Brother Fat and his group of monsters arrived at the edge of the swamp in an aggressive manner.
They quickly discovered human footprints that had not yet faded from the soft, damp ground, though they had been fabricated by Luo Yu.
Brother Fat bent down and examined them carefully.
The footprints appeared scattered as they approached from a distance. At the edge of the swamp, they suddenly became chaotic, and then vanished completely at the boundary.
It looked as if someone had fled all the way here, been blocked by the swamp, panicked, and rushed into it, only to perish within the mud.
But was that really the case?
The other monsters seemed fooled, but Brother Fat was more cautious.
He recalled that the whistle he had heard earlier had been steady and powerful, not something a person fleeing for their life could have played.
So either he had gone the wrong way and the whistler was not here at all, or the whistler had sensed danger in advance, forged the footprints, and hidden nearby.
Luo Yu was a cunning human.
After a moment of thought, Brother Fat kicked several monsters beside him. “Go sniff around nearby and see if you can smell a human.”
Worried that the monsters might not understand, he added considerately,
“Focus on the swamp and the forest on the other side. If you find someone, do not bite them to death. Subdue them and bring them to me.”
The monsters moved at once, sniffing around the swamp.
They still looked human on the outside, but their movements were extremely strange, like puppets controlled by an inexperienced puppeteer. Their limbs dislocated at times, their postures twisted, chilling to behold.
Luo Yu was hiding among the forked branches of a large tree. From her position, she could clearly see everything happening near the swamp.
Including Brother Fat seeing through her crude footprint trick and ordering the others to search along the swamp.
The situation was even worse than Luo Yu had anticipated.
She had imagined that players exploring the Small Grove might be attacked and replaced by monsters hiding among them. What she had not expected was how fast the monsters acted, nor how helpless the players were in comparison.
Almost total annihilation.
From her perch, Luo Yu counted the monsters one by one and matched their disguised appearances to the familiar faces in her memory.
The result was chilling. Aside from Sun Heng and Yang Tian, she saw the faces of every other player.
They were all dead. A cold dread surged through Luo Yu’s heart.
Part of it was grief for the players who had died so horribly. Just one day ago, they were still living as humans. Even more than that was her fear for her own situation.
The surviving players might now be only herself, Sun Heng, and Yang Tian.
The game had only reached its third day. With just the three of them, how could they possibly face such a large number of monsters?
And not just the ones in front of her, but the hundreds hidden throughout the school.
Luo Yu silently clenched the bone whistle hanging on her chest.
If she wanted to clear the game and survive, she absolutely could not let go of the clues tied to the bone whistle.
But how was she supposed to act?
The monster force under Brother Fat’s command was already tracking her by scent. The moment she made any noise, they would rush her like mad dogs.
If it were only one or two, she might be able to fight back.
But what stood before her now were dozens of monsters with grotesque movements.
Luo Yu could not help recalling the time she had been targeted by the monster female teacher in the teaching building. The sharp fangs, the terrifying smile, and that supernatural power.
If these monsters below also possessed that kind of power, then the situation would be dire.
As she thought, one monster had already reached a point less than ten meters from her. If it looked up, it would see Luo Yu hiding behind the branches.
The monster kept moving closer, following the scent.
Luo Yu slowed her breathing and carefully retreated deeper into the denser foliage behind her.
If only that red giant eye in the sky from that night could flash again. Enemy or ally, at least it could intimidate the monsters and ease her immediate danger.
The monster kept approaching, and worse still, Brother Fat seemed to sense something and started moving in her direction as well.
Luo Yu had no choice but to continue retreating.
If it came down to it, she would have to jump from the tree and race the monsters on foot. With enough luck, she might escape alive.
She reached a hand behind her and turned her head to gauge the distance between the branch and the ground.
But the moment she extended her hand, something felt wrong. What she touched was not the rough bark of a tree, but something more like fabric. When she pressed down slightly, it was warm and soft.
Someone let out a muffled grunt.
The breath was extremely close, almost brushing her ear.
A monster! Luo Yu jolted in fright and nearly rolled straight off the branch.
That “monster” reacted quickly, grabbing her. One hand locked around her waist, while the other covered her mouth.
Luo Yu trembled, tears instantly welling up in her eyes.
She had known from the start that this trip was dangerous. But if she did not come now, once the school sealed off the Small Grove, finding the wolves again would be even harder.
Even though she had mentally prepared herself for the possibility of dying here, when danger was truly this close and her life hung by a thread, she was still afraid.
“Mmm…”
Luo Yu tried to bite, but the “monster” behind her only tightened his grip, forcing her entire body back against him.
The hand gripping her waist became even more outrageous, sliding down to clamp onto her thigh and completely restraining her frantic kicking.
Then, lightly but deliberately, he gave her thigh a squeeze.
Soft!
The “monster” curled his lips at the novel sensation. Luo Yu had been getting handsy with Him before, so He had been curious for a long time.
Now that He tried it, it was soft and pleasant to the touch, truly addictive.
So he squeezed again.
Luo Yu froze. No way!
Why did she feel like the “monster” behind her was taking advantage of her?
Could it be Sun Heng?
When it came to lecherous men, Sun Heng was the first person Luo Yu thought of. But thinking about that sort of thing at a time like this was far too much.
“Mmm, mmm, let go of me…” With her mouth covered, Luo Yu could only whimper softly.
“Sun Heng” ignored her and pressed her even more firmly into his chest.
“Little liar.”
“Sun Heng” spoke, but what he said left Luo Yu utterly confused.
“You lied to me, and I am very angry.”
What lies and anger? He had led the team until he was the only one left. He should be ashamed, not angry.
Luo Yu raised her hand to strike backward, intending to give Sun Heng a “return to reason punch.” Halfway through the swing, she suddenly realized that this “Sun Heng’s” voice sounded strange.
Sun Heng did not sound like this.
But if the one behind her was not Sun Heng, then who was it?
In her moment of distraction, the hand covering her mouth withdrew and instead caught her fist in midair.
The man continued where he had left off. “So if you dare do it again, I will throw you down there to feed the monsters.”
Luo Yu stiffly turned her head to look behind her.
Oh no.