After dinner, the group came to the open space in front of the hotel.
Lu Chenfei took out a plastic doll-like prop from the space bag.
He blew gently at the doll, threw it forward, and then retreated more than ten meters.
Then, amid the exclamations of the crowd, the doll began to expand rapidly, stretching both vertically and horizontally, like a giant rising from the ground, and instantly became more than a hundred meters tall.
It changed its appearance, and it was exactly the Q version of Lu Chenfei, with a arrogant expression and a sour face, but inexplicably cute.
Looking at this thing, ordinary people can easily develop gigantic phobia. Gu Xing and Gu Chen leaned against each other and took many steps back, with a subtle look on their faces.
Lu Xiangyi's eyes widened and he cursed, "Oh my god."
Lu Chenfei stood behind the giant, calmed down and began to observe the entire forest through the giant's eyes.
Behind him, Song Yang, Xia Jing, You Ye stood together.
Xia Jing glanced at Lu Xiang, who was chewing on a tomato provided by the hotel.
The tomatoes in the hotel were very big and bright red. Lu Xiang opened his mouth, bit down hard with his teeth clearly visible. The bright red juice of the tomatoes splashed everywhere and splashed on his face. At first glance, he looked like he was biting a piece of raw meat.
The way he ate was really ugly, but Lu Xiang was completely unaware of it. While chewing and swallowing the food in big mouthfuls, he kept muttering to Lu Chenfei, asking him what he saw and whether he saw anything.
Beside Xia Jing, Song Yang asked in a low voice: "How do you feel about the food in this hotel so far?"
Xia Jing continued to observe Lu Xiang, his voice gentle and calm. "The vegetables were especially delicious. I think it's because the ingredients were of high quality. After eating them, I didn't feel anything special except that I felt hungry."
After a pause, he turned around and asked Song Yang: "What about you?"
He believed that he was not a human being, and perhaps Song Yang would feel differently.
Song Yang thought: "I am the same as you."
This feeling was very strange. They vaguely felt that there was something strange about the food in this hotel, but they couldn't tell what was wrong.
It is true that he feels hungry easily, but that's all. Song Yang can't even tell whether this hunger is caused by excessive physical exertion in the high temperature environment, or is simply because of the anticipation for the next delicious meal.
Because of this, they have no way to clearly point out to other players that there is something wrong with these meals.
You Ye, who had overheard their conversation, said, "Everyone's tolerance for hunger is different. So far, I've seen most people be fine. I'm not overly sensitive to this kind of hunger myself, but Lu Xiang and Gu Xiaomei's appetites have clearly become very strong."
The three people's eyes once again moved to Gu Xing who was hiding in the corner.
Gu Xing is not tall and very thin. She doesn't look like someone who can eat a lot, but she just finished a whole bowl of rice by herself.
"Plants, 'everything grows'." Xia Jing chewed on these words slowly.
The vegetation on the dungeon cover may initially lead players to mistakenly believe that the focus of the dungeon is the forest.
All things in the forest include plants and naturally also the wild animals that live in the forest.
But what if the plants on the cover of the copy only refer to the plants themselves?
Come to think of it, the monster's hand that he and Song Yang saw yesterday also looked a bit like a wooden branch.
Song Yang pondered for a moment and said, "Just in case, I still have to find a time to remind everyone not to eat the vegetables and fruits in this hotel anymore."
They can't eat nothing, so they can only replenish energy selectively.
As for whether the rest of the people believe what they say, that is not something they can control.
Xia Jing and You Ye nodded.
In front, Lu Chenfei suddenly said, "Hey, there's something strange in the forest."
Upon hearing this, everyone gathered together.
Lu Chenfei stared ahead without blinking, and the hundred-meter-tall giant also stared ahead with a sharp gaze.
Lu Chenfei waved his arms, and the giant also waved his arms.
"That place is about ten kilometers away from us. It looks a bit like an orchard or a vegetable field..." Lu Chenfei opened his eyes wide and looked hard, "Why do I feel like there are watermelons and cabbages?"
Song Yang asked, "Are there people living over there?"
The other players' expressions tightened.
Lu Chenfei frowned and said, "I didn't see any houses, and that place, which I don't know if it's a vegetable garden or an orchard, is also quite messy. It doesn't look like anyone is taking care of it."
He looked around again: "I don't see any signs of human habitation in this entire forest."
Song Yang asked again: "How big is the orchard?"
"It's quite large. It feels like at least the size of a playground surrounded by two 400-meter running tracks," Lu Chenfei's description was quite accurate. "Apart from this vegetable and fruit field, there doesn't seem to be anything special in this forest. Speaking of which, I haven't found Cao Jun either."
