The cabbage was honest and didn't use its invisibility ability, and the two girls also uncreatively hid in a clump of grass.
As a result, Chen Xiao deliberately shouted once as he walked: "Xiao Xu said there might be snakes in the grass on this island."
As a result, a startled cry came from afar, and the cabbage jumped out of the bushes on its own initiative.
Ya Ya, however, seemed a little unsatisfied, looking at Chen Xiao with a somewhat bewildered expression: "Huh? Is it over already?"
Less than twenty minutes had passed, which was half of the allotted time, but two-thirds of the task had been completed, leaving only Monica and Lu Xiaoxiao as the remaining group.
However, the result was unexpected...
Another twenty minutes passed, and Chen Xiao and Xiao Qing had searched almost the entire forest, but they still couldn't find a single person!
They even carefully inspected the area at the foot of the hill, and Chen Xiao even made a special trip to circle around the lake.
But Lu Xiaoxiao and Monica... the two of them had disappeared to who-knows-where.
"Huh. I didn't expect these two women to be so good at hiding." Young Master Xu scratched his head and laughed. "Alright. Time's up. This time, Chen Xiao and Xiao Qing have lost. Call those two girls out, and we can start the next round." He was thinking to himself how to get paired with Bai Cai in the next round.
But a problem has arisen.
Lu Xiaoxiao and Monica, however, never showed up!
"Let's make a call," Jin Buhuan said, seemingly eager to start the next round as soon as possible.
Xu Ershao took out his phone, but after dialing the number... he frowned: "Huh? Why is it off?"
"Shut down? Both of them turned off their phones?" Chen Xiao frowned.
"Listen." Young Master Xu handed the phone to Chen Xiao. Sure enough, after two more calls, both Lu Xiaoxiao and Monica had their phones off.
A sense of unease crept into everyone's hearts, but Xu Ershao still smiled and said, "Probably because those two women are very cunning. They're worried that Chen Xiao and Xiao Qing will call while we're hiding—and once the phone rings, our location will be exposed."
He paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "Let's split up and shout loudly in all directions that the game is over. They'll hear us and come back on their own."
No one objected, and soon the six young people went in different directions: some went to the woods, some to the lakeside, and some to the area around the villa.
From near and far, shouts could be heard.
But after about twenty minutes, everyone returned to their original spot one after another—Lu Xiaoxiao and Monica still hadn't come back!
Even the most optimistic Second Young Master Xu became a little nervous.
"I hope nothing went wrong?" Bai Cai asked, a little worried. Although she didn't really like Xu Ershao fawning over Monica, they didn't really have any animosity towards each other.
"Could there be some tree holes or caves on this island? It's so dark, what if the two girls accidentally fall in?" Jin Buhuan thought of a possibility.
“But if you fall into a hole, you’ll call for help, right?” Xu Ershao’s expression turned serious. “Besides, this place has been developed by the company, so any dangerous caves will be filled in.”
"..." Everyone looked at each other, but Chen Xiao said in a deep voice, "Search! Keep searching!"
He was the first to grab a flashlight and quickly ran into the depths of the woods again.
Xu Ershao was also a little nervous, so he called over the staff on the island.
There are eleven staff members on the island: a manager, six waiters, a plumber, a yacht operator, and two security guards.
Upon hearing that Xu Gongzi's good friend had gone missing on the island, everyone became very anxious. They all grabbed flashlights and began a thorough search of the island.
The island isn't large; walking from east to west, the straight-line distance, takes no more than twenty-five minutes. If you were to run, you could cross it in ten minutes.
But after searching for a full hour, and it was almost midnight, there was still no trace of them!
It was as if Lu Xiaoxiao and Monica had simply vanished from the island into thin air!
The group regrouped on the lawn next to the villa, and at Chen Xiao's suggestion, everyone explained the route they had taken...
"Wait a minute..." Chen Xiao suddenly frowned: "Where's Xiao Jin? Where's Jin Buhuan?"
When he spoke, everyone suddenly realized that, amidst the chaos, no one had noticed that another person was missing!
Even the priceless gold is gone!!
Instantly, the scene fell silent! Everyone's expression turned somewhat strange.
At midnight, a dark cloud crept in from the horizon, slowly obscuring the moonlight. A gentle night breeze blew, rustling the leaves through the woods.
The group stood together, looking at each other with strange expressions and varying degrees of unease in their eyes.
"Do you have a map of the island?" Chen Xiao asked the manager. "There must have been blueprints left over from when it was developed, right?"
The manager was already sweating profusely: "Yes! There's a drawing... in my office, I'll go get it!"
The manager turned and ran towards the villa area. Chen Xiao then turned to the boatman: "Have you checked the dock? Where's the yacht? Could the person have secretly boarded it?"
"No," the boatman said confidently. "I've checked the yacht. It's not very big. If someone were hiding inside, we would definitely be able to spot them... Besides, we've been calling for ages. Even if they were hiding inside the yacht, there's no reason they wouldn't make a sound..."
"Chen Xiao, could it be that he accidentally fell into the lake?" Bai Cai thought of a possibility.
"I don't think so," Xu Ershao replied. "The lake shore around here is all shallow water. Unless you're more than ten meters from the shore, the water won't reach waist depth... There's no reason for them to soak in the water for a game."
At this moment, Young Master Xu had already dialed Jin Buhuan's number, but after a moment, he put down the phone, his face somewhat grim: "Little Jin's phone... is also switched off!"
Shutting down?
Chen Xiao, Xiao Qing, and the others all had gloomy expressions.
Before setting off to find Monica Lu Xiaoxiao, everyone agreed to keep their phones switched on! They even checked their phones' battery levels!