Chapter 89: Flying Arrow in Enclosed Space

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Flying Arrow in Enclosed SpaceAs the momentary stasis passed, Xu Huo still stood behind the door, maintaining his posture of grasping the doorknob while glancing at the wall clock beside him.

Suddenly, his eyelids twitched and his eyes regained their spark.

The clock on the wall turned back three seconds, and he was back before he was shot upon opening the door. In the instant his rationality returned, he leapt to the side!

However, at the very moment he moved aside, a black arrow inexplicably appeared behind the door, passing through the solid door as if defying reality, and shot towards where he had just been standing!

This was the very arrow he had encountered head-on upon opening the door!

Facing an arrow capable of passing through doors and walls, Xu Huo dared not take it lightly. After tumbling to the corner, he quickly propped up Bull Shield, blocking the front while retreating into the house.

But unexpectedly, a second arrow followed, coming through a wall from a different direction, aiming directly at him on the staircase!

Xu Huo swung his shield to deflect the arrow and leaped to the turn on the second floor.

This was a blind spot, invisible from any window of the house.

The directions of the two arrows had differed, and he did not know how many attackers there were. By avoiding the places where he could be "seen," if the assailant’s arrows could still mysteriously appear, it meant that it was an item that didn’t require "direct sight."

With the shield on his back, he had just picked up the Crimson Sword when suddenly, a ripple-like distortion appeared on the left wall, and an arrow came flying, aimed precisely at the height of his crouched body and towards his heart!

He raised the sword to slash, and as the arrow "pinged" off, Xu Huo had already jumped out the window, holding shield and sword in hands, and without hesitation, he sprinted down the street, making for the main road using the cover of the houses!

As he ran, he kept a vigilant eye on his surroundings, but saw no one in the area his eyes could survey.

Gone?

Xu Huo’s thoughts fluttered. As he passed a street corner, he took a bell from the door of a clothing store. No sooner had he stepped in than an arrow shot through the store’s back wall, striking his shield!

"Ping!" The arrow deflected and stuck in the wall. Xu Huo quickly exited the store, and this time he did not rush to flee but stood at the doorway, once again scanning the buildings around him.

No trace of anyone appeared in his field of view, and no friend value popped up; however, that didn’t mean there was no one around. The person who ambushed him must be nearby. Was someone hiding in Fenbei Town, or was it a player from the bus?

He sidestepped the toys on the ground, stepped onto the main street, and halted in the center of the wide-open road, sheathing his sword and shield.

Three minutes passed without another arrow. Instead, the bus arrived slowly.

All the passengers had returned to the bus. As he boarded under the hopeful gaze of the others, he stood in the aisle, scrutinizing everyone.

Ke Liang and Nian Hong’an would be expected not to have left the bus. According to the order, Wang Chaoqing should have been the first to board, followed by Wu Qiuyi and Gu Yu. These three wouldn’t have had the chance to take a shot due to the timing, and they were far from him. That left Shen Yi, the Shen Xin siblings, and Lin Pei.

He suspected these three because of the calm three-minute period when the bus had not arrived and no other players were on the street. Those three minutes would have been the best opportunity to kill him. The assailant’s actions were ruthless, aiming to take his life right from the start. Logically, they would not miss this chance, but there was no move; most likely, they needed time to return to the bus.

The order of boarding couldn’t be disrupted; every player’s movement within the public area was fixed. If someone was missing past a certain time, that would immediately draw the attention of the other players.

"Have you found anything useful?" Wu Qiuyi asked, "The rest of us haven’t found anything."

"I discovered a room made of metal in Master Niese’s house. It looks similar to the black metal used for making cages; it should serve a purpose, but we’ll need to cut it," said Xu Huo as he sat down, his expression serious. "Another thing, I was attacked just now."

The faces of everyone in the vehicle changed simultaneously, and Gu Yu asked, "Could there be other people in the town?"

"Impossible," Wu Qiuyi frowned. "Players have been here for nearly half a month, have been all over the town. How could we have not discovered someone hiding?" Searᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"That’s not necessarily true," said Shen Xin. "You never disembark more than three people at a time, merely shuttling through the town by car. It’s too easy to hide someone in such a large place."

Shen Yi, puzzled, asked, "If this person exists, why would they live peacefully all this time only to suddenly attack Xu Huo?"

"Shen Yi has a point," Lin Pei stroked his chin. "It could be a new player, attacking recklessly without understanding the situation."

"Should we try to find this person?" Wang Chaoqing asked. "If he’s wandering the streets, how are we supposed to proceed with our tasks?"

Xu Huo looked at the "friendly value" above the heads of the few people around him, all of which were around 5, with none showing a killing intent towards him.

"The attacker used a Flying Arrow, and it’s unclear how many there are," he said. "But I suspect there’s only one. His arrows are peculiar; the person stands in a confined space, yet the arrow can fly out from any angle, piercing doors and walls, apparently transcending space."

"However," he smiled, then continued, "that person’s arrows may not be effective in open areas. I was on the road for quite a while just now, and the attacker didn’t strike again."

Wu Qiuyi’s pupils trembled, and she immediately understood. Only someone familiar would go to great lengths to avoid a face-to-face encounter. Although he didn’t spell it out, the person who attacked him was among these players!

Yet, it seemed no one in the vehicle used arrows.

She covertly surveyed the people in the vehicle and suddenly locked eyes with Gu Yu, who was looking at her. After a second of mutual gaze, they both looked away.

The few people in the car each harbored their thoughts. Wang Chaoqing, plainly clueless at the moment, adjusted his glasses and said, "This artifact is too powerful! What if he hides in an unseen place and ambushes us when we enter a house again?"

"Then it’ll just be bad luck for whoever it happens to," Gu Yu said coldly.

"I think," Shen Xin spoke slowly, "the attacker doesn’t want us to leave Fenbei Town."

The group turned to look at her, and Shen Xin explained, "Think about it, whether it’s a person from the town or a new player, why attack Xu Huo all of a sudden?"

"Because he’s the only one who found the black metal, and the rest of us didn’t," she said.

"That reason seems a bit far-fetched," Lin Pei disapproved. "How would anyone know he found black metal if Xu Huo didn’t say anything?"

"Maybe they have X-ray vision," Shen Xin reasoned. "If arrows can lock on targets through walls, what isn’t possible?"

Xu Huo, seeing that the topic had veered off, didn’t interject and silently watched them.

Whether there is X-ray vision is one thing, but as players all trapped in the town, killing each other without conflict is the most irrational act. The choice to attack him was merely because he entered Master Niese’s residence.