After finding the boss's identity, Jiang Xiuxiu's eyes lit up.
However, the next second, she felt the burning pain in her stomach again.
Jiang Xiuxiu: "So hungry."
She had put her food and that maid outfit into her backpack and handed it over to Ye Ming.
As a result, the recent fire not only took away her poor teammate but also her food and mission items.
Thinking about it made her feel sad, and Jiang Xiuxiu almost burst into tears.
The food was one thing, but what really upset her was losing the mission item.
If the maid outfit had been destroyed by the fire, wouldn't she be unable to clear the level?
Even if she had guessed the boss's identity, it would be useless.
"Beep, please rest assured, player. To prevent unexpected situations, our mission items cannot be destroyed."
Just as Jiang Xiuxiu was feeling down, she suddenly heard the system's prompt in her ear.
Jiang Xiuxiu was slightly stunned when she heard this.
"Impossible to be destroyed?"
"That's right," the system said. "Even the boss cannot destroy the mission items. They are still intact. Players can continue to try to clear the level."
After hearing what the system said, Jiang Xiuxiu was overjoyed.
In other words, the fire in the basement couldn't have burned the maid outfit.
She still had a chance to clear the level as long as she could go back to the basement and retrieve the maid outfit.
Feeling revitalized, Jiang Xiuxiu quickly jumped out of bed.
She put on her shoes and hurried towards the basement again.
When she went back the second time, about an hour had passed, and the fire inside had already been extinguished. The basement was pitch black.
What Jiang Xiuxiu didn't expect was that besides the increasingly strong smell of burnt things, there was nothing else inside.
She walked around, rummaged through the ruins, but couldn't find the maid outfit.
Her maid outfit had been taken by someone.
Who took it?
Could there be other people or ghosts who had been in here?
But who would be so bored to be interested in a maid outfit?
Jiang Xiuxiu felt very confused, but the basement was indeed too eerie for her to stay long.
Seeing that she couldn't find the outfit, she had to come out reluctantly.
Forget it, she thought. She would come back to check again if she had the chance in the future.
With this in mind, she silently returned to the old mansion.
After all this trouble, time passed, and it was almost dinner time.
Jiang Xiuxiu hadn't eaten anything since breakfast in the morning.
She touched her stomach, squinted her eyes, and decided to fill her belly before looking for the maid outfit.
But how was she going to do that?
Jiang Xiuxiu thought for a moment, then opened the door, planning to visit other players' rooms to see if she could find a way to exchange for some food.
Unexpectedly, she asked three teams in a row and found that they, like her, didn't have much food left.
"The food should all be with Zhang Wei's team," a player told Jiang Xiuxiu. "They were the last to enter the kitchen this morning, and they took all the food while no one was looking."
Another player added, "I had stored some food in my room after leaving the kitchen this morning, but my door lock was pried open, and the food was taken by them."
Jiang Xiuxiu had some impression of the "Zhang Wei" they mentioned.
She remembered that Zhang Wei's team had four tall and strong men, while most other teams had only two people.
The leader was a man named Zhang Wei.
He looked fierce and intimidating, obviously not someone you’d like to mess with.
But prying open locks?
Jiang Xiuxiu recalled that when she returned earlier, she also found that her room's door had been pried open.
The things in her room were turned upside down, and it took her a long time to clean up.
It turned out to be Zhang Wei's team who did it.
Logically, the rooms provided for players by the game were supposed to be very sturdy and not easily broken into.
Since so many players' locks were pried open, it must mean that someone in Zhang Wei's team had a special ability related to lock-picking.
Jiang Xiuxiu didn't know what to say.
If her special ability was something so useful, she would have used it for serious matters instead of wasting it on fighting with other players.
Such bandit-like behavior greatly angered the other players.
However, Zhang Wei's team was too strong, and the remaining players couldn't unite against them. Plus, the game rules forbade players from harming each other, so everyone was angry but didn't dare to speak up.
Jiang Xiuxiu understood the other players' thoughts. After all, the incident with the male player and the long-haired female player was still fresh in everyone's minds. No one could guarantee that their teammates hadn't been taken by ghosts.
Their existence was like a ticking time bomb, making the players distrustful and scared to team up.
This situation inevitably gave opportunists a chance.
"So how can we get food from them?" Jiang Xiuxiu asked.
A player replied, "They moved to the innermost room. Two people are guarding the food. If you want something from them, you have to trade information for it."
"I see."
Jiang Xiuxiu nodded and thanked them.
After parting ways with those players, she went straight to the room where Zhang Wei's team was staying and knocked on the door.
Two sturdy men in their twenties opened the door, their eyes lingering on her body.
Jiang Xiuxiu observed them and found that they dressed uniformly, with tight pants and shirts, and loafers. They even had neat bowl cuts, looking like typical street thugs.
One had dyed yellow hair, and the other had a tattoo on his shoulder.
Both held wooden sticks they had somehow acquired.
"What do you want?" the yellow-haired player asked.
Jiang Xiuxiu didn't hesitate and directly told them she wanted to trade information for food.
The tattooed one sneered, "Go ahead, tell us what information you have."
Jiang Xiuxiu felt uncomfortable under their gaze, and the tattooed man's disdainful tone annoyed her.
But she had always been adaptable, so she didn't show her displeasure.
Of course, she wouldn't disclose any secrets about the boss, but she did have plenty of information.
After filtering out the important parts, Jiang Xiuxiu told them the story about the grievances between the little boy and girl in the mansion.
Although it was hard to link the children's story directly to the boss, it was valuable information she had discovered through exploration.
For these ordinary players, it was quite precious.