But even if Cao Jun was still alive, such a person entering the forest would be like a small fish swimming into the sea. Not to mention that he might hide in a cave or a tree hole, even if he just stood under a big tree with lush branches and leaves, Lu Chenfei would not be able to find him.
Everyone started discussing Lu Chenfei's current findings.
Cheng Hua said solemnly, "It's actually ten kilometers away. The roads in this forest are not easy to walk on. If we set out now, we won't be able to make a round trip before dark."
Zhou Yaqing asked, "Xiao Lu, can your giant prop help us get to that place in the forest?"
If it were this giant, it would probably only take a few steps to get there.
Lu Chenfei shook his head: "No, this giant is actually an inflatable doll. Not to mention that it can't even walk steadily, it will be gone if it steps on any tree and gets pierced by a branch. If you don't believe me, I can show you a show after I finish using this prop."
Cheng Hua: "Hey, wait, wait, we have to save this prop so it doesn't go to waste. Maybe there's something else we want to see!"
Xia Jing, standing aside, suddenly asked softly, "Lu Chenfei, can you still see beyond the forest?"
The others were stunned, not knowing why Xia Jing made this move.
Song Yang and Xia Jing's thoughts were always synchronized. Seeing that the others didn't understand, he said calmly, "Didn't the hotel manager say that the suspicious man we met on the way here took a taxi and ran away? We are now in the corner of the forest, surrounded by the arc of the forest, with a mountain behind us——"
As for this mountain, they had already tried it yesterday and players could not get close to it - it represented one of the boundaries of the map.
"If there's no place in the forest where humans can live, then where did the crazy man take a taxi to? He's a crucial clue; he must be within the dungeon map."
Does this copy exist somewhere outside the forest?
In other words, they couldn't even see any trace of taxis in the hotel or the forest.
Everyone was startled. Lu Chenfei only thought of this question at this moment, but he quickly gave an answer: "All I can see is the forest."
Everyone suddenly tensed up.
Lu Chenfei affirmed: "Although I really want to say that this dungeon map may be larger than I imagined, and there may be places like cities in places I can't see, but based on my experience, what I can see should be all of the dungeon."
——In other words, there is no city at all, let alone a road for taxis to drive on!
The hotel manager is lying!
Zhou Yaqing and Cheng Hua turned around abruptly and looked at the hotel manager with a small mustache who was greeting guests in the hotel.
Noticing their gazes through a French window, the man with a mustache straightened up, squinting his eyes and smiling, his smile like a smiling mask, making people feel cold under their feet.
"Then the question is," Xia Jing laughed with interest, unlike the others' fear. "Why did the hotel deceive us? Is this the only place they deceived us?"
The sun was shining brightly in the sky and the temperature was approaching 40 degrees Celsius, but the group felt cold all over and stood there stiffly, unable to move.
Because of the fear of the unknown, several people became obviously panicked.
Cheng Hua lowered his voice and said quickly, "Could it be that the broken window this morning was actually broken by the hotel itself, and they were just pretending to repair it for us?"
You Ye shook his head, dismissing his assumption. "If they really had colluded with the monster, then there was no need to break the window. Like Xia Jing said, they could have just left the door open, unlocked the outside, and given the monster the spare room card. Besides, there was absolutely no need for them to deliberately break the glass and then repair it just to create the illusion of being a victim. It's completely unnecessary."
Zhou Yaqing's face turned grim. "Is the hotel really protecting itself from monsters? But if everyone in the hotel is a good person, then why did they trick our crazy man into taking a taxi and running away?!"
Gu Xing asked, "Could it be that the man is really the main monster, and the hotel just doesn't want us to track down the monster because they're afraid we'll be in danger?"
Xia Jing chuckled: "Is there such a kind NPC in the dungeon?"
Gu Xing opened his mouth, speechless.
The NPCs in the dungeon either watch or help the monsters do evil.
The only thing that is impossible is to lend a helping hand to players simply out of goodwill.
Xia Jing's words instantly made everyone clear their minds.
That's right, there are only two positions for NPCs in the dungeon. Since the hotel has actively interfered between players and monsters, how could it be a bystander?
Thinking of this, several people's faces could no longer hold back.
Zhou Yaqing said excitedly, "I think we should just not stay in the hotel tonight. We searched the hotel yesterday and found no clues. It would be better if the nine of us could sleep outside together. If the monster comes, we'll attack it. I don't believe we can't solve it!"
