Watching the dart masters frantically trying to recall which two of their companions had gone missing, Li Nian and Lin Yu sighed in unison.

"They probably won't be able to remember."

Li Nian said helplessly.

Lin Yu agreed—if these people could remember, they should have already remembered by now.

Without a doubt, the memories or perceptions of these dart masters had been altered by someone.

But what Lin Yu was concerned about was...

How was this done?

Although in the Prison Mountain Realm, many demons and monsters possessed this ability and could easily achieve this, Lin Yu, having personally experienced Old Zheng's mental capabilities, knew very well that to make over thirty people fall into confusion and cause two to disappear right under Old Zheng's nose, without anyone noticing...

And now, upon further investigation, still no issues could be detected!

Lin Yu carefully recalled and could vaguely remember two faint figures and faces—this proved his own memory was unaffected.

Li Nian beside him also seemed unaffected.

Did the other party lack the confidence to alter his and Li Nian's memories, or did they simply not want to do so for some reason?

Regardless, an entity with such a level of mental power was unlikely to exist in this Prison Mountain Realm, which was not known for excelling in "soul-related" abilities.

But since this had indeed happened, there were two possibilities.

The first possibility was that this was achieved through other means, not by interfering with cognition and memory using mental abilities.

After all, the many talismans and esoteric arts of the Prison Mountain Realm were extremely bizarre; perhaps there were methods that could induce a "forgetting" effect without involving the soul or mind.

The other possibility...

Was that there truly existed an entity here with mental power far surpassing Old Zheng's, at least far surpassing the incomplete version of Old Zheng.

If it was the latter...

"Could it be another Player?"

"Impossible," Old Zheng immediately dismissed Lin Yu's thought. "It absolutely cannot be the work of another Player."

Old Zheng said this, then added.

"I'm not saying this out of confidence in myself or anything like that, it's just... Boss, if it really were another Player causing trouble, how would you explain the 'anomaly' of Chen Family Fort—it's clear something has been wrong here for more than just a day or two."

Lin Yu nodded.

Indeed, based on Yue Zhenqiao's earlier statements, it wasn't hard to conclude that "inexplicable disappearances" at Chen Family Fort had been happening for more than a day or two.

Those residents of Chen Family Fort who seemed alive but were actually not living people probably hadn't just appeared recently either; they had likely existed for a long time.

Following the principle of "do not multiply entities beyond necessity," and without evidence indicating that this "dart master disappearance" was a completely different, unrelated "special case" or anomaly from the frequent abnormalities that had occurred at Chen Family Fort in the past, it was best to consider this a manifestation of the long-standing anomalies at Chen Family Fort.

If that was the case, then the cause could not possibly be "another Player"—at least not one of the remaining three unseen Players among the six in this [dungeon].

Lin Yu was thinking rapidly as the situation was growing increasingly restless and uneasy.

Arguments were even breaking out among the dart masters!

"Dart Head Yue, we've encountered the strangeness of Chen Family Fort, we should leave as soon as possible—we depart immediately after noon!"

"What nonsense are you talking? We, the Golden Fortune Escort Agency, are all brothers. Are you saying we should abandon our two brothers and not care for them?"

"Will staying here be of any use?!"

"Exactly, I don't even remember them anymore!"

"Heartless, ungrateful bastards! If it were you who disappeared today, could we just abandon you all then?"

"Do you have any good ideas?"

"At the very least, we should negotiate with the people of Chen Family Fort..."

"It might be the people of Chen Family Fort causing this trouble—if you're truly worried about your colleagues, you should leave quickly and invite some experts from the major Martial Arts Schools to investigate."

"Those people have investigated many times; I've never heard of them finding anything!"

"If those masters and Daoist priests couldn't do it, can we?"

The dart masters argued noisily. Yue Zhenqiao, who had been panicked at first, had now calmed down.

His face was ashen as he sat on a stone chair and slapped the stone table hard.

"Bang!"

The loud sound interrupted the discussion in the room.

Yue Zhenqiao said in a deep voice, "Enough, no more arguing. Two of our colleagues are missing; we cannot simply abandon them!"

"However, we also cannot risk losing more brothers for their sake. At the latest, if there are still no clues before nightfall, we will consider them killed by demons and monsters. After we leave, we will properly settle matters with their families—by then, it will be clear who exactly is missing."

Yue Zhenqiao spoke coldly, offering a compromise solution.

This was also the best solution available at the moment.

Although a few of the dart masters still seemed unconvinced, none dared to defy Yue Zhenqiao.

"Understood, Dart Head."

Yue Zhenqiao nodded, then issued more specific orders.

"Since none of us can remember the names of the missing persons, there's no need to force ourselves. Shortly after noon, those who are uninjured and have good skills, come with me to search along our route through various parts of Chen Family Fort. Look for any marks left by our missing colleagues or any new signs of fighting or dragging."

As Yue Zhenqiao spoke, he looked at Lin Yu and Li Nian: "Two Female Warriors, forgive my presumption... do you have any thoughts?"

He asked respectfully and courteously.

Lin Yu looked at Yue Zhenqiao in surprise.

This Dart Head Yue truly lived up to being a seasoned veteran. Although his martial skills were somewhat limited and he had panicked earlier when trouble arose, his rich experience still allowed him to calm down quickly.

Moreover, the arrangements he made were orderly—especially now, he even knew to swallow his pride and actively ask him and Li Nian.

And Lin Yu did indeed have some solutions.

Since Yue Zhenqiao was asking now, Lin Yu was naturally happy to speak up.

"Your arrangements are good... but during the time we can move about freely outside, I think everyone should also keep busy."

"First, take out all your personal belongings, then recall everything you've done and said over the past full day. Recall it in detail."

"Each person in the Escort Team has their own duties and works seamlessly with others; there are bound to be various 'real-world traces' left behind. After colleagues you've spent day and night with go missing, even if your memory is faulty, there will definitely be 'abnormalities' in your recollections."

"Who can't remember much, whose memories are more blurred, which parts feel like someone is missing, which things feel lacking—piecing together everyone's memories, even if you can't recall the specific names of the missing persons, you can still outline their general duties, strength, personalities, and know who they were close to."

"It's like a mirror shattering and losing two pieces. If you put all the remaining pieces together, you'll naturally know the shape of the two missing pieces."