Jiang Xiuxiu thought this story was worth at least a couple of bags of bread.
After listening, the tattooed and yellow-haired men exchanged glances and seemed deep in thought.
They likely noticed the boy's disappearance but didn't realize there was so much behind it.
Jiang Xiuxiu just wanted to fill her stomach and get the maid outfit, so she didn't want to waste time with them.
After finishing her story, she didn't wait long before asking, "How much food can I get for this information?"
"Food?"
The two men looked at each other, and the yellow-haired one sneered at her, "You think we're generous enough to listen to your crap and then give you food?"
Jiang Xiuxiu frowned, "What do you mean?"
What was going on? Were they going back on their word?
"What we mean is, if you want food, dream on."
The yellow-haired man grinned maliciously and, catching Jiang Xiuxiu off guard, kicked her directly.
Although Jiang Xiuxiu was a bit weak physically, her reactions were quick.
Sensing the man's intention to attack, she quickly took two steps back to dodge.
Seeing this, the two men spat proudly and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Through the closed door, Jiang Xiuxiu could still hear their arrogant laughter inside.
"A girl like that clearly doesn't have much ability. The information she has is probably just that bit. Giving her food would be a waste."
"Hahaha, exactly. Let her starve to death."
Jiang Xiuxiu: "..."
Jiang Xiuxiu stood in front of the closed door, utterly bewildered.
So, she had just been played for a fool.
And to top it off, she'd been insulted by these guys.
She felt a bit puzzled and angry but recalling those two guys dressed in their ridiculous "gangster" outfits made her speechless.
She hesitated for a moment.
She didn't expect to encounter such people even in a game.
Fine, whatever. It didn't matter. After all, the story about the little boy and girl wasn't useful to her anymore.
She was a twenty-year-old adult and didn't need to get angry with some childish thugs.
Just as Jiang Xiuxiu was about to leave, she suddenly felt a new wave of stomach cramps.
Gurgle, gurgle.
Jiang Xiuxiu: "..."
So hungry.
Why could the system block her physical pain but not also reduce her feeling of hunger?
So hungry, so hungry, so hungry.
She had never experienced real hunger like this in her life.
Initially calm, Jiang Xiuxiu suddenly turned her head, her eyes glowing as she stared at the closed door.
For a moment, her eyes, gleaming with green light, seemed to see through the wooden door to the pile of food inside.
Fine, hoarding food was one thing, but they dared to break their promise and deliberately withheld food from her.
If she didn't deal with them, she wouldn't be Jiang.
Time passed quickly.
Players gradually returned to their rooms, turned off their lights, and prepared to rest for the third day.
Late that night, near midnight, all the players were asleep.
However, there was still a small figure moving through the corridor.
It was Jiang Xiuxiu.
She hadn't slept but stayed awake until 11:55 PM.
Then, she got ready and set off.
She quietly left her room, walked along the corridor, and made her way to Zhang Wei's door.
Thinking of Zhang Wei's appearance and his clothes, she silently chanted, "Disguise Technique."
The next second, she was dressed in identical clothing.
Jiang Xiuxiu reached into her pocket and, as expected, found a key.
Since Zhang Wei was the leader of their group, it was easy to deduce that he would carry the key with him.
Without hesitation, Jiang Xiuxiu knocked heavily on the door.
Bang, bang, bang.
The loud, persistent knocking echoed, each knock heavier than the last.
It sounded like a debt collector demanding payment.
Soon, Jiang Xiuxiu heard rustling noises from inside as people turned over in bed.
At the same time, Zhang Wei's muffled voice questioned, "Who is it?"
They were awake.
Realizing this, Jiang Xiuxiu quickly inserted the key into the lock.
With a twist of her fingers, she unlocked the door.
Facing the wary gazes of the four men, she walked in slowly.
"It's you."
The tattooed man quickly recognized Jiang Xiuxiu.
Surprised and angry, he demanded, "How did you get in? What are you doing here?"
Jiang Xiuxiu wasn't provoked.
She calmly looked at them and quietly asked, "I'll give you one last chance. Will you give me food or not?"
"Give you food? My ass!" The yellow-haired man also recognized her. Enraged by her audacity, he cursed, "Coming to bother us in the middle of the night? Not only will I not give you food, but if I get the chance, I'll kill you!"
It seemed they couldn't reach an agreement.
Jiang Xiuxiu wasn't surprised.
If they were reasonable, they wouldn't have refused her food in the first place.
Too bad, she didn't want to do this.
Facing the intimidating glares of the four men, Jiang Xiuxiu remained unhurried and even gave a meaningful smile.
"Alright," she said calmly. "Don't trouble yourselves, goodnight."
With that, she suddenly closed her eyes, leaned forward, and fell to the ground, limp and motionless by the bed.
Zhang Wei and the others: "..."
What was this? Was she pretending to be dead to scare them?
Curious, one of them reached out and poked Jiang Xiuxiu.
They were shocked to find her fainting act convincing, she didn't respond even when poked several times, and her breathing was barely noticeable.
Zhang Wei and the others: "..."
Was she really going to starve to death in front of them?
A perfectly healthy female college student, quite pretty too, but clearly not very bright.
They were puzzled and didn't know what to do.
Finally, Captain Zhang Wei impatiently waved his hand and ordered, "Throw her out. She's annoying."
Two of his lackeys nodded and moved to grab Jiang Xiuxiu.
However, at that moment, everyone froze.
The atmosphere suddenly grew quiet, and an inexplicable chill spread from every corner of the room.
Shuffling sounds could be heard from outside.
Midnight had arrived.
The white ghostly figure that had appeared the previous night was back.