Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 94: A Calculated Move

"What's going on here? Where's Tang Tai's body?" Liu Xing exclaimed in surprise.

Mo Jin walked past the living room and quickly searched through the various rooms, then furrowed his brow and said, "There's no one here. The villager and his son are both missing. It seems they've taken Tang Tai's body with them."

"Why? Why would they take Tang Tai's body? It doesn't make any sense for them," Liu Xing said, feeling perplexed.

However, while Liu Xing didn't know why Tang Zilin and his father had done this, he knew very well that they had taken Tang Tai's body to offer it as a sacrifice to the Earth-boring Demon Worm! What concerned Liu Xing now was whether Tang Zilin had also fallen under the control of the Earth-boring Demon Worm.

If Tang Zilin had indeed been controlled by the Earth-boring Demon Worm, it wouldn't be good news for Liu Xing. After all, "Liu Xing" had a decent relationship with Tang Zilin. If the Earth-boring Demon Worm controlled Tang Zilin to seek "Liu Xing's" help, such as inviting him to participate in the sacrificial ceremony or asking for assistance in escaping Earth Dragon Village, then Liu Xing wouldn't have much choice but to comply with Tang Zilin's request.

In that case, Liu Xing would once again find himself in a passive situation. If it were the former, he would have to risk his life and participate in the deadly ritual; if it were the latter, he would need to be on guard at all times against Tang Zilin's potential betrayal.

"So, what should we do now? Should we go back to our lodgings first, or should we go directly to find the Village Chief and seek his help? We must retrieve Tang Tai's body," Shi Ying sighed and asked.

"I think we should go find the Village Chief first. After all, he's the leader of the village and may be able to rally the villagers to help us locate Tang Zilin and his son and recover Tang Tai's body," Liu Xing reluctantly agreed.

So, Liu Xing and his two companions left the house and headed toward the Village Chief's residence. This time, they had a legitimate reason to do so, and Liu Xing easily approached a villager to inquire about the location of the Village Chief's house.

Upon arriving at the Village Chief's house, Liu Xing and his companions saw the Village Chief sitting outside, smoking a cigarette.

"Hey, my three volunteer friends, did you have a good rest last night?" Village Chief asked with a friendly smile.

Liu Xing shook his head and said anxiously, "Village Chief, our volunteer team's foreigner just died in the house to the north of the village due to an earthquake."

"Wait, what earthquake? I've been sitting here, and I didn't feel anything. And you're telling me a foreigner died?" Village Chief exclaimed in astonishment.

Liu Xing's words were interrupted by Village Chief, causing him to hesitate for a moment. After all, "Liu Xing" was not certain if the Earth-boring Demon Worm truly existed, nor did he know if Village Chief had been influenced by it. Therefore, Liu Xing was unsure how to proceed.

"Village Chief, here's the situation. We heard that someone in the house to the north of the village was seriously ill, so we rushed there early this morning to provide medical treatment to the patient. However, a sudden earthquake occurred just now, and our foreign friend had an accident. He was impaled by a pitchfork and passed away," Shi Ying stepped forward and explained the sequence of events.

Mo Jin, not wanting to fall behind, seized the opportunity and added, "Indeed, due to the earthquake, we thought there might be many injured people in Earth Dragon Village, so we decided to temporarily leave Tang Tai's body in that household. But when we returned shortly after, we found that the earthquake had only affected that part of Earth Dragon Village. So, we had to go back to retrieve Tang Tai's body. However, within just a few minutes, the father and son from that household had disappeared with Tang Tai's body. We have no other option but to hope that you, Village Chief, can assist us in recovering Tang Tai's body."

After hearing Shi Ying and Mo Jin's accounts, Village Chief took a couple of puffs from his cigarette and then said, "So, you mean to say that there was a small-scale earthquake just now at Old Tang's house, resulting in the accidental death of the foreign volunteer friend, and then Old Tang and his son took away the body of that foreign volunteer friend?"

"Yes, Village Chief, you've got it right. We hope you can help us find Tang Tai's body," Liu Xing attempted to speak but was preempted by Mo Jin.

Liu Xing furrowed his brow. After KP Snail had forcibly revealed Mo Jin's true nature, he had become increasingly reckless. Players like Mo Jin were more troublesome than Bai Hecheng. Bai Hecheng enjoyed causing mischief, but his actions were driven by his single-digit SAN value. He acted impulsively, but there was only a certain probability of an explosion.

Mo Jin, on the other hand, was like a loaded gun at your back, ready to fire at any moment. This constant vigilance was necessary due to the constraints of the Cthulhu RPG Game. Liu Xing couldn't easily rid himself of Mo Jin, leaving him perpetually under threat. Moreover, when Mo Jin did act, it was guaranteed to cause harm, even death!

Therefore, Liu Xing was even more wary of Mo Jin, as he didn't want to be betrayed by him.

"Well, I don't think you volunteer friends would lie to me. I'll arrange for some help to assist you in finding the body of your foreign volunteer friend," Village Chief said after some contemplation. He took out an old-fashioned flip phone and made a call.

"Hello, Old Li, gather Zhang San and the others and come over to my place right away. I have something very important that I need your help with. Yes, yes, hurry up." After the call, Village Chief smiled and said, "Please wait a moment, everyone. I've called for assistance, and when they arrive, we can go and search for the body of the foreign volunteer friend."

Liu Xing nodded, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Village Chief seemed to place an unusually high level of trust in their group.

A few minutes later, Liu Xing saw over twenty male villagers approaching from various directions in the village. They were carrying various "weapons," including pitchforks, spears, and hoes.

Liu Xing's expression changed, realizing that he and his two companions had been deceived by Village Chief!