real person. The real performers seemed to anticipate the players’ actions and managed to sneak attack, killing a player every time—encounters with the real performer rarely saw a player survive.
Xu Huo walked out of the alley. The middle section of the eerie parade had not passed yet. Demons, four to five meters high, chanted strange incantations. Instruments distorted their voices, which, though incomprehensible, were perfectly fitting for the atmosphere.
"Look here, look here!" A tourist hopped up and down, wanting a photo with the black-faced, tusked Big Demon. Her flying communicator followed her movements, capturing shots from all angles. However, she was too far from the Big Demon, leaving her dissatisfied.
"Ha!" The parade slowly moved forward, and the Big Demon let out a long sigh, bending over and lowering its head, squeezing its massive head behind the tourist’s waist.
"Quick, snap the photo!" The tourist screamed happily, waving to her friends.
After a few seconds of cooperation, the Big Demon emitted thick colorful mist. As its wide robe flickered in and out, the nearby tourist disappeared inside.
Seeing their companion vanish, several young people were slightly panicked. However, in the next moment, the female tourist’s shrill laughter came from the front of the parade. It turned out she had suddenly appeared on the back of a small Ghost, and after being carried around twice, she was set back on the ground.
The young people laughed and chased after her.
This scenario repeated two or three times, and gradually, the tourists got accustomed to it. Therefore, when a player trying to investigate what happened got swallowed, no one cared.
Of course, such antics couldn’t escape the Girl in the painting’s attention. She hopped along with a Big Demon, repeatedly tugging at its robe. The Big Demon, having had its robe pulled several times, was annoyed and suddenly lowered its head, emitting a furious roar towards her. With swirling mist, the robe swept over, lifting her into the air.
The You sisters had already noticed something amiss with the parade, but since they weren’t players clearing instances, they thought it wouldn’t be an issue to play for a while. They didn’t expect the instance boss to be so unscrupulous, attacking indiscriminately.
Therefore, when the Girl in the painting was lifted by the robe, they each grabbed her hand, intending to pull her back. However, they hadn’t anticipated the demon’s immense strength, which lifted all three at once!
"Uh-oh..." Before You Zhi finished speaking, she felt a hand on her leg. Looking down, she saw a fake ghost face. The headpiece was one they had picked, so with one look, she recognized it was Xu Huo being pulled in. Just as she was about to kick him out, a great suction force came from above, and they were swallowed into the demon’s belly.
The Big Demon was quite large, and its belly was spacious enough. However, with four or five people crammed inside, it felt cramped. The group found themselves standing toe-to-toe with the performer controlling the Big Demon suit, locking eyes.
Seeing the Girl in the painting about to act, the performer hurriedly said, "Don’t pull, don’t pull! I’ll let you out right away!"
As he finished speaking, a small teleportation portal appeared on the side of the suit. He first kicked the Girl in the painting out, the force suggestive of some personal grudge.
But if the Girl in the painting were so easy to deal with, she wouldn’t be her. As she was tossed out, with quick reflexes, she grabbed the performer’s leg, dragging him out with her!
Once the performer was out of the suit, the large Big Demon suit began to deflate. Hearing shouts from outside, You Zhi quickly stepped into the performer’s previous position, reoperating the control lever to make the Big Demon move again.
"Looks like not all Big Demons are dangerous," You Xin sighed in relief. "But we’ll have to wait for the staff to take over before we can leave."
Xu Huo fiddled with the teleportation portal switch on the control lever, and the narrow portal appeared once more.
"I’ll go check," he said to the You sisters. "If we don’t meet up afterward, just head back to the hotel."
He stepped into the teleportation portal as he said it.
This portal was no different from the city’s teleportation transport, but as soon as he went through, he was met by several gigantic guillotines, striking towards his throat, abdomen, thighs, and feet.
Dodging was too late, not to mention the portal behind him was one-way, with nowhere to hide. He brushed his thumb over the bone ring on his finger, applying a gentle press. Under the immense pressure of gravity, the guillotines trembled and halted. In less than a breath, the blades snapped.
The sharp edges pierced deeply into the ground, disappearing entirely, and the mechanism-controlled blade handles fell from the wall, effectively jamming the mechanism so it could not close again.
Xu Huo stepped forward to inspect. The guillotines and mechanisms were originally hidden within the walls, with the wall’s surface discreetly camouflaged. Once the mechanism closed, there was no visible gap from the outside. Examining further from this mechanism, he discovered not only the alley’s walls but also the ground concealed more mechanisms that hadn’t been triggered.
Taking a few steps back, he crouched down to feel the ground. Estimating the approximate location of the mechanism, he selected a Spatial Instrument to wear on his finger. With a few strokes on the ground, a Spatial Ray carved out a rectangle.
Under the influence of a Levitation Prop, a section of metal, along with the mechanism beneath, floated upwards.
It was the same kind of guillotine as on the walls, only with thinner and more numerous blades. Stepping on it would instantaneously slice a person into pieces like toast.
The mechanism was child’s play, but the blade material was excellent. He collected another mechanism, storing all the guillotines in his luggage compartment.
Having just finished, two players appeared atop a small building, more than ten meters away, watching him from above.
Xu Huo merely glanced up before turning to leave the alley.
The players’ eyes followed him until he exited the alley, but they did not pursue.
Seems like they didn’t want to make a move.
Leaving the alley, Xu Huo entered the Spiritual World to search for the Girl in the painting and the You sisters. It turned out the You sisters had already left Cultural Street. The Big Demon from before was still moving, likely replaced by a new performer.
The parade had moved to the latter part, appearing as a somber, black cloud following the entourage. He turned and stepped into a Mental Portal. After several short-distance teleportations, he pulled the Girl in the painting, disguised as a performer in a ghost monster suit, from the flying device. "Time to go back."
The tourists had purchased just an ordinary suit, yet as he lifted her, a skeleton fell out, while the Girl in the painting, who should have been inside, was nowhere to be found.