Song Yang looked at her and said, "With such a large target like the hotel stuck in the dungeon, there can't be no clues. We only did a rough search yesterday, so we may not have found every corner."
"That's right, I agree with Song Yang on this point," Lu Chenfei said carelessly, "Think of it this way. Song Yang and Xia Jing did see a monster outside the window last night, but if we just sleep outside the hotel and fight the monster directly, we can win this dungeon. Then is the difficulty of this dungeon worth three stars?"
"There must be something closely related to the hotel. If we don't figure it out, we won't be able to complete this dungeon!"
Song Yang also mentioned the food incident. Several people were even more shocked and confused. Lu Xiang, who had just eaten a tomato, covered his throat with his hands and was sweating profusely.
"We'll search the hotel again tonight. Now, while we still have some time in the afternoon, let's go for a walk in the forest," Song Yang frowned. "Everything grows. The clues to this dungeon shouldn't be limited to a hotel and a vegetable and fruit field."
Such a grand theme, such a vast forest.
There should be clues they can find in the forest between the hotel and the vegetable and fruit field.
*
At one o'clock in the afternoon, the group walked into the forest again under the increasingly scorching sun.
Lu Chenfei's giant doll was still standing at the door of the hotel, observing the route for them and pointing out the direction.
This time, the entrance they entered the forest through was more than twenty meters away from the entrance they entered in the morning. After observation, Lu Chenfei confirmed that it was perpendicular to the vegetable and fruit field.
As long as they walk straight in this direction, they should be able to reach the vegetable and fruit field in the shortest distance.
Once they entered the forest, they were surrounded by trees and leaves.
In fact, they knew that the plants in this copy would be the focus of observation long before entering the copy, but at first they did not think that the vegetables they ate might also have problems.
If Song Yang had brought this up at noon, they might not have believed it. After all, the vegetables in the hotel were just particularly delicious, and there was nothing special about them.
But after discovering problems with the Xia Jing Ming Hotel, they no longer dared to disbelieve it.
Seeing these green plants at this moment, they just felt scared.
What's wrong with the plants? And what's wrong with the food they eat?
All kinds of unknown dangers surround them, making people's scalps tingle.
Song Yang and Xia Jing led the way, while You Ye and Lu Chenfei followed behind. The group walked side by side in the forest, observing their surroundings vigilantly.
At the front, Xia Jing whispered, "If the crazy man has nowhere to go, then he should be in the forest right now, right?"
Song Yang looked around, nodded, and whispered, "It's possible that something happened to them, just like Cao Jun."
After all, he and Xia Jing didn't believe that Cao Jun would walk into the forest voluntarily.
Of course, it is impossible that he was bewitched.
There must be some other reason that forced him to take this step.
And when a crazy man pesters them, it may not necessarily be an attack, but a request for help.
The two of them may have been oppressed by the same external force, which may have come from the forest or the hotel.
It is also possible that it is both.
After walking for about an hour and covering a distance of two kilometers, Lu Xiang, Zhou Yaqing and Gu Xing could no longer walk. The three of them sat under a big tree to rest, sweating profusely and looking pale.
You Ye crossed his arms and said, "I don't think there's any point in going on like this."
Song Yang frowned and thought, then he and Xia Jing lowered their heads and looked at the soil under their feet.
The two turned their heads left and right to search for their target. Finally, Xia Jing pointed to a piece of grass that looked particularly fresh and tender by the roadside, and Song Yang pointed to a small wild flower. After confirming their eyes, the two walked over, squatted down and started digging the soil.
You Ye, Lu Chenfei, Gu Chen and Cheng Hua gathered over to see what they were planning to do.
They carefully dug up the soil, as if trying to uproot the plant.
Lu Chenfei squatted beside Xia Jing: "Do you want to confirm the status of the plants in the copy?"
Xia Jing nodded.
Gu Chen stood behind Song Yang and said, "But these plants don't look anything special."
Song Yang: "That's right."
The plant's leaves and rhizomes appear normal.
So where else could the problem lie?
The two of them thought about it with their backs to each other, and at a certain moment, they moved at the same time again.
This time, they started digging deep into the dirt.
As they dug, they soon made a discovery.
Song Yang and Xia Jing each picked up a red, round object mixed in the soil.
Lu Chenfei moved closer and asked, "What is this?"
Xia Jing squeezed the thing hard, and it was crushed into pieces, and a few drops of light yellow milky liquid came out of it.
Lu Chenfei: "Is this a fruit?"
Xia Jing looked at his fingertips for a moment and said slowly, "It looks like a seed."