Enemy?!
An Ling froze on the spot, not daring to make a move. Her ears pricked up, listening intently to the sounds around her. Whether it was that monster or another survivor, right now was the perfect opportunity to strike—they definitely wouldn’t let it slip by.
Sss… sss…
It was as if something was approaching, sniffing along the ground, making a sound with every breath.
Everyone heard it. Their minds went blank, hearts pounding uncontrollably, nerves stretched taut to the breaking point.
An Ling desperately wanted to light her lighter to see what was coming, but she didn’t dare move recklessly.
Crack! A small orange-red flame flared up, illuminating the surroundings and dispelling a patch of darkness.
Someone lit their lighter a second before she could, but just as that person was about to use it to make a torch, in the next instant, a shadow darted past him.
The flame went out. Darkness swallowed them once again. Yet now, the scent of blood began to spread in the air. All the survivors covered their mouths in horror.
They knew—the person who’d lit the fire was dead, gone without a sound, not even a single cry.
An Ling seemed to catch a glimpse of a humanoid figure. Most likely, it had been hiding among one of the survivors—there was no way it was some unknown creature.
Sss… sss…
On the right—it hadn’t left yet!
Bang! In the darkness, there was the sound of flesh colliding. The monster had attacked a survivor, but failed; he had a Strengthening Card.
By now, the crowd was in complete chaos. In this unseen night, they could only rely on their hearing to pinpoint the monster’s location.
But the noise around was simply too much, making it impossible to distinguish anything.
Crack. A glow stick was snapped and tossed to the ground. Red light instantly flooded the hall.
It was Qin Xiao who threw it. The next second, a dagger stabbed at him. He’d been ready, dodging the sneak attack.
The attacker wore black, his face hidden. Seeing his ambush fail, he immediately tried to retreat.
Just then, an arrow whistled through the air, aimed to pierce him directly. Unfortunately, his reaction was even faster—the arrow only tore through the hood covering his head, not injuring him.
The moment they saw the man’s face, both An Ling and Qin Xiao froze. Even some of the other survivors who noticed were struck dumb, unable to believe their eyes!
The one who’d attacked them was actually the bald brute who’d died yesterday!
But An Ling had checked the corpse herself just a few hours ago!
For a moment, An Ling was shocked to the core, not knowing how to react.
Can a person really come back from the dead? Or is someone manipulating this corpse from behind the scenes?
“Our attacker isn’t a monster—it’s a dead man?” Even Qin Xiao had trouble accepting it. The two of them had been the closest to the attacker; when the mask fell, they saw it all too clearly.
Yet right now, he’d rather believe he was seeing things.
“Jie, look over there…” Chen Rui pointed to a corner of the hall. An Ling turned her head and approached.
A crowd had gathered around a girl’s corpse. There was no mistake—at this moment, a knife was stuck in her chest, piercing heart and lungs, certain death.
“This was done by one of those maniacs—not the monster from before. There’s a hidden lunatic among us.”
Now things were truly complicated. At this rate, everyone would be dead long before the ten days were up.
“She’s the white-haired one—she killed someone earlier today, and now she’s putting on an act. You must be the lunatic, right?!”
Among the crowd, a survivor seemed to recognize An Ling and started hurling accusations.
“Didn’t anyone notice? The person who caught her killing someone isn’t here tonight—she probably took care of them already!”
“Everyone, don’t be afraid! Let’s take her down together. Only by getting rid of the traitor can we unite!”
These survivors had just experienced a brutal ordeal—their nerves were on the verge of collapse. They needed to vent, and An Ling became the perfect target.
Of course, it was only today’s newcomers—about a dozen people—who spoke up. At this moment, they clustered together, ready to seize An Ling.
As for those survivors who had been here longer than An Ling, while they believed she was innocent, they also felt it wasn’t their concern.
“Incredible. Instead of working together to deal with the monster, they start an internal conflict…” Chen Rui couldn’t help but marvel at their intelligence.
Qin Xiao stepped forward, ready to help An Ling out of her predicament. He saw that she was no ordinary person; it was worth forging ties here.
“Get lost!” he spat coldly, facing down the dozen or so people alone.
“Who the hell are you? If you’re protecting her, you must be a traitor too! Tie him up, brothers!” the ringleader shouted, slandering Qin Xiao as well.
“Noisy!” Before the other man could finish, Qin Xiao moved first, kicking him away. With that, the dozen or so people rushed him, throwing the scene into chaos.
Watching Qin Xiao step in to help, An Ling was momentarily at a loss. She grabbed a dagger, some glass shards, and threw them out without hesitation.
The ringleader, just recovering from Qin Xiao’s kick, suddenly found a dagger—where it came from, he had no idea—stabbing straight through his shoulder.
“Aaah!” He clutched his arm in agony as a white-clad girl slowly approached.
“If I really were the lunatic, you’d already be dead,” An Ling said with a sweet smile to the writhing survivor.
“Oh, and by the way, I want my dagger back~” She pulled the dagger out of his shoulder in one swift motion. Blood gushed and splattered at once.
Seeing the flecks of blood on An Ling’s fair, beautiful face, those nearby were terrified into silence, watching the scene with dread.
The wounded man had lost the strength to resist, curling up on the ground in pain. If his injuries weren’t treated, he’d surely bleed out and die.
Qin Xiao had knocked all the others down, but unlike An Ling, he’d only taught them a lesson; although armed, he didn’t really hurt them.
The group slunk away in embarrassment. Now that they’d witnessed Qin Xiao’s strength, they dared not provoke him again.
As he swept his gaze over the crowd, everyone instinctively avoided his eyes—making it impossible to tell who might be a hidden survivor.
Tap, tap!
Just then, footsteps echoed from the pitch-black stairs. From the darkness emerged the very girl who had falsely accused An Ling earlier.
“Sorry, everyone, I overslept.”