Chapter 37: Luring Out the Murderer

A day passed uneventfully.

At night, An Ling woke up groggy and dazed. She still didn’t know that Qin Xiao had also received a Hidden Mission, and her mind was occupied with thoughts of how to get a pancreas.

She glanced at the time. It was a little past six.

She got up, put on her clothes, socks, and shoes, quickly washed up, tied her hair, and sat down on the chair.

As she took care of her own dinner, she waited quietly for the manor’s power outage, searching for an opportunity to complete the Hidden Mission.

She finally finished the last packet of unpalatable compressed biscuits, and after having a Sandwich, she contentedly patted her belly.

She’d been eating nothing but instant food these past few days, but fortunately her body hadn’t felt any discomfort.

“I suddenly really miss the taste of Instant Noodles!”

The waiting was unbearably dull, and An Ling kept looking at the pendant on her chest, wishing time would pass faster.

Four more hours went by, and it was now ten o’clock—the lights-out time.

An Ling turned off the light in her room, watching the strip of light cast from the corridor through the crack beneath the doorframe.

Step, step!

Footsteps again?

An Ling paused in surprise, but kept her eyes locked on the edge of the door.

Moments later, the footsteps faded. There was no shadow under the doorframe; whatever it was, it hadn’t stopped outside her door. An Ling couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Knock, knock, knock!

Suddenly, the quiet of night was shattered by a knocking sound that made her heart race. The sound came from one side—it was knocking on another survivor’s door!

The sound was coming from the right, very close by. If not Qin Xiao, then it was Chen Rui’s room.

This was completely different from before. The sounds everyone heard were no longer different, like an illusion; this time, the terrifying knocking echoed through the entire corridor.

Every survivor present heard it loud and clear.

In the next room, Qin Xiao lay on his bed, unfazed by the knocking.

He gripped his Tang Dao tightly, mind racing with whether or not to call out the Slavemaster’s name at that moment.

He was absolutely certain that the thing outside the door was the Killer who had murdered the Slavemaster.

But the cramped room wasn’t suited for a fight. If he lost, he’d die right there. After a moment’s thought, Qin Xiao gave up on calling out the Slavemaster’s name for now.

At least in the main hall, he still had the insurance of An Ling. After a while, the knocking faded, replaced by footsteps as it moved on to knock at other survivors’ doors.

An hour passed. With a sizzle, the manor lost power once again.

All the survivors looked anxious, except for An Ling and Qin Xiao, whose faces showed a hint of excitement. They knew—the chance to leave the island had arrived.

One by one, the survivors left their rooms and began gathering in the first-floor hall.

An Ling glanced at the time. It had only been half an hour since the knocking ended; it was now ten thirty.

There was still an hour and a half until the fifth day. She guessed that the danger level wouldn’t escalate just yet.

Which meant she had to try and deal with the Slavemaster within this hour and a half.

An Ling and Qin Xiao exchanged a glance as they left their rooms. No words were spoken as they silently headed downstairs.

The hall quickly filled with people. Under the emergency lights, every face showed fatigue and confusion.

The psychological toll of these days had been immense.

Now everyone finally understood why the survivors before them had all gone mad.

An Ling didn’t say a word. Just by standing there, she made it so no one dared approach. As she was about to count heads, she suddenly noticed Qin Xiao was also observing the surroundings.

He was counting, too?

“Everyone, look around and see if there are any survivors who haven’t come down yet. The knocking happened again tonight—anyone who hasn’t come down might just be that monster in disguise!”

Qin Xiao’s cold voice echoed in the hall. The survivors, hearing this, became agitated and started glancing at one another.

But they were all strangers. Even if a couple of familiar faces were missing, in this tense atmosphere, it was hard to recall them at all.

Seeing no one respond, Qin Xiao looked to An Ling again. “Do me a favor—watch them. I’ll go upstairs and check if anyone is still hiding.”

An Ling nodded in confusion. His behavior today was definitely unusual, but she didn’t ask more.

Naturally, no other survivors would risk running off at a time like this.

It was dangerous to be alone in a powerless manor.

The first-floor hall was a little chaotic, with the survivors whispering to each other in an attempt to ease their fear.

An Ling thought she heard Qin Xiao shouting from upstairs, but she couldn’t quite make out what he was saying.

A few minutes later, she heard it clearly. He was calling out for Xius.

Three floors, fifty rooms. It took him less than ten minutes to check them all before coming back downstairs.

An Ling hesitated, wanting to speak, but stopped herself. She knew he must have found something out. As he passed her, Qin Xiao’s muscles were clearly tensed, brimming with terrifying strength.

“You two, step back. I’ve found a way to leave the island.” he said in a low voice.

An Ling and Chen Rui immediately drew back from the group of survivors.

Of all of us here, only the three of us—him, Chen Rui, and myself—number less than thirty. Does he really have a way to find the hidden Slavemaster?

An Ling watched the scene silently, curious to see what method Qin Xiao would use.

He pulled out a piece of Yellowed Paper, glanced down at it, then faced all the survivors.

“John Matthews!”

He suddenly shouted, his voice echoing through the hall. The next second, the Yellowed Paper in his hand caught fire and was instantly reduced to ashes.

An Ling was shocked. Of course she knew what that was—a Hidden Mission!

Qin Xiao had a Hidden Mission too!

She immediately understood—there wasn’t just one Hidden Mission.

As the shout faded, the survivors looked at one another in confusion, glancing at Qin Xiao, not understanding why he’d yelled.

An Ling’s gaze locked on the crowd. She saw that a few survivors’ eyes had turned pitch black, and a strange grin crept onto their faces.

The next instant, they charged at Qin Xiao, just like the Spectators had yesterday.

“So there’s more than one Killer.” He raised his blade and engaged them in combat.

These people were quite different from the Spectators—they had no monstrous abilities. Their strength and speed were within the range of ordinary humans.

Four Killers. Strictly speaking, they were no different from four regular people. The only difference was that to kill them completely, their heads had to be chopped off.

Clearly, the four of them together were no match for Qin Xiao. For an ordinary person, even if lucky enough to receive a Hidden Mission, it would still have meant certain death.

The survivors hurriedly backed away from the sudden battlefield. An Ling also withdrew to a distance, drew her pistol, and prepared to step in if needed.

She could tell that Qin Xiao’s Hidden Mission was completely different from her own. These four monsters were obviously not the true masters of the island.

Soon, a sharp flash of the blade swept by. With immense force, a Killer’s neck was severed—a clean beheading—and the body collapsed lifeless to the floor.

Destroying the brain was troublesome, but chopping off the head was much more efficient.

This was not strength an ordinary person could possess. Qin Xiao had used a Tool Card.

An Ling smiled as well. Their Hidden Missions did not conflict, and now, she finally had hope of obtaining the pancreas.