"I'm finished eating." Yang Wu seemed not to notice the subtle movements between the others, asking naturally, "What are your plans next?"
The Refined Man discreetly put away his phone and said helplessly, "The heavy rain outside is still pouring. We can only stay in this lodge for the night. Once dawn breaks and the rain stops, if there's no mudslide, we'll leave."
After saying this, he asked in return, "What about you? Why have you been staying here all this time?"
"I came here specifically to find traces of my sister. I haven't found them yet, so I don't want to leave."
Yang Wu's tone was filled with dejection, clearly showing a strong obsession with finding his sister's traces.
Just as the Refined Man was about to put on a show of comforting him, an unexpected situation occurred.
The Burly Man suddenly stood up violently, unable to stop himself from scratching his body.
"What's going on?! I'm so itchy all over—damn it! Why is it so itchy..."
The others' expressions changed as they watched the Burly Man scream and scratch his skin uncontrollably. In just a few strokes, his skin was broken.
The Burly Man scratched with increasing force, as if trying to tear his skin off. Soon, his entire body was covered in blood.
"Help! Someone help me! Help, uh—"
Under everyone's gaze, the Burly Man suddenly started convulsing while scratching, his eyes rolling back, his behavior bizarre, looking as if he was about to undergo Mutation any second.
What was most horrifying was that his body was slowly growing taller, and his arms were slowly lengthening.
He looked more and more like he was transforming into the image of that white humanoid thing they had locked in Room 106.
The Refined Man felt a chill run down his spine, his heart turning cold.
He didn't have time to think much and shouted at the others, "Run!"
The next second, he was the first to dash toward the door.
Damn it, when did the Burly Man get infected? And how?
Xu Xi and the High-Ponytailed Woman also snapped out of it and immediately followed.
"Hey, wait for me!" Yang Wu ran after them.
"Don't... go... help... me uh aaaaaah—"
Only the Burly Man remained in the room, staring intently at their retreating backs, reaching out helplessly for rescue. However, his throat seemed blocked by cotton, gradually losing the ability to make sounds.
As soon as Yang Wu ran out of the room, he pulled a key from his pocket.
It was precisely the key to Room 101.
He turned around and, with quick reflexes, pulled the door shut just as the Burly Man lunged forward.
A loud "bang" was heard as the door shuddered from the impact.
Only after calmly locking the door did he let out a sigh of relief.
Inside the room, the Burly Man, still undergoing Mutation, continued to slam violently against the door. At the same time, banging sounds also came from Room 106.
That white humanoid thing seemed to have gone berserk too.
The overlapping sounds of doors being slammed filled their ears. Everyone in the corridor knew that these not-so-thick wooden doors couldn't withstand such impacts for long.
"The other candle is... with Xiao Yuan's body. Let's go light it. Hopefully, the candle can still attract them."
Within a short time, the Refined Man thought of the candle in the Short-haired Glasses Girl's hand. He wanted to use the same trick again, using the candle to restrain them. It was just a pity they hadn't taken it with them at the time; otherwise, they wouldn't need to go back for it now.
He had even almost slipped up in front of the "Yang Wu" opposite him. If he didn't even know his own companion's name and only used a generic term like "glasses girl," it would likely cause unnecessary trouble again.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly and made up a name on the spot.
Xu Xi and the High-Ponytailed Woman naturally understood who Xiao Yuan was and the reason behind the Refined Man's improvised name.
Just as the three were about to go to the second floor to get the candle, Yang Wu stopped them. "Let's not talk about your mutated companion for now. The mutated resident of Room 103 has never gone berserk like this before. The candle might not work anymore."
The Refined Man looked anxious and asked urgently, "Then what should we do? We can't just wait here to die, can we?"
"Don't worry, this lodge has a cellar. I know where it is. We can hide in the cellar."
Yang Wu hurried toward the lodge's lobby with his flashlight.
"Hurry, follow me!"
The Refined Man glanced at the other two. With just one look exchanged between the three, they understood each other perfectly.
As Xu Xi followed the others, he instinctively glanced sideways at the wooden door being slammed and constantly trembling.
He suddenly remembered the small wound he had seen earlier on the Burly Man's wrist.
Could the Burly Man's Mutation be related to that wound?
But obviously, there was no way to verify that now.
The live stream comments were stunned by the series of sudden events.
[Wait, what happened? How did the Burly Man suddenly undergo Mutation??]
[I didn't miss anything either. They entered Room 101, discovered the passage under the wardrobe was a trap, then turned the tables and lured out the brother searching for his sister from Room 202. During all this, the Burly Man never acted alone.]
[This instance is so messy. I was just starting to understand the instance's background after the brother searching for his sister appeared, and now this happens.]
[We don't even know if the brother searching for his sister is real or fake. Didn't you see the players' chat records? They suspect he's the pseudo-human.]
[Alright, it's even more chaotic now.]
[Earlier I was betting on whether the Burly Man would die. I lost the bet. The Burly Man didn't die, but he mutated.]
[Some people earlier felt Master Xu Xi started talking more after entering Room 101.]
[Did he? It wasn't that many more sentences, right?]
[But it's more than when he first entered this instance.]
[...I always feel there's something fishy about the Burly Man's Mutation. Also, Xu Xi's behavior after entering Room 101 is unusual. Like some comments said earlier, he seems to be subtly guiding something.]
[It does feel a bit deliberate. The Burly Man's Mutation is too abrupt. The whole sequence also feels like there's a hand deliberately pushing things in the shadows.]
[Are you all that sharp? I've been watching and didn't see anything deliberate.]
[Don't mind them, earlier commenter. It's just a bunch of people with conspiracy theories.]
[It's really not a conspiracy theory. I know where the deliberateness is. Things went too smoothly. The Ponytailed Woman discovered the passage—Xu Xi realized it was a trap—the four turned the tables and caught the brother searching for his sister—the Burly Man suddenly mutated—the white humanoid thing suddenly went berserk—the brother searching for his sister says he knows there's a cellar. Connect these and think carefully.]
[Holy crap, so the brother searching for his sister is actually deliberately leading the players to the cellar. Then the Burly Man's Mutation is related to him?]
[Not just that. I suspect it's also related to Xu Xi.]
[What riddles are you all talking about? Is there any master who can explain in detail? I'm begging on my knees.]
[Earlier commenter, go search for a blogger on the video site. His ID is He Sanshui, real name Ji Yang. His analyses are very detailed and reasonable. He's currently live streaming Master Xu Xi's instance right now. I'm watching it.]
[Okay, thanks for the recommendation. I'll go check it out now.]