Chapter 348: Testing on Behalf

Words : 1368 Updated : Oct 15th, 2025

Chapter 348: Chapter 348: Testing on BehalfActually, for the other players, whether they could enter or leave the ancient castle didn’t matter, because they needed to clear the instance here. Whether they could get a Return Ticket was not important; tickets, props, and potions were indispensable. Under normal circumstances, once the instance began, it would also become spatially isolated from the exterior, only reopening after the instance ended. But this caused the Ma Family Couple to frown; Mrs. Ma even deliberately picked a fight with the servants at breakfast. Xu Huo remained calm. This couple was simply anxious because they initially thought they were invited to eat for free, but on arrival, they discovered they might become the meal instead, and were also trapped here with no way out, which was why they were angrily picking fights. However, the servants in the castle seemed to have bad tempers, and the couple was quite wary of them, daring only to be verbally offensive. The other players seemed to have some disagreements too. After breakfast, they split up in groups and went to different areas of the castle—they had already searched once yesterday, and if they trusted each other, there was no need to search again. "You don’t seem worried at all," Mrs. Ma said, the three of them left alone in the dining room alongside the Ma Family Couple. She was displeased with everyone at the moment. "Worried about what?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "Being killed?" "Who entered your room last night?" Mrs. Ma asked directly. "Surely it wasn’t a player, right?" "The other party used a prop, so I couldn’t see their face," Xu Huo admitted frankly. "But my guess is it was someone from the castle, and Mr. Dong is a likely suspect." "Him?" Mr. Ma pondered for a moment before saying, "Why would he want to go after you?" "Simple, because I’m a red player," Xu Huo replied. "He came specifically for the red players." "Does that mean he’s the one who sent us the mysterious invitations, just to fish for us?" "The sender of the invitations might not necessarily be him," Xu Huo said in a mysterious tone, lowering his voice, "Don’t you think this castle is very strange? The servants listen to Butler Dong more than to their master, He Pu." Mrs. Ma had noticed this, "Last night at dinner, the servants served the wrong meal to He Pu. They have worked here for more than a day; such a mistake is impossible unless they don’t respect him. Also, I noticed that Mr. Dong regards bowls, dishes, cups, and plates as more important than He Pu." "He Pu sent the invitations, inviting us here to deal with Mr. Dong?" Mr. Ma felt it was unlikely. "If he really was under Mr. Dong’s thumb, the invitations couldn’t have been sent." "Regardless of who sent the invitations, at least we have allies in the castle," Xu Huo said with a smile. Mr. Ma said, "Should we go find He Pu and ask him for clarification?" "Why bother with him?" Xu Huo replied nonchalantly. "This place isn’t as dangerous as I imagined, why not just mind our own business?" The Ma Family Couple exchanged a glance and said nothing more as they got up and went upstairs. Xu Huo’s gaze remained fixed on their retreating figures for a second before calling over the young servant from yesterday, asking her to take him to the Garden Maze to cut flowers for arranging. On the way, he encountered Liu Zhengping and Wei Landeng, who were circling the exterior of the Garden Maze. Liu Zhengping walked away without a glance, while Wei Landeng couldn’t help but look at Xu Huo, only to see him fiddling with a figurine and saying, "That’s real mutton." Just as Wei Landeng was about to speak, she saw him turn and leave, while Liu Zhengping was calling for her. Hesitating for a moment, she walked over to Liu Zhengping. Xu Huo turned his head back to look at the main building. The windows of the main building perfectly overlooked the maze; entering during the day would make it easy to be discovered doing anything suspicious. This was probably why Liu Zhengping and Wei Landeng hadn’t gone in. However, after he picked a few flowers, he eagerly invited the servant to join him in adventuring through the maze. "Mr. Xu, I still have a lot of work to do, and the maze is difficult to navigate..." "Are you afraid of Hu Shan scolding you?" Xu Huo released a smile, "I’m friends with Mr. He; if I mention it to him, there won’t be any problems." The servant’s face turned slightly red as he reluctantly agreed. The two leisurely strolled into the maze. Upstairs in the main building, Flay and Li Chao were talking. When the former saw Xu Huo and a servant entering the maze, he couldn’t help frowning, "Going into the maze in broad daylight to look for something? That takes guts." "Maybe he’s just looking for pleasure?" Li Chao stroked his chin, "Some of the maids here are pretty attractive." Flay drew the curtains and turned back, "Tell me, what did you find out last night?" "Bad news, what Mr. Xu said was right; among us, there really are players who weren’t given tasks." Li Chao said, "The invitations sent out by He Pu’s servant are unsigned, different from the ones we received." Flay didn’t seem surprised, but just narrowed his eyes, "Who do you think is a non-task player?" "Shouldn’t I be asking you that?" Li Chao looked at him, "I may not be the brightest, but I know that a contract with little binding force isn’t very useful to sign, so your contract must have some other purpose, right?" Flay smiled, "Then why did you dare to sign the contract?" Li Chao pinched his fingers, "Whatever it takes to clear the game is fine by me." "It does have another use, but it’s not very significant; it can only reveal each player’s color classification," Flay said, "It’s used to distinguish Cannibal Players." "That’s useless," Li Chao scoffed, then paused before adding, "The Ma Family Couple is probably not players from this instance, but it’s hard to say about the others." "Aren’t you afraid that I’m not either?" Flay raised an eyebrow. Searᴄh the NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Like I said, as long as I clear the game, that’s fine," Li Chao said, "We cooperate, and if you’re not a task player, we can just split the Tickets and items. Isn’t that more convenient than killing?" Flay mentioned two game tasks to prove that he was indeed a task player. While they formed an alliance, the Ma Family Couple was preparing to sneak up to the third floor quietly. "Is it too risky?" Mrs. Ma whispered, "What he said might not be right; maybe Mr. Dong is under orders from He Pu, and their master-servant discord could be feigned." But Mr. Ma scoffed, "I was almost fooled by that kid’s obscure talk. He just wants to monopolize the benefits. How long have you been in the game? When have you ever seen the boss of an instance be the good guy? Not to mention deliberately setting a trap for the Red Players." "That’s true," Mrs. Ma thought about it, "Then who snuck into his room last night?" "Who knows, might well be another player," Mr. Ma clearly did not want to concern himself too much with it. "Do you think he’s the player from this instance?" Mrs. Ma suddenly speculated, "That’s why he’s suggesting the castle has issues, to make us suspect He Pu and the butler? But how did he know about the invitation?" "Why worry so much? The one who killed Fang Min must be someone in the castle; we might still get a share if we go now," Mr. Ma urged. Mr. Dong, holding a clean cup, silently watched from behind the study door. Through the narrow gap, he watched the Ma Family Couple disappear at the staircase before pulling the door open and stepping out.

Chapter 348: Testing on Behalf

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