The vast lake, once attacked on its surface...
All that's left is to persevere!
But this villa is too fragile to be used for defense.
For no other reason than that these villas were originally built for leisure and recuperation, and every room has a huge floor-to-ceiling window... Moreover, because the scenery here is beautiful and there is no noise pollution, none of the windows are made of specially made double-glazed glass, just ordinary glass...
The most frustrating thing is that even the toilet has a window facing outwards! The original design concept was: full natural light! A completely unobstructed luxury lake view room…
Such a window, let alone the window of a large wild beast, could be broken open by a normal person with a single forceful ramming!
"Are there any sealed rooms with higher security?" Chen Xiao frowned.
"Then the only option is the basement." The staff member's answer left Chen Xiao somewhat helpless.
"The basement won't do," Chen Xiao immediately rejected. Although the basement was completely enclosed, it was a dead end! If there was any real danger, there would be no way to escape.
“Then… our staff’s tool shed.” One of the staff members remembered: “It’s right next to the villa, outside the left corridor of the lobby. The tool shed has windows, but they’re not very big, and they’re fitted with thick iron bars. Inside, we store some of the tools we need here, such as vacuum cleaners, cleaning supplies, and gardening tools for pruning the plants. You can also see the dock directly from that window.”
"From now on, no one is allowed to separate, and no one is permitted to act alone." Chen Xiao sighed. "Now, everyone go to the tool storage room!! The windows and doors here are all glass; it's too unsafe!!"
As he spoke, he walked over to the coffee table he had smashed, tore off the two arms-thick legs, swung them around in his hands a couple of times until they were just the right weight, and tossed them to two male staff members.
"We need some weapons to defend ourselves."
“There are two stun guns in the security room.” One of the security guards hesitated for a moment, “However… the security room is outside… about fifty meters to the right of the yard.”
Outside……
Hearing the distant howls outside... at this moment, who would dare to leave the house and run outside?
Chapter 81 [The Owl]
At this moment, the mournful howls outside rose and fell, and with people already dead and missing, no one dared to go outside.
The only ones who could remain calm were Chen Xiao and a few of his companions. After all, Chen Xiao, Xu Ershao, Bai Cai, and the others had experienced being kidnapped before, so their mental fortitude was stronger. Xiao Qing had practiced martial arts since childhood, so his demeanor was naturally different from ordinary people, while Ya Ya... well, Ya Ya doesn't seem to understand what's going on yet.
The first floor of the villa was decorated like a hotel lobby. Although there were howls outside, judging from the location of the sounds, the unknown wild beasts did not seem to have any intention of approaching immediately.
"light!"
Xiao Qing suddenly spoke up and said this!
This sentence immediately reminded Chen Xiao.
Yes! The lights!
For any wild animal, light and fire are things that it naturally fears! After receiving this suggestion, Chen Xiao immediately ran over and turned on all the light switches in the back of the villa's hall in one go.
Not only in the villa's lobby, but even the outdoor lampposts outside the villa were all lit up.
Soon, as if in response to Chen Xiao's actions, the howling sounds outside became more fearful, and faintly, it seemed that the sounds were fading away.
"Everyone to the tool shed!" Chen Xiao made the decision. Holding Ya Ya's hand, he led everyone along the corridor on one side of the hall towards the tool shed.
As the staff member said, the tool shed was indeed the only relatively enclosed room here. It was located on one side of the villa, only about ten steps away, and was a separate building. The door was a security door with an embedded steel plate, supposedly with some fire-resistant capabilities, and should be quite sturdy.
The room wasn't large, only about twenty square meters. A row of tool shelves held many cleaning supplies: buckets, brooms, mops, and vacuum cleaners. There were also some gardening tools, shovels, weeders, and so on. In addition, there were some stored water pipes and spare wiring.
Chen Xiao rummaged around for a while and finally found some things he thought were useful. First, there were several thick work clothes. It was already past midnight, and it was quite cold on the island in the lake, so he distributed the work clothes to the girls. There were also flashlights... now everyone could have one.
As for the shovels, he took one for himself and gave the other to Xu Ershao. They could be used as weapons if necessary. When distributing the weapons, he glanced at Xiao Qing and gestured with his eyes, but Xiao Qing just smiled faintly, indicating that he didn't need any.
The only potential problem is the windows.
The windows of the tool shed were not large, and as the staff had described, there was indeed a row of iron bars on them. However, in Chen Xiao's opinion, those iron bars were far from sturdy enough! Iron bars that were only as thick as a finger could hardly provide any protection against large beasts.
Chen Xiao thought for a moment, and together with several men, they moved the shelf in the room to block the window—although the tool rack was also a frame, it was better than nothing.
After a while, the howling around seemed to gradually subside, but the room was still filled with panic. Some people were still dialing on their phones, knowing full well that the signal had been cut off, yet still doing this futile thing, as if trying to grasp at even the slightest hope.
Chen Xiao sat in the corner, picked up the map of the island, and began to examine it carefully. Xu Ershao stared at him with a hint of unease in his eyes...
Sure enough, about half an hour passed. It was now close to 2 a.m.
Chen Xiao stood up. He glanced at everyone and said, "From now on, everyone must stay here. No one is allowed to leave!"
He said this, then walked towards the door, glancing back at Xu Ershao: "Xiao Xu, you stay here. From now on, everyone must follow your orders. Remember, no one is allowed to leave. Hold out here until dawn! I suspect those strange animals won't dare to be active during the day; they might be safe after daybreak. In any case, hold out for a few hours!"
"You... what about you? Do you want to..." Young Master Xu strode over and grabbed Chen Xiao's arm.
"I'll go out and find them!" Chen Xiao's expression was resolute. "No matter what, Xiao Jin and Lu Xiaoxiao came with us! We can't abandon them!!"
Upon hearing this, Xu Ershao's expression changed. He stared into Chen Xiao's eyes and immediately said, "Alright! I'll go with you! You can't go alone!"
"Stop messing around!!" Chen Xiao suddenly snapped, forcefully shoving Xu Ershao to the ground and growling, "Xu! This isn't the time to act on impulse! You're not as good as me, you won't do any good! I need someone to lead us here! There are so many people here... we need a leader! If you go, what about Baicai? What about Yaya? Are you just going to leave them here?"
As he spoke, he gave Xu Ershao a wink. The other staff members, regardless of gender, all looked terrified. Chen Xiao was worried about leaving his female companion here with these panicked people—who knows what people might do in a state of panic.
"I..." Bai Cai was about to say that she wanted to go with Chen Xiao, but Chen Xiao glared at her without any politeness: "Shut up! Bai Cai!" Then his voice softened a bit: "I know you want to help, so please take care of Ya Ya and everyone else here for me."
Xu Ershao saw a resolute look in his best friend's eyes. He knew that Chen Xiao would never change his mind.
"Then... I should be qualified to go with you, right?"
Xiao Qing, who had been silent, suddenly uttered this sentence quietly.
"You?" Chen Xiao glanced at Xiao Qing.