Could there be any clues in this instance that they hadn't discovered? Only by finding this undiscovered clue could they survive the relentless hunt of the spirits?

The players should communicate and share clues with each other.

A Lifetime of Peace looked up at the distant office building again. I need to notify Meiren Chu and Ji Bie Li that they're being targeted by the spirits so they can escape quickly!

But I can't just run up to the office building and tell them directly.

There's a terrifying spirit in that building, after all!

Going up would be putting myself in danger.

And the mobile phones provided by the instance can't even be used to communicate with players from the same camp...

A Lifetime of Peace was troubled for a moment.

But then, a thought struck him. Right! I can call my corresponding Hunter, Nine Lives, and have him tell any other Hunters he meets. Maybe he's with the Hunters corresponding to Meiren Chu or Ji Bie Li!

That way, they could be informed through the Hunters that the spirits were tracking them.

This method would take a lot of time, though, and there's no guarantee Nine Lives is with other Hunters, or if those Hunters correspond to Meiren Chu or Ji Bie Li.

Still, even if time is tight, it's better than doing nothing.

With this plan in mind, he pulled out his mobile phone, gritted his teeth lightly, and dialed the number.

「 」

Meanwhile, Gu Mian was on a call with Ji Bie Li.

Not long after leaving the stationery store, he received Ji Bie Li's call. Gu Mian had now reached another street. It was once a bustling hotspot full of mobile phone shops, leading Gu Mian to suspect that the instance's mobile phones were perhaps taken from here.

He stood at the entrance of Mobile Phone Street, silently listening to the voice coming from the receiver.

Unexpectedly, Ji Bie Li happened to be the nickname of a female player—at least, the voice was female. As for whether she had used a voice changer, I have no idea.

I never expected this survivor would dare to call me directly. I had already resigned myself to not exchanging a single word with Ji Bie Li in this instance.

"I discovered something," Ji Bie Li said. "Initially, I didn't understand the significance of the mobile phones in this instance. But after this discovery, I suspect they're meant to facilitate communication and clue-sharing between our two camps."

Ji Bie Li skipped the pleasantries. She launched into a string of words that, while sounding very reasonable, held no real worth, leaving Gu Mian deeply impressed by the power of such rhetoric.

"What is it?" Gu Mian didn't bother with trivial questions like 'who are you' or 'where are you,' and cut straight to the chase.

He wasn't interested in listening to more of such seemingly methodical yet utterly useless blather.

While talking to Ji Bie Li, Gu Mian continued to inspect the mobile phone shops on the street.

The shops had mobiles of every kind and color, all neatly arranged on the counters. The owners apparently hadn't thought to take these colorful items with them when they left.

The shops also had every type of charger and earpiece, all covered in a thick layer of dust. Inhaling it would make a person sneeze powerfully.

Many things could be hidden behind the mobile phone counters, and while listening to Ji Bie Li, Gu Mian went from shop to shop, checking behind them.

As far as I know, Fatty is excellent at hide-and-seek. Without other capable teammates by his side, he would likely find a relatively safe place to hide, passively slacking off and trying to coast through the instance.

Chu Changge, on the other hand, acts on a whim. It wouldn't be out of character for him to abandon Fatty in some corner to do whatever he pleased.

It has to be said, those two are rather well-matched in certain aspects.

Gu Mian was trying to ferret out Fatty, who weighed one hundred kilograms, from behind these mobile phone counters.

Ji Bie Li's voice continued from the receiver, "It's something I witnessed not too long ago..."

She paused. "Probably around fifteen minutes ago."

Gu Mian glanced at the time. It was exactly nine-thirty.

Fifteen minutes ago was nine-fifteen. At that point, the hide-and-seek game had only been going for fifteen minutes.

I remember that's around when I spotted the ghostly figure on top of the teaching building.

Could Ji Bie Li have seen something then too?

"As soon as the game started, I went into a stationery shop first, drew a map of all the places I had passed... then quickly fled in a direction away from you all, until I hid in a hotel called the Baodu Hotel. I was hiding in a room called 'Fengqing Pavilion' on the second floor."

I didn't expect this person to reveal her hiding spot right away, Gu Mian thought, slowing his search behind the mobile phone counters.

Ji Bie Li must not be hiding in the hotel anymore, or she wouldn't be so bold as to tell a Hunter her hiding place.

Gu Mian listened carefully to the voice from the receiver.

He could hear Ji Bie Li's breathing becoming somewhat ragged, and faint footsteps came through the receiver. It sounded like she was walking briskly somewhere.

Could she be doing some kind of strenuous activity?

"I was at a window on the second floor and happened to witness a chase between a survivor and a Hunter. Behind the hotel is a small alley. I saw two people run into the alley, one chasing, one fleeing. Both were players. As for which camp they belonged to, I don't need to elaborate, do I?"

Of course not.

I figure a Hunter wouldn't be the one screaming and running from a survivor. Nor would a survivor be reckless enough to actively hunt a Hunter.

"They didn't chase each other for very long. Then the spirit appeared..."

Ji Bie Li paused slightly. "I didn't see when it appeared, but when I noticed it, it was already very close to the Hunter."

"Only a fool would play hide-and-seek at a time like that. Upon discovering the spirit, the two players reacted quickly—they ran."

"However, the Hunter from your camp wasn't thinking straight. She probably wanted to split up and escape, but she didn't react in time. Instead, she turned and ran in the direction that was originally behind her—which was right where the spirit was."

"It seemed like she finally realized her mistake, but by then, the spirit was extremely close. It was too late to turn back, so she just braced herself and sprinted headlong in that same direction."

After saying this, Ji Bie Li stopped.

A few seconds later, her voice, now tinged with amusement, continued from the receiver.

"It was strange. The spirit didn't hesitate to chase after the survivor from our camp. The Hunter was closer and would have been easier to catch, but the spirit didn't even look at her."

Gu Mian pondered for a moment before speaking, "Are you suggesting that the spirit in this instance doesn't attack us Hunters?"

Ji Bie Li continued, "Otherwise, how could one explain why it didn't go after the Hunter, who was an easier target? I think the spirit in this instance might also be constrained by something, like the instance rules. I thought about it over and over again, and suddenly remembered a strange rule from when we first entered this instance…"

"'The factions are divided into two groups; five players are selected as Hunters, and the remaining units are Survivors.' That sentence?" Gu Mian interrupted, stroking his chin.

Ji Bie Li's surprised voice came through. "You discovered it already?"

"I felt something was off when that sentence appeared," Gu Mian said. "Two groups. One group includes 'five players,' while the other group is described using 'other units.' Doesn't that clearly indicate that your Survivor Camp has more than just players in it—that there's something else?"

Ji Bie Li was stunned.

She was so taken aback by Gu Mian's matter-of-fact tone that she was at a loss for words.

After a moment's pause, she continued, "Since you discovered early on that spirits would be constrained by Hunters, why haven't you done anything to constrain the instance's spirit?"

Gu Mian replied with his usual matter-of-fact tone, "I need to find two people first…"

Ji Bie Li felt as if smoke was beginning to billow from her head.

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