The others had no idea what Lao Hu intended to do, and each of them stared at him with nervous expressions, afraid to make a sound, lest they draw Lao Hu's attention to themselves.
"Heh heh heh," Lao Hu let out a sinister laugh. "We'll use this today."
With that, the dagger plunged directly into Zhang Wu's eye. With a thrust and a lift, an eyeball rolled out of Zhang Wu's socket, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground, which looked even more gruesome under the candlelight.
"Ah!!!"
He Duo couldn't help but let out a scream, and Chen Yi quickly covered her mouth.
Shen Yue also instinctively covered her mouth to prevent herself from making a sound, but the fear in her eyes was undeniable. Even You Mi, a doctor, nearly cried out.
The remaining few, including Jing Minghe, frowned.
Zhang Wu, with his eye gouged out, was not yet dead and was still twitching, trapped in the fear and despair of being close to death.
Lao Hu ignored Zhang Wu, picked up the eyeball from the ground, smiled with satisfaction, and then walked to the round table covered with a white cloth, pulling off the cloth.
The nameplates, which had been covered by the white cloth, flew up and appeared before everyone.
As Zhang Wu's nameplate flew above his head, it suddenly ignited, and Zhang Wu himself was burned to ashes.
After a tragic wail, everything returned to silence.
Witnessing Zhang Wu's eye being gouged out and then turned to ashes, He Duo finally couldn't bear it anymore. She desperately tugged at Chen Yi's arm and cried out.
"No, I don't want to stay here, I don't want to die, let me out, I want to leave!"
He Duo cried and tried to drag Chen Yi away with her, and both of them fell off their chairs.
"Duoduo, calm down."
Chen Yi wanted to comfort his girlfriend, but he was powerless. In this city of death, who wasn't facing life and death at every moment? Where could they escape to? Moreover, attempting to flee now would only lead to a more tragic death. Staying might offer a chance of survival.
He loved his girlfriend, but he wanted to live more.
Jing Minghe paid no mind to the lives of others, for he saw a semi-transparent figure standing behind the round table, facing Lao Hu, who was murmuring something in front of it.
Judging by the build, it seemed to be a man, but it was too blurry to make out his features.
What was this? A ghost?
Jing Minghe's mind was filled with questions. He immediately looked at the others, except for He Duo and Chen Yi, who were crying and comforting each other.
You Mi and Shen Yue, sitting beside her, held hands, silently encouraging each other. They weren't as terrified and out of control as He Duo. Both of them kept their heads down, trying to avoid looking at the nameplates floating before them.
Yue Yang, Cheng Jun, and Guo Wei, unlike them, stared intently at the nameplates in front of them, afraid of missing even the slightest change.
As for Jia Qi, he neither looked at the nameplates with fear like You Mi and the others, nor stared intently at them like Yue Yang and Cheng Jun. Instead, he glanced at the nameplates with a nonchalant air and then shifted his gaze to He Duo and Chen Yi, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt and schadenfreude.
Jing Minghe had seen He Duo and Chen Yi emerge from the light portal with Jia Qi during their first instance. It wasn't difficult to guess what had happened between these three in previous instances.
You Mi had once mentioned to Jing Minghe that He Duo and Chen Yi seemed very afraid of Jia Qi. He had thought it was because Jia Qi had done something to them, but Jia Qi's current demeanor made Jing Minghe somewhat puzzled.
"What are you looking at?"
Chi Hao's voice suddenly rang out, and Jing Minghe turned to look at the person beside him.
He didn't need to look specifically to know this person's current demeanor – the same unchanging indifference and calmness, as if the person whose eye had just been gouged out and who had turned to ashes wasn't a living being.
Jing Minghe seriously suspected whether Chi Hao experienced emotions like fear, nervousness, or dread. Even the NPCs in the instances seemed more like normal people than Chi Hao.
Jing Minghe did not answer Chi Hao's question but quietly asked back, "Can you see it? Standing opposite Lao Hu."
He had looked around and it seemed no one else had noticed the blurry figure behind the round table. He could only place his hope on Chi Hao.
Chi Hao's gaze swept indifferently towards the round table and he replied to Jing Minghe, "No."
Cannot see?
Jing Minghe thought the figure had left, but he turned to look and it was still there. And the figure seemed to have glanced at him.
"What do you see?" Chi Hao leaned close to Jing Minghe's ear and asked.
Before Jing Minghe could answer, Lao Hu slammed his palm onto the round table, placing Zhang Wu's eyeball in the center. The moment it touched the surface, the eyeball turned into a bright red blood bead. Lao Hu then loudly declared, "Please begin your selection, esteemed guests!"
Lao Hu's sudden loud pronouncement startled the still crying He Duo, who shrieked and hid in Chen Yi's arms.
The instant Lao Hu finished speaking, the blood bead shot up, spun a few times in the air, and landed steadily on He Duo's nameplate. A drop of scarlet dripped down, dyeing He Duo's nameplate blood red.
He Duo still had her head buried in Chen Yi's arms and hadn't seen the blood bead that landed on her nameplate or the stained nameplate, but Chen Yi had seen it clearly, his eyes wide with terror, unable to speak.
It wasn't until the two burly men approached them that Chen Yi snapped back to reality. He hugged He Duo tightly and kept shaking his head, "No, you can't, don't take her away!"
But Chen Yi's objections were futile. Facing the two hulking figures, he had no ability to protect his girlfriend.
The two burly men separated them effortlessly. One of them casually tossed Chen Yi aside, while the other hoisted He Duo onto his shoulder. The two walked out of Mo Yun Hall without looking back.
As the two burly men exited Mo Yun Hall, Lao Hu said with a smile, "Esteemed guests, you may return to your rest."
With that, he bent down and picked up the lantern he had dropped earlier, leading the way out.
Jing Minghe had been watching the transparent figure the entire time. Just as the two burly men were taking He Duo out of Mo Yun Hall, the transparent figure also vanished.
Jia Qi was the first to stand up and leave Mo Yun Hall.
Although Yue Yang and Cheng Jun gave a sympathetic look to Chen Yi, who was slumped on the ground, they had no intention of meddling and quietly walked out.
Guo Wei and Shen Yue sat in their seats for a while before finally standing up together, preparing to leave.
Seeing that Jing Minghe and Chi Hao were still sitting in their seats, You Mi walked over and asked with concern, "Are you two not leaving?"
Jing Minghe was about to speak when Chi Hao's voice preempted him.
"You go back first."
His usual commanding tone.