Chapter 10

Stepping into the slaughterhouse, even though the factory buildings and workshops are no longer in use, the interior is filled with a foul and unpleasant odor that makes one instinctively frown.

Xie Xubai was helped to bed by Xu Qingran, and his weak and powerless appearance did not arouse any suspicion.

The cold-faced man didn't reveal his true intentions directly, but instead asked the fat man with feigned doubt, "You said the Ghost King lurks in this area?"

"Yes." The fat man wiped his face, almost in tears. "That evil king was originally a stray dog ​​in this area. It was extremely vicious in life and had injured many people. Everyone tried their best to get rid of that scourge, but who knew that it had a special destiny and was born with evil energy. It actually turned into an evil ghost after death and continued to do evil. So far, no less than ten people have met with misfortune!"

"I see that you all possess extraordinary abilities, and dealing with those vicious vengeful spirits would be a piece of cake for you. That's why I'm asking for your help. Rest assured, once the scourge is eliminated, I will offer you a generous reward. I won't let you work for nothing."

The players exchanged glances, neither confirming nor denying their belief.

The cold-faced man narrowed his eyes and asked him a sharp question: "Before that, why don't you tell me why so many vengeful spirits appear in your house?"

The fat man said helplessly, "How can someone who works in a slaughterhouse not have some resentment on their hands?"

But the cold-faced man still stared at him with a suspicious look.

As she looked at him, the fat man seemed to feel guilty and stammered, "Actually... sigh! If I tell you the truth, could you please not tell anyone?"

The player readily agreed, vowing to keep his mouth shut.

So the fat man stammered out the "truth".

"Our stray animals had a past outbreak of rabies, so to eliminate the potential threat, the dog-catching team caught all the cats and dogs. But they couldn't just kill them in front of the public... People will make a fuss, saying it's cruel and cold-blooded, but that's utter nonsense! What's a human life more important than an animal's?"

The fat man said indignantly, "So I secretly took orders and had them bring rabid cats and dogs here to be dealt with. Luckily, the factory has a complete disinfection facility. As for the animals that were accidentally killed... well, there's nothing we can do about it. Maybe that's why this slaughterhouse is resented by vengeful spirits."

"If that's how you put it, what you did was clearly a good deed, ridding the people of a scourge without taking credit," the cold-faced man asked. "Why are you afraid of people finding out?"

"If people find out that the slaughterhouse is dealing with rabid cats and dogs, how will my meat ever sell?" The fat man sighed deeply, his bitterness deepening. "But the situation isn't much better now. The workers are either harmed by vengeful spirits or too scared to come back. The slaughterhouse can't keep operating and has to go bankrupt."

Looking at the fat man's explanation, it seems that everything he said makes sense and there are no flaws.

To gain the trust of the players, the fat man added, "If you don't believe me, you can search online for news about rabid dogs attacking people in the area. I swear everything I just said is the truth."

With that, he left, saying he was there to prepare food and water for the players who had traveled a long way.

Once the footsteps outside the door were no longer audible, the cold-faced man turned to the others and asked, "How much of what he just said do you think is believable?"

"Seven real, eight fake." One player curled his lip. "Judging from the scale of the vengeful spirits just now, it couldn't have been caused by simply killing a dozen or twenty by mistake."

"But the incident of rabid dogs attacking people is indeed true." A player who was browsing the news online said, "Look at this one... On the afternoon of x month x day, vicious dogs went mad and bit 17 people in the street, of whom 12 died and 5 were injured."

"I also found one, which is also a recent incident of vicious dogs attacking people in this city, resulting in more than 20 deaths and injuries. The two news reports were published less than ten days apart."

The more they searched, the more news they found, and the players couldn't help but fall silent.

Given such a heinous incident of a rabid dog attacking a person, it is understandable that stray cats and dogs, as carriers of the virus, would be culled in large numbers.

They are human beings, and if they really had to choose one side to empathize with, they would definitely stand on the side of their own kind.

"And have you noticed that our current instance is called 'Dog Harm'? I just searched for it, and all the results were about the harmful incidents caused by dogs in ancient times."

The player handed the phone to others to read, then looked at the cold-faced man with a serious expression: "President Yan, if I may be so bold, our initial direction of investigation may have been flawed."

Before he could finish speaking, a man with a buzz cut and wearing a windbreaker chimed in, his face turning pale: "That's right, these cats and dogs are not innocent at all, they deserve to be tortured and killed."

He rolled his eyes and looked at Yan Yue meaningfully: "I've said it before, the idea of ​​innocent lives being taken and then the ghosts taking revenge is an old, tired plot. How could an A-level Ghost King dungeon be that simple?"

"If we hadn't discovered this slaughterhouse during our search, triggering a hidden storyline and revealing the truth, we probably would all have ended up dead!"

As the temporary captain chosen by the players at the start, Yan Yue naturally had many considerations and far-sighted plans.

He had a gut feeling that something was amiss, but seeing that the other players were wavering, he finally relented in order to reassure them: "The A-level Ghost King dungeon is different from the past, and we cannot rule out the possibility that it may be misleading players."

“But the boss still has problems. The scale of the vengeful spirits just now required our combined efforts to defeat them. As the object of hatred, he has managed to survive unscathed until now.” Yan Yue said coldly, “Just in case, we need to investigate this slaughterhouse carefully.”

The players readily agreed, with no objections.

Aside from the buzz-cut man who had just been nagging and criticizing Yan Yue, he waved his hand and pointed at Xie Xubai: "You said you wanted to investigate the boss and the slaughterhouse, I have no objection, but what about this pretty boy?"

His words were dripping with malice. If Xu Qingran hadn't said this pretty boy was a key NPC, why would he have wasted an exorcism talisman?

Especially since Xu Qingran is a new player who, apart from being somewhat attractive, only serves to drag the team down. Instead of trying to please them, she turns around and fawns over an NPC! Does she even respect them?

Xu Qingran sensed the wicked intentions of the man with the buzz cut, her heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively stepped in front of Xie Xubai: "What do you want to do?"

Yan Yue suddenly spoke, his tone carrying an unquestionable authority: "You'd better hold back on whatever you want to do! Even if the truth is reversed, this NPC is still a key figure that the Ghost King cares about, and he still has value to use."

The man with the buzz cut was startled by Yan Yue's icy gaze, and annoyed at his own fear. He retorted defiantly, "We can't just leave it like this. We have to use some methods to control people, otherwise what if this NPC trips us up?"

"Okay, then go ahead. I remember you have control-type items."

Yan Yue was very decisive and even made Xu Qingran step aside, which immediately stopped the buzz-cut man who wanted to cause trouble: "Why should I go first and you guys go first?"

Other players are focused on their own thoughts.

Isn't that obvious? Everyone's said Xie Xubai has the protection of the Ghost King. Who wants to be the second Xiao Yuan to be punished?

The man with the buzz cut also realized this, and instantly felt awkward, unsure whether to go or not, his expression extremely embarrassed and distorted.

Under Yan Yue's arrangement, the players teamed up in pairs to investigate, but the number of vengeful spirits in the slaughterhouse far exceeded their expectations.

The vengeful spirits returned with even greater force, and the players who had stayed behind were called away to provide support, leaving only Xu Qingran to take care of Xie Xubai.

It was at this moment that Xie Xubai slowly turned and "woke up".

"Ah, you're finally awake!" Xu Qingran exclaimed with delight.

Xie Xubai propped himself up and sat up, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the girl adding something to her cup. Without making a sound, he turned to look out the dim window and exclaimed in surprise, "My God, it's almost night! How long have I been asleep?"

Xu Qingran turned around upon hearing the sound.

In an instant, several wisps of ghosts appeared beside Xu Qingran's hand, subtly switching the positions of the two glasses of water.

"It's okay. You're injured, so getting some more sleep will help you recover."

Xu Qingran smiled and looked down at the water glass with the added substance in her hand. Her smile faltered slightly as she recalled Yan Yue's parting words and pursed her lips.

This contains colorless and odorless sedatives, which are doubly effective for tired or injured people. Keeping Xie Xubai unconscious is the best control method they can think of.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Qingran smiled and handed the cup to Xie Xubai: "Here, have some water first."

Xie Xubai took a sip of water, and seeing Xu Qingran follow suit, he turned to the window again: "I heard fighting sounds. Are they fighting...fighting those terrifying ghosts again? Who exactly are you people?"

"We are the players."

Seeing Xie Xubai look up suspiciously, Xu Qingran chuckled, her face showing a mischievous glee, yet also a hint of mockery of the current situation: "Forget it, what's the use of telling you? You can't 'hear' it anyway."

Just now, Xu Qingran's voice reached Xie Xubai's ears and instantly transformed into another sentence: "We are just a group of travelers."

However, she didn't know that at the same time, the same voice echoed in Xie Xubai's mind.

I heard her say that they were players.

All players know that their identities cannot be mentioned to those inside the instance, and any words that reveal the truth will be distorted by the system, becoming incoherent.

Therefore, even when NPCs are present, they talk without any restraint.

For example, when Xie Xubai was unconscious just now, no one checked whether he was really unconscious, since he 'couldn't hear' anyway.

Little did they know that an anomaly would suddenly appear, not only able to hear their actual conversation, but also fully recognizing their identities.

Looking at the clueless Xu Qingran, Xie Xubai, feigning sentimentality, pointed out: "If travelers had a fixed place to stay, why would they need to travel around with all sorts of people?"

The young man's eyes were filled with pity, as if he could see through Xu Qingran's troubled and restless heart, and he had a magic power to make people tell the truth: "If Qingran wants to talk, I am willing to listen."

Author's Note: