Playing the Foolish Beauty in a Deadly Game - Chapter 8
Humans are terrestrial creatures; only by standing on solid ground can they feel secure. Even birds, which soar through the skies, must eventually land. Flying at an altitude of ten thousand meters, the plane relies entirely on the captain and the rest of the crew. Coupled with the uncertain and unfamiliar factors of flight, it feels too passive. If possible, players would prefer to take control of their own lives and initiative.
The thought of “leaving the plane and taking shelter on the ground” flashed through the minds of all the players, but no one intended to act on it. Players still trusted the system more, even though the system sometimes played word games. Based on the clues they had gathered so far, the plane seemed to be the safer option. Unlike the excited NPC passengers, the players’ expressions were tense.
The area around the runway was relatively open. As the plane landed with a roar, the loud noise caused vibrations in the air, attracting the humanoid figures wandering outside to approach the sliding jumbo jet. When the cabin door opened and the retractable stairs were deployed, a wave of heat mixed with a strange smell hit them in the face.
Lin Qiao, following Yan Ting, was among the first to disembark. He remembered that in his world, such jumbo jets didn’t have built-in stairs; they only had passenger boarding vehicles and jet bridges. However, the advantage of having built-in stairs was that they didn’t necessarily have to stop at an airport during future flights.
According to the plan, Lin Qiao, Yan Ting, bodyguard player Zhong Minglang, the captain, and four men in black suits prepared to take a car to a certain location. It was Yan Ting’s idea; he seemed to be going to a nearby house to get something. The remaining crew members, the female lover, five men in black suits, and the players were tasked with gathering supplies. Finally, the six men in black suits were divided into two groups: three continued to occupy the plane, while the other three went to get fuel for the plane and store it.
After setting the alarm, everyone began to take action. Yan Ting’s group and the female lover’s group were on the same route, so the whole group traveled together. The blonde boy and his mother followed, joining the female lover’s supply-gathering team. The men in black suits frowned, but the mother and son stayed at a distance and didn’t get close; they seemed to be just traveling the same way. Time was of the essence, and the men in black suits didn’t have time to care about two people who posed no threat; they had to find as much food, water, medicine, and other equipment as possible. Moreover, Yan Ting didn’t drive them away, so the players and bodyguards turned a blind eye and pretended not to notice.
After the passengers disembarked, they noticed, aside from a strange oily smell in the air, there didn’t seem to be any danger. The airport appeared to be in a blackout, dark and gloomy. Some passengers turned on their phone lights to see the hijackers walking outside.
“Look, I told you they were lying. Everything’s fine. Let’s go out too.”
“Why won’t they let us take our luggage? Are they crazy? Are they that greedy for a little money?”
“Why isn’t there any internet? Is it the end of the world? We should check the news online. The signal is so bad. Do you have any signal on your phones? Maybe the airport staff blocked it. Let’s go out and see.”
The three men in black suits who occupied the plane didn’t waste any words and drove everyone out according to orders. The brown-haired man took the opportunity to incite the passengers, with a face like a pig’s head, calling on everyone to seize the plane while they had the chance. The passengers who thought there was no danger were unwilling. They just wanted to contact the outside world and call the police. So, a large number of passengers prepared to find transportation to leave. They saw that the men in black suits didn’t drive away the blonde mother and son, so they also followed secretly.
Lin Qiao looked back at the dozens of passengers who were following and said nervously, “They seem to be following us.”
When Yan Ting hijacked the plane, the weather was bad, and many passengers canceled their trips. There were only about ninety passengers on the plane. Now at least fifty people were following, and the target area was quite large. Bodyguard player Zhong Minglang said, “Don’t worry, we have guns.”
Most players were too heavy-hearted to speak, and the men in black suits were naturally taciturn. Only the “naive pretty boy” Lin Qiao was still chattering away, and he exclaimed in surprise, “Well, look at this. When did XBD Airport have so many graffiti? These graffiti are really strange and look very scary.”
Everyone looked in the direction illuminated by Lin Qiao’s flashlight and saw a shadow lying on the ground, which should be the graffiti mentioned by the captain, only in the shape of a person. The human-shaped graffiti had already completely merged with the ground. It seemed to have fallen during the running process, and the shape of the five fingers was very clear.
The more they walked outward, the more black human-shaped graffiti there were. Some were piled up on the ground, some were on the walls, and some were attached to various objects in strange postures. Engineer player Zhu Shaocheng, who had previously been sensitive and shouted loudly, began to be neurotic again: “These… these shadows, aren’t they people?”
“What should we do? Are they burned like this after being exposed to the sun? The temperature is so high. We will definitely die!”
Female internet celebrity player Anna couldn’t bear to see it and squatted down to kick the shadow with her foot: “No flesh and blood, it’s flat, just a shadow.”
Engineer player exclaimed: “So what about these black shadows? Huh? Just like when we burn something, there will be a black spot on the ground. These must be left by people who were burned to death!”
His suddenly raised voice caused the passengers behind to hear it, and everyone started to discuss. It seemed that a panic was about to break out. Yan Ting suddenly spoke: “It takes at least eight hundred degrees to burn a person into ashes. If that were the case, the plants around would not be so lush.”
Engineer player swallowed his words of retort, and the doctor player pursed his lips: “That’s right. Let’s not scare ourselves.”
At this time, when everyone was close to the exit, a scream suddenly burst out from the passengers who had followed secretly. A female passenger pointed to the waiting hall and collapsed in despair: “There are people! There are so many people watching us!”
Everyone shone their flashlights over, and their scalps tingled. The waiting hall’s glass was full of black shadows, which were tightly attached to the windows and motionless. It seemed to be watching the moving living people, or it seemed to be meaningless graffiti. The two sides were in a standoff, and the shadows had no signs of life.
The captain tried to smooth things over: “These are artistic graffiti. It might be more interesting to see them in the daytime. Don’t waste time. Didn’t a passenger with a telescope say he saw people on the ground?”
“Now the airport is empty. It might be that the government has organized a shelter. People have retreated to the shelter base. Let’s look for clues, look for living people, and maybe we can find a shelter.”
These words were not comforting, but the captain’s real thoughts. When he first approached the ground, he saw the ground on fire from the cockpit, and he knew that something must have happened. But the captain didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation. He really thought there would be government organizations to provide shelter. It’s just the sunlight. It should be fine as long as it’s not exposed.
The captain’s words were like a reassurance, giving all the passengers hope. Lin Qiao, however, noticed that Yan Ting’s expression was calm and unshaken. After discovering Lin Qiao’s peeking, he raised his eyebrows.
Fortunately, there was a large parking lot near the airport. Further out was a small town of bungalows, which was actually composed of various inns, pubs, and shops. The town was for tourists to rest, and the city was further out. Yan Ting’s target was a certain inn in the town. This group of people found a car and squeezed into it without waiting for the passengers, and drove away. The passengers were smashing the car windows and cursing in a low voice, but Yan Ting’s actions won the hearts of the players. They were racing against time now. If you wait for me and I wait for you, when will these people be done?
Lin Qiao was held by Yan Ting and sat in the back seat. He was not well-behaved, facing Yan Ting, and then put his chin on Yan Ting’s shoulder, observing through the rear window with a flashlight. Watching and watching, Lin Qiao’s eyes and eyebrows showed a smile: “They followed us.”
Bodyguard player Zhong Minglang thought Lin Qiao was talking about other players and bodyguards, so he didn’t take it to heart. On the contrary, it was a bit uncomfortable for Zhong Minglang to be so close to Yan Ting, two big men, especially Yan Ting, whose sexual orientation was a mystery, and he was bisexual. It was a bit strange.
Just at this time, Lin Qiao, who was soft like a cat, leaned on Yan Ting and asked curiously: “Zhong Minglang, do you have a girlfriend?”
“No.” The bodyguard player didn’t look at Lin Qiao.
“But…” Lin Qiao said firmly, “I saw you and a little boy come out of the hotel.”
The bodyguard player thought his character had a problem and was about to say something to make up for it. But Yan Ting patted Lin Qiao’s little butt: “Don’t tease him.”
Lin Qiao said, “Okay,” and then said, “I’m sorry, Zhong Minglang. I just lied to you. You didn’t come out of the hotel with a little boy.”
“You follow Mr. Yan Ting every day, just like his shadow.”
The system’s cold voice came from the mind, a deep and pleasant male voice, with a flat tone and no emotion: “Mind your manners.”
If he prompted again, it would attract the players’ attention. Lin Qiao shrank back into Yan Ting’s chest as if to escape, and then… he poked the other’s pectoral muscle.
Good, Yan Ting didn’t notice.
System: “?”
The journey took only about ten minutes, and the inn Yan Ting was looking for arrived. The tallest building in the whole town was the church, and the others were at most two stories high, and there was no one around. Many shops had their doors open, with all kinds of things inside. The food on the dining table had cooled down, but the leftover bread and half-drunk wine hinted that the sudden situation here left everyone no time to react.
After the team got out of the car, they found a room number according to the inn’s record. The inn was not very clean and the space was not very large. It was hard to imagine what Yan Ting came here for. Until Yan Ting directed the men in black suits to smash a wall, revealing a room full of guns and ammunition inside.
The men in black suits were excited and immediately started to box and transport the supplies. Lin Qiao, standing near the window, saw the female lover’s group downstairs moving supplies, including food, water, and daily necessities. At this time, it seemed that the sky became darker. The outline that could be seen through the window became blurred again. It was as if a layer of black gauze was put on the glasses. Lin Qiao had to stick his face to the window to continue watching.
“Move away.”
What? Move what away? Hand?
“Move your face away.”
Lin Qiao was stunned and slowly stood up. There was white fog on the window from his breath, and a lip print on the fog from where he had kissed. Lin Qiao had a bad feeling and asked in his mind, “Why do you want me to move my face away? Could it be…”
The system seemed to hesitate before answering: “Take a few steps back.”
Lin Qiao hurriedly ran back and looked back. The position he had just been in had a shadow-like figure outside the window, and the mouth part of the shadow was overlapping with the lip print. Lin Qiao clearly saw the shadow’s head open a crack, stretch out a black tongue-like shadow, and frantically lick the place he had just kissed, even slowly crawling up and making obscene gestures with its hips.
Lin Qiao: “Damn it.”
“?”
Lin Qiao quickly became so angry that his eyes turned red. He trembled and pulled at Yan Ting’s sleeve: “There’s something there, it…”
Lin Qiao’s voice made the people moving the guns look over. The beautiful little vase seemed to be scared by something. His face was both humiliated and wronged, his eyes red with tears as if he had been bullied, and he looked for someone to complain to.
Yan Ting stopped what he was doing and looked in the direction Lin Qiao was pointing. There was only the dark window, with faint lights visible outside and occasional voices from the other group.
Yan Ting’s snake-like eyes scanned the window: “What is it? What did it do to you?”
Lin Qiao froze, not just his eyes, but also his cheeks, neck, and earlobes turned red, and he stammered.
Outside the town, the passengers who were following also formed groups and drove cars, but the number of vehicles was decreasing. The driver of the last car looked through the rearview mirror and couldn’t help saying: “Why haven’t they caught up yet? Did something happen?”
The passenger in the same group as the driver was impatient: “Who cares about them? Let’s just get there. Drive carefully and don’t lose them like they did.”
The driver had no choice but to focus on driving again. The distance from the airport to the town was not far, but because it was dark and there were no streetlights, the driver drove cautiously. He didn’t know if it was his illusion, but the sky outside seemed even darker. Through the car window, he couldn’t see the headlights of the car in front.
The driver, who first thought the sun was the problem, didn’t expect there to be danger in the dark. The three passengers in the back were still chatting: “We’ve been out of the airport for so long, why is there still no signal, no Wi-Fi?”
“Yeah, I can’t find any news or make a call.”
“Do you think it’s really the sun that’s causing problems, affecting the magnetic field and signals on Earth?”
“Let’s check the town ahead to see if there’s any communication equipment. We’ll find a dark place to wait for rescue and not get back on the plane.”
“Those guys with guns aren’t good people. And people can’t fly in the sky all the time. Wouldn’t it be better to find a shelter or cellar?”
Just then, the passenger in the front passenger seat noticed a black handprint on the side of the windshield. So the front passenger asked the driver to wipe it with the wipers. The driver did as he was told, but after wiping, there was no effect. The front passenger thought it was inside the car and tried to wipe it with some saliva. As soon as he touched it, the black handprint “whooshed” to the side.
The front passenger stood there, his hand still in the wiping position, trembling. He wanted to say something to the driver, but when he turned his head, he saw countless black handprints on the driver’s side window, all scratching and wriggling silently. The front passenger’s expression was too strange. Not only was his face pale, but he was also gasping for breath, and his eyes seemed about to pop out of their sockets.
The driver felt a bit panicked, but when he looked at his side window, there was nothing. So he touched the front passenger: “What are you doing? Do you want to scare me to death?”
The front passenger swallowed his saliva: “Just now, just now…”
Glancing at the rearview mirror, the front passenger couldn’t say anything and screamed directly. The driver was startled and was about to scold him when he looked at the rearview mirror. In the rearview mirror, he saw that the three passengers in the back were surrounded by dense black figures. Because the car lights were off, the three passengers didn’t notice. But the driver and the front passenger saw it. The black figures, even in the dark, could be seen. The black figures filled the entire car, and they had been driving with the black figures all the way!
The driver and the front passenger suddenly realized why their car lights were off, why the black handprints couldn’t be wiped off, and why… the vehicles behind disappeared. Because the black human-like figures seen at the airport were all alive. They not only followed up, but also swallowed one car after another!
The passenger who once said he saw a living person through the telescope should have seen not a living person, but a moving black figure. What are these black figures doing in the ruins, walking in the dark, secretly observing the living people on the plane at the airport? What do they want to do?!
The passengers who safely arrived at the town began to move supplies and looked for equipment to contact the outside world. On the second floor of the inn, bodyguard player Zhong Minglang scratched his crew cut and couldn’t believe it.
“You’re saying a black shadow followed you, not only frantically licking the glass you kissed, but also making… making lewd and vulgar gestures towards you?”
Lin Qiao nodded shamefully, and Zhong Minglang looked at the young master Yan Ting: “Young master, this is the second floor. Did that person fly up?”
“Idiot.” Lin Qiao cursed: “Zhong Minglang is an idiot! A big idiot!”
Zhong Minglang admitted defeat and said: “Okay, okay, I’m an idiot.”
The other men in black suits also had a hint of amusement on their faces, and they looked at Lin Qiao with a restrained but somewhat flirtatious gaze. But they didn’t dare let Yan Ting see. Two bodyguards touched their guns and continued to pack up.
Yan Ting pinched Lin Qiao’s face: “Stay close to me.”
“Doesn’t Mr. Yan Ting believe me either?” Lin Qiao looked pitiful, trying to get some recognition.
Yan Ting’s appearance gave a dangerous feeling. Unlike Zhong Minglang’s ferocity, Yan Ting’s danger was more cold-blooded. His appearance was much more delicate than Zhong Minglang’s. Zhong Minglang’s features were more masculine, handsome and sunny, while Yan Ting seemed colder and more obsessive.
So when he looked at Lin Qiao, Lin Qiao always felt like he was being seen through. But Lin Qiao still repeated in a low voice: “Mr. Yan Ting, don’t you believe me either?”
“I believe you.” Yan Ting bent down: “So stay close to me and don’t let anyone or anything bully you.”
Lin Qiao felt that this sentence seemed to have another meaning, but there was too little information to infer.
“Mwah,” Lin Qiao kissed Yan Ting: “Mr. Yan Ting is really handsome.”